Over the final four laps, Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven swapped the lead back and forth, and traded paint, sparks, and tire smoke all the way to the finish line for the closest finish in NASCAR history. Ricky Craven beat Busch by 0.002 seconds, which equates to about three inches.
"This will always be the greatest race of my life," said Craven.
"It was awesome. That's what it's all about," Busch said. "There was so much going on. My arms were numb, my brain was numb. The car felt like it weighed 10,000 pounds."
6) The Talladega Tussle
During any restrictor plate race at either Daytona or Talladega there's bound to be multiple lead changes.
However the bar was set, and not yet matched, in the 1984 Winston 500 when there was 75 lead changes.
The final lead change put Cale Yarborough in the lead and then victory lane.
5) Kevin Harvick's Victory at Atlanta
Three weeks after the death of Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick edged Jeff Gordon to win the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 by 0.006 seconds.
Afterward Harvick did a "John Force" burnout down the front stretch and held three fingers up, as did the fans. And everyone cried.
"I'm just thrilled," Richard Childress said. "I kept praying for Dale to help us and he did."
4) Hendrick Motorsports Spanks The Competition In 2007
It's obvious that HMS is a dominant company and have accomplished almost everything there is in NASCAR.
But after the performance that Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon turned in in 2007, it may never be match, not even by them.
Jeff Gordon led the series with a record 30 top ten finishes and racked up six victories.
During the Chase ,as he tried to capture his fifth championship, Gordon had a 5.1 finishing average. He would finish second in points.
That's because Jimmie Johnson went out and won ten races, including four straight during the Chase, which gave him a 5.0 finishing average in The Chase and his second championship.
At the end of the year, the HMS organization had 18 of 36 victories, with Casey Mears and Kyle Busch also adding a win apiece.
3) "The Fight"
The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first race that was televised in it's entirety.
At the end of a long day Donnie Allison was leading with Cale Yarborough in second. On the last lap Yarborough tried to draft by on the inside and the two would bump and bang door-to-door down the backstretch before crashing in the turn three wall.
The two got out of their cars and began to argue when Donnie's brother Bobby pulled up. More words were exchanged and that's when Bobby said "Cale went to beating my fist with his nose. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it."
It did become a story, one that was told for many days after that and helped prompt NASCAR's popularity.
2) Introducing Toyota
In January of 2006 Toyota Motorsports announced they would be entering the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series full time in 2007.
In 2004 they entered the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and a year later they started to dominate. Todd Bodine led the charge with six wins and a year after that he was the champion.
But in 2007 Toyota had no success in the Cup Series as their drivers struggled and the fans weren't welcoming.
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