Photo – JONATHAN MCCOY / RUBBINGS RACING COPYRIGHT 2018 – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

After Friday’s announcement that NASCAR was adding the ARCA Racing Series to its portfolio, ARCA drivers Zane Smith and Joe Graf Jr. finished off an overtime duel in the General Tire 200 that may have produced the closest finish in modern stock car racing history.

Smith edged Graf by roughly one centimeter at the stripe, requiring a photo finish before the winner could be determined. Because ARCA timing and scoring is limited to hundredths of a second, the monitors in the media center showed a dead heat.

Watch the ARCA Talladega Finish

ARCA officials estimated a difference of 0.0029 seconds, but it was closer than that. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona in February, Tyler Reddick beat Elliott Sadler to the finish line by 0.0004 seconds, another estimate, given that NASCAR timing measures differences to thousandths of a second but not beyond.

The physical difference at the line between Reddick’s and Sadler’s cars was approximately three inches. The margin between Smith and Graf was smaller, no matter what the numbers might say.