The closest finish in IRL was 9/7/03 at Chicagoland Sam Hornish Jr beat Scott Dixon by .0100 seconds.
The closest finish at the Indy 500 was in 1992 with Al Unser Jr beating Scott Goodyear by .043 seconds.
1978
In 1978 Dick Mackey beat Rick Swenson by one second.
That was 1992 when Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds. Ironically, Goodyear lost the third closest finish in Indy 500 history in 1997 when Arie Luyenduk beat him by 0.57 seconds. Goodyear is currently an analyst of open wheel racing for ABC/ESPN and will be doing the telecast this year.
You'd need to specify a reason you think you might not have to finish the year in order for us to shoot it down in flames.(Basically, the general answer is yes, you have to finish the school year, but there might be specific circumstances in which you don't. For example, if you graduate early, then you've graduated and not only do you not have to finish out the year you probably can't finish out the year.)
1978: Dick Mackey beat Rick Swenson by one second.
Yes, Michael Schumaker did finish on the podium for the entire year with Ferrari.
December 31
No, 1348 was the closest year of the rat. 1349 was the year of the ox.
When Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch by .002 of a second at Darlington in 2003.
You have to finish a level with the secret goal on the level closest to the cannon.
The closest finish in the history of the American Race is arguably the first race in 1959, or the 2007 race. In the 1959 race, it took 3 days for the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing to declare Lee Petty as the winner. In 2007, Kevin Harvick edged out Mark Martin at the finish line to win by 0.02 seconds or two-one-hundredths of a second. To see the video of the finish just click on the link below.
1991