Photo finishes appeared to be the theme of the racing weekend as more than 24 hours after Kentucky Derby fans saw one of the closest finishes in recent memory, NASCAR fans got to see something similar play out at Kansas Speedway on Sunday night.

Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin all came down the front stretch in hopes of picking up a huge Cup Series win. Larson and Buescher were bumping each other as they exited the final turn.

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Kyle Larson, #5, crosses the finish line milliseconds in front of Chris Buescher, #17, for the win during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

Buescher kept his composure, and it looked like he was going to lock in and edge Larson. However, the No. 5 car somehow picked up enough speed to narrowly cross the line in front of the No. 17. Larson won the race by 0.001 seconds in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.

“Had no clue if I won or not,” Larson said. “But honestly didn’t really care. I was like, ‘Man, that was frickin’ awesome.’”

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It was a bit tougher for Buescher’s team to accept. Scott Graves, his crew chief, asked to meet with NASCAR officials in their hauler. He was shown the photo-finish and accepted the outcome.

“I don’t know what to say right now,” Buescher said “I haven’t seen a replay other than just the picture, and I sure can’t see in that picture. That sucks to be that close.”

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Buescher joked on X that he needed to pull a Lightning McQueen to beat Larson.

Kyle Larson, center, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, on Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

“Guess I should’ve pulled a Lightning McQueen and stuck out my tongue,” he said in reference to the movie “Cars.”

A late caution forced the mad dash to the finish. Leaders went to pit to make adjustments and Larson came out the victor in the end.

“I mean, I’ll always remember this, for sure,” Larson said. “There’s definitely wins that you can kind of get lost in the distance a little bit, but when you finish and have the closest finish in Cup Series history, I don’t think you’re ever going to forget about it, even if it gets broken someday. Great to be on this side of it.”

Pole-sitter Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10.

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Larson has two wins on the season and is leading the driver standings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Denny Hamlin was the leader of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway going into overtime, but that ended up being the worst place to be.

Hamlin was put three-wide on the restart when Kyle Larson dove inside him and Chris Buescher. It quickly took Hamlin from the race lead to third place. On the white flag lap, Hamlin was in a battle for third with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott.

Again, Hamlin found himself in the wrong spot. Stuck in the middle of Truex and Elliott in Turns 1 and 2, Hamlin lost his momentum and faded to a fifth-place finish.

“Well, a difficult spot, right?” Hamlin said of the overtime restart. “I needed to get the push from the 5 (Kyle Larson), but I knew he wasn’t going to stay in line, that he was going to go for the win. Unfortunately, it left me in a spot where I was vulnerable there in the middle.”

Hamlin led a race-high 71 laps and won the first stage of the AdventHealth 400. It was a battle between him and Buescher for much of the final stage, with the two moving into the top two positions off a restart with 62 laps to go after having stayed out to inherit track position.

The two swapped the lead repeatedly. Buescher led with 59 laps to go before Hamlin took the spot back with 52 to go. Buescher was ahead with 39 left and Hamlin with 38 remaining.

The two were still running first and second with less than 30 laps to go. However, they were both trying to save fuel as well. Hamlin was leading when the final caution flew with seven laps to go, sending the field to pit road for the final time.

Hamlin kept the lead on pit road while taking two tires and restarted on the bottom of the front row for overtime.

“I’ll tell you, with 70 (laps) to go, it wasn’t looking really good,” Hamlin said. “We had some pit road miscues that set us back, but Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) and the guys did a great job coming up with a strategy there to pit and then jump the field back. We were right on task there with about (seven) to go; felt good about getting another one. It’s just one of those things.”

The first miscue on pit road came after the first stage when Hamlin had trouble getting out of his pit stall because of how he was parked and where Austin Hill was in the stall in front of him. At the end of the second stage, Hamlin had to slow down for Ryan Preece, who was still making his way toward his pit stall, and lost time.

Hamlin had a driver rating of 124.6 (second only to winner Larson). The statistic is a formula of win, finish, top-15 finish, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead lap finish.

The NASCAR Kansas race is scheduled to start about three hours after it was originally slated because of a rain delay.

The AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway will start shortly after 5 p.m. (CT), about three hours later than the scheduled green-flag start.

NASCAR race officials made it clear that they planned to hold the race on Sunday. The track does have lights, meaning it could be held tonight if the rain subsides.

