WATCH: How NASCAR uses high speed cameras to decide photo finishes at the line

The Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway witnessed one of NASCAR's closest photo finishes, with three drivers crossing the line within 0.007 seconds of each other. Such a tight margin prompted the use of cameras and digital technology to declare the winner.

Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney battled three-wide to the checkered flag. NASCAR officials reviewed the footage from the high-speed cameras aligned with the start-finish camera to declare Suarez as the winner of the event, with a margin of 0.003s.

For every event, NASCAR uses two high-speed cameras focused on the start-finish to determine the classification. These cameras have a high frame rate, capturing between 6000 to 8000 frames per second when any car crosses the start-finish line.

Fox Sports reported Bob Pockrass provided some insights on these cameras and their installation ahead of the race weekend in Las Vegas. He wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

"NASCAR uses two high-speed photo cameras focused on the start-finish line to determine the finish. They take photos at about 6,000-8,0000 frames per second when any car crosses the finish line."

Watch the below video about high-speed photo cameras:

The high-speed photo cameras are not similar to the typical everyday cameras, as they use a completely different technology. Most sports relying on a start-finish line to determine the winner use a method called 'slit-scan photography', where the camera aperture is a vertical slit, lined up with the start-finish line.

These cameras only record a small part of the scene (a vertical strip at the finish line) and an image is created with the composition of the vertical strips of different moments in time. In such images, the background is usually blurred with the start-finish line usually represented with a digital red or green line.

The frame rate of the camera is adjusted to the approximate speed of the cars. This complicated methodology is used to classify race results.

---

NASCAR photographer elaborates on the crazy finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Alex Slitz, a photographer for Getty Images, took one of the most iconic photos in NASCAR's recent history, as he masterfully captured the three-wide finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway standing beside the flagman.

Race finish captured by Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Slitz captured the image with a Canon EOS R3 mirrorless camera and a Canon 15mm fisheye lens. Speaking to Petapixel.com, he admits that this was one of the most exciting moments of his career.

"This image has to be one of the most exciting of my career. I shot this handheld standing next to the flagman. Photographers with Getty Images are the only ones in the stand, so it’s a truly unique shot."

Alex Slitz believes that even though photographs capture only a fraction of time in a frame, they can add immense context, emotion, and detail to the narrative.