In some races, the finish is so close that only a photo can decide who won. This happened in the AdventHealth 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson won by 0.001 seconds over Chris Buescher.
NASCAR usually uses a radio transponder to time races, but this time it was too close for that. The transponder said Buescher won, but NASCAR had to double-check. On TV, fans saw the excitement as everyone celebrated Buescher’s win, only to find out later that Larson actually won.
Two experts, Steve Letarte and Todd Gordon, explained how the cameras work. These special cameras have a small slit instead of a regular lens. They take pictures of the finish line as the cars cross it. Then they put all the pictures together to see who won. Sometimes the background looks blurry because it’s the same in every picture.
Letarte and Gordon also talked about a rule in the NASCAR Rulebook. It says what to do if there’s a tie after looking at the photos. First, they check who led the most laps. Then they check who was in the lead before that. They keep going until they find a winner. It’s almost impossible for a NASCAR race to end in a tie.