NASCAR Kansas TV schedule, start time for AdventHealth 400

Green Flag Time:  5 p.m., on Sunday, May 5

Track:  Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval) in Kansas City, Kansas

Length:  267 laps, 400 miles

Stages:  80 laps, 85 laps, 102 laps

TV coverage:  FS1

Radio:  MRN

Streaming: FUBO (free trial available); FOX Sports app (subscription required); MRN.com and SiriusXM on Channel 90 for audio (subscription required)

The AdventHealth 400 will be broadcast nationally on FS1. Streaming options for the race include the FOX Sports app and FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

NASCAR Kansas race starting lineup

Christopher Bell will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday after winning the pole during Saturday’s qualifying session.

The top 10:

• 1. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
• 2. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
• 3. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
• 4. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
• 5. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
• 6. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
• 7. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
• 8. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
• 9. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
• 10. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Find the full starting lineup here.

NASCAR Cup Series 2024 schedule

All times Central.

• Feb. 3: Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, LA Coliseum (Winner: Denny Hamlin) Non-points
• Feb. 15: Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona, Daytona International Speedway (Winners: Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell) Non-points
• Feb. 19: Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway (Winner: William Byron)
• Feb. 25: Ambetter Health 400, Atlanta Motor Speedway (Winner: Daniel Suarez)
• March 3: Pennzoil 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Winner: Kyle Larson)
• March 10: Shriners Children’s 500, Phoenix Raceway (Winner: Christopher Bell)
• March 17: Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway (Winner: Denny Hamlin)
• March 24: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas (Winner: William Byron)
• March 31: Toyota Owners 400, Richmond Raceway (Winner: Denny Hamlin)
• April 7: Cook Out 400, Martinsville Speedway (Winner: William Byron)
• April 14: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400, Texas Motor Speedway (Winner: Chase Elliott)
• April 21: Geico 500, Talladega Superspeedway (Winner: Tyler Reddick)
• April 28: Wurth 400, Dover Motor Speedway (Winner: Denny Hamlin)
• May 5: AdventHealth 400, Kansas Speedway (2 p.m., FS1)
• May 12: Goodyear 400, Darlington Raceway (2 p.m., FS1)
• May 19: NASCAR All-Star Open, North Wilkesboro Speedway (7 p.m., FS1) Non-points
• May 19: NASCAR All-Star Race, North Wilkesboro Speedway (7 p.m., FS1) Non-points
• May 26: Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway (5 p.m., FOX)
• June 2: Enjoy Illinois 300, World Wide Technology Raceway (2:30 p.m., FS1)
• June 9: Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma Raceway (2:30 p.m., FOX)
• June 16: Iowa Corn 350, Iowa Speedway (6 p.m., USA Network)
• June 23: Untitled race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m., USA Network)
• June 30: Ally 400, Nashville Superspeedway (2:30 p.m., NBC)
• July 7: Grant Park 165, Chicago street course (3:30 p.m., NBC)
• July 14: Untitled race at Pocono Raceway (1:30 p.m., USA Network)
• July 21: Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m., NBC)
• Aug. 11: Cook Out 400, Richmond Raceway (5 p.m., USA Network)
• Aug. 18: FireKeepers Casino 400, Michigan International Speedway (1:30 p.m., USA Network)
• Aug. 24: Coke Zero Sugar 400, Daytona International Speedway (6:30 p.m., NBC)
• Sept. 1: Cook Out Southern 500, Darlington Raceway (5 p.m., USA Network)Regular season finale
• Sept. 8: Quaker State 400, Atlanta Motor Speedway (2 p.m., USA Network) Round of 16
• Sept. 15: Go Bowling at The Glen, Watkins Glen International (2 p.m., USA Network) Round of 16
• Sept. 21: Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway (6:30 p.m., USA Network) Round of 16
• Sept. 29: Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas Speedway (2 p.m., USA Network) Round of 12
• Oct. 6: YellaWood 500, Talladega Superspeedway (1 p.m., NBC) Round of 12
• Oct. 13: Bank of America Roval 400, Charlotte Motor Speedway road course (1 p.m., NBC) Round of 12
• Oct. 20: South Point 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m., NBC) Round of 8
• Oct. 27: Untitled race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (1:30 p.m., NBC) Round of 8
• Nov. 3: Xfinity 500, Martinsville Speedway (1 p.m., NBC) Round of 8
• Nov. 10: NASCAR Cup Series Championship race, Phoenix Raceway (2 p.m., NBC)We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.