Did No Prep Kings Crown the Wrong Champion in Bandimere? Finish Line Footage Seems to Say “Yes!”

This year, when No Prep Kings made its way to Bandimere Speedway, the event was guaranteed to end with a new winner as competitors, Brandon James and Jerry Bird, had both found their way to the finals. With $40,000 on the line and neither having won at No Prep Kings, the stakes were pretty high here. It was certainly a treat to see the excitement on the face of whichever racer had what it took to go home victorious.

Other than the tension in the air over who was going to take the victory, the race seemed pretty normal. Both competitors got off to a strong start and it was a pure drag race all the way down the track as the cars were neck and neck. When the final call was made, Jerry Bird was deemed the winner by the timing system used during the race. As some observant viewers might’ve noticed, something about the footage made it look like Bird didn’t actually cross the finish line first.

Even though timing systems are pretty spot on, for the most part, they can have a little bit of a margin of error here and there. Sometimes, this error even comes down to the way that a car is set up, potentially not tripping the beams the way that it’s supposed to.

What we can say for sure, though, is that instant replay doesn’t lie and from the finish line footage, it’s relatively conclusive that James was the one who should’ve gone home with the win and the $40k. However, without calling the race into question, James would go home with a second-place finish.

Reddit user Maleficent-Cup3367 speculates that perhaps the reason for the timing system giving the win to Bird is because James’s “beam tripper” wasn’t adjusted to the proper height to set off the sensor at the finish line.

In any case, you can see the footage for yourself below. So, what’s your call in this close race?