NASCAR was once the crown jewel of red-blooded, high-octane American sports.
But then the “genius” NASCAR brass and PR consultants decided to go woke.
And controversy erupted after a historic NASCAR finish revealed this crooked scheme.
A new controversy erupted in NASCAR at the Kansas Speedway last week, and this time it didn’t have to do with fake nooses or LGBTQ flags.
Historic finish marred by a bad paint job
The latest controversy ruined what was otherwise a historic finish to an exciting race.
NASCAR seems to be continually snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with mishaps, woke politics, and bizarre rules changes.
A late race-caution sent the AdventHealth 400 into overtime and set up a thrilling two-lap shootout to the checkered flag.
At the overtime restart, driver Chris Buescher took the lead and appeared well-positioned for his first win of the season.
Buescher led rival driver Kyle Larson heading into the final turn.
But the crafty Larson somehow was able to get to Buescher’s outside.
It then became a side-by-side drag race to the start-finish line, and what happened next was the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The final margin was just 0.001 seconds, or “roughly 1 inch,” according to NASCAR.
At first, it looked like Buescher had taken the victory.
His transponder, the device NASCAR uses for timing and scoring, showed him ahead of Larson.
But after NASCAR officials checked the high-speed cameras at the finish line, they ruled Larson won the race.
That is when the controversy erupted.
NASCAR can’t draw a straight line
Fans noticed the finish line painted on the racetrack wasn’t straight.
And in a race so close, many fans thought the crooked line could have made the difference.
But according to NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck, it turns out that the finish line painted on the track is not the actual finish line.
Instead, NASCAR uses high-speed cameras set up in the pit area that shoot a “laser” toward the finish line.
That “laser” line is the one that counts as the official start-finish line for the race.
Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass said that the high-speed cameras “take photos at about 6,000-8,000 frames per second anytime a car crosses the finish line.”
In fact, the technology used by NASCAR is the very same laser technology used at the Kentucky Derby.
And the picture that NASCAR officials used to determine the winner clearly showed his number 5 car ahead of the number 17 car at the official end of the race.
“They showed us the picture they created using the lasers. We were just wondering if they were using the painted line or not — they don’t,” Scott Graves, crew chief for Buescher’s team, said. “It’s actually that they have a photo system that is a lot more accurate than that. They showed us the picture of it, and it is what it is.”
Despite the explanation, many fans were still doubting the outcome and wondered if NASCAR had crashed and burned again.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
