NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: NASCAR’s Most Exciting Finishes 2000-2009
Race fans and drivers love a good finish...
SceneDaily.com  |  Posted December 24, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Ricky Craven’s win over Kurt Busch by 0.002 of a second at Darlington in 2003 is still the closest finish in NASCAR history. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Race fans and drivers love a good finish.
Ricky Craven’s win over Kurt Busch by 0.002 of a second at Darlington in 2003 is still the closest finish in NASCAR history. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Any race where the winner isn't clear entering the final lap, one where someone makes a daring move or pass to take the lead, catches their attention.

This decade certainly offered its share of tight finishes and ones where the win appeared to slip away from someone.

Here's NASCAR Scene’s take on the most exciting finishes of the decade:

1. Darlington, 2003: Ricky Craven edges Kurt Busch by 0.002 second in the closest finish in NASCAR history. A fender-banging, tire-smoking classic.

The reaction: “I’ll be 65 years old, I’ll be sitting on the porch with my wife, and I’ll tell this 100,000 times about how we won. It’ll probably be a thousandth of a second at that point.” – Craven

"My arms are numb; my brain is numb. When you’re out there digging for the lead, it kind of camouflages some of the hurt.” – Busch

2. Talladega, 2000: Dale Earnhardt charges from 18th to first in the final four laps for what would be his final victory.

The reaction: “It was wild. I didn’t have any thought that I had a chance to win this race starting where I did on that restart. … It’s one of the great, if not the greatest, Talladega races I’ve probably ever run.” – Earnhardt

3. Atlanta, 2001: Kevin Harvick beats Jeff Gordon by 0.006 second in an emotional victory for grief-stricken Richard Childress Racing, three weeks after Earnhardt’s death.

The reaction: “I think there was a higher power who wanted to see that outcome.” – Harvick

“I just looked up in the sky and said, ‘I need your help, old buddy,’ and he was there. I could see his mustache break out in that big old smile.” – team owner Richard Childress

4. Talladega, 2009: Rookie Brad Keselowski pulls the upset of the year when he hits Carl Edwards on the final lap, sending Edwards’ car flying through the air and into the frontstretch fence.

The reaction: “I was here to win, and I’ve got no other reason to be here than to win and put these guys in victory lane.” – Keselowski

“I guess we’ll race like this until somebody gets killed, and then we’ll change it.” – Edwards

5. Daytona 500, 2007: Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin take the checkered flag side by side, with Harvick winning by inches as teammate Clint Bowyer slides across the finish line on his roof.

The reaction: “It’s a great win. … It gives me thoughts back to our win here [with Earnhardt] in ’98.” – team owner Richard Childress

“Kind of cool, huh? It would have been a lot better if I was in the lead.” – Bowyer


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