By: Zach Arnold

Last Sunday, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch exited turn four side by side on the final lap of the Ambetter Health 400 and crossed the finish line within centimeters from one another.

The time margin between all three drivers was 0.007 seconds, and 0.003 seconds between first and second. This marked the sport’s third closest finish in history, behind Ricky Craven’s Darlington win in 2003 (0.002 seconds) and Jimmie Johnson’s Talladega win in 2011. (0.002 seconds) Let’s take a look at what the stars of NASCAR thought about the historic finish:

Ryan Blaney:

Blaney approached the checkered flag on the inside lane with Suarez and Busch on his outside. The defending Cup Series Champion was centimeters away from taking the trophy home:

“Yeah. I’m sure it was close. I’ve won some by a few inches and lost some by a few inches. It was a fun night, fun racing. I didn’t think they’d get that big of a run on me. I thought I did a good job of getting close off of two to where I kind of had some of their energy.  I guess they just got hooked up super good and got a massive run, and I can’t block both lanes. It was fun racing, but just a couple inches short. I’m happy for Daniel, though. That was fun racing him and Kyle. That was fun.”

Kyle Busch:

Busch was in the middle of the three leaders as part of the drag race to the finish line. Although he secured a top-three finish, he expressed frustration to the media post-race:

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. I mean I hate it because I felt like we were one of the top-five cars today and had a good shot. The 12 was deservingly one of the faster cars, and with all the carnage, it took out some other guys early.  

“I just got a little too far ahead of the 99 and he got a good side draft through the corner. I didn’t think the outside would prevail, but with the run down the front stretch and the side draft, that is what hurt us. I was looking at the 12 and I swore I was ahead of the 12 at the line, but obviously, my eyes are bad. Need more powerful glasses, I guess.”

Bubba Wallace:

Wallace expressed his appreciation to Suarez capturing his second Cup Series win. The Alabama native had one of the best views of the exciting finish; he was running behind the three leaders while approaching the finish line.

“Yeah, shout out to Daniel (Suarez). Know he needed that. He’s been in that situation before, so nice to see him rise to the occasion. What a day.”

Daniel Suarez:

Suarez’s name will be written down in the history books as he was crowned the winner of the third-closest finish in NASCAR history. The 32-year-old spoke about the closing moments before his win and acknowledged the strength of his competitors.

““Yeah, those four Penske’s were pretty strong. We knew that it was going to take something special today to beat them. But at the start/finish line, Kyle Busch was doing a hell of a job pushing me and when it mattered, he tried to go for the win. I felt like if Kyle wasn’t going to go for the win, I wasn’t going to win it. That really helped me to go three-wide and to the top, so it was amazing. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr:

Earnhardt Jr. expressed his reaction to the finish over social media on X. The 26-time Cup Series winner expressed the hard work of Suarez and the No. 99 team to get themselves into a race-winning position:

“Congrats @daniel_suarezG, Well deserved. The mental gymnastics and toughness to get through that entire event and put the moves together was so impressive.”

Sunday’s finish will be remembered for decades. The Ambetter Health 400 will be known as one of the best races in NASCAR history. Tune into the third Cup Series race of 2024 next Sunday at 3:30 pm EST as the stars head out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.