Veteran driver holds off Ricky Rudd to win Sunday's race
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The biggest gripe about NASCAR's new 10-man Chase for the Nextel Cup championship was that the drivers not in the title battle would be ignored.
Nobody could ignore Joe Nemechek on Sunday after he held off Ricky Rudd to win the Banquet 400 and finish off a weekend sweep at Kansas Speedway.
"The guys in the championship chase have more to lose than we do," Nemechek said. "We're on the offense, not on defense."
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This one was almost as close as his half car-length victory over Greg Biffle in the Busch Series event Saturday, with Nemechek and Rudd racing side-by-side and bumping once with a lap to go before Nemechek took control again and beat Rudd to the finish by 0.081 seconds -- about 1 1/4 car-lengths.
Nemechek, who did a backward victory lap on the 1 1/2-mile oval to honor the memory of his brother, John, killed in a truck race in Homestead, Fla., in 1997, was relieved to win after nearly getting too conservative at the end.
"There at the end I was trying to save gas and here come Ricky Rudd out of nowhere," Nemechek said. "I was like, 'Holy Moley.' I had to get back on it. He got beside me one time, but I wasn't going to let it happen."
"I got hung up in traffic and Joe had a half-a-straightaway lead on us," Rudd said. "I caught him somehow and I got to his door, but my car was slipping and I had to ease off so I didn't take us both out. Joe and I, neither one, needed that type of ending to a great day for both of us."
Rudd raced to only his second top-10 finish of the year, both coming since being reunited with crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain in August.
"I was getting really, really good gas mileage and we elected to stay out when those other guys pitted for a splash of gas," Nemechek said. "It worked out just perfect for us."
He passed Rudd and Jamie McMurray and dueled with championship contender Elliott Sadler before grabbing the lead on lap 231, staying out front the rest of the way for his fourth career victory and first since May 2003 at Richmond. It is the first time since the championship battle began last month at New Hampshire that one of the title contenders has not won..
Jeff Gordon, who finished 13th, is third, 79 points behind after four of 10 races in NASCAR's new championship format.
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NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup
Banquet 400
Sunday
At Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kan.
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
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1. (1) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 267, $279,725.
2. (12) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 267, $177,840.
3. (6) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, $147,825.
4. (11) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 267, $120,875.
5. (3) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 267, $110,675.
6. (22) Kurt Busch, Ford, 267, $91,825.
7. (10) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 267, $88,800.
8. (9) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 267, $84,800.
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9. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $88,500.
10. (13) Brendan Gaughan, Dodge, 267, $82,375.
11. (26) Machael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 267, $79,075.
12. (2) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 267, $76,575.
13. (30) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $81,700.
14. (24) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, $74,450.
15. (17) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 267, $74,950.
16. (5) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 267, $73,650.
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17. (15) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 267, $77,650.
18. (36) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 267, $72,050.
19. (25) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 267, $71,450.
20. (18) Mark Martin, Ford, 267, $72,800.
21. (19) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 267, $70,250.
22. (16) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, $69,650.
23. (31) Bobby Hamilton Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $69,975.
24. (38) Shane Hmiel, Dodge, 265, $68,450.
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25. (33) Jimmy Spencer, Chevrolet, 265, $68,250.
26. (14) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 265, $67,250.
27. (32) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 265, $66,650.
28. (23) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 265, $66,050.
29. (27) Jeff Green, Dodge, 262, $65,850.
30. (35) Ward Burton, Chevrolet, 255, $66,100.
31. (21) Casey Mears, Dodge, 243, $65,400.
32. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 239, accident, $65,200.
33. (7) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 223, accident, $75,000.
34. (28) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 216, accident, $65,725.
35. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 160, overheating, $64,600.
36. (37) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 146, overheating, $64,400.
37. (34) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 136, accident, $64,175.
38. (39) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 88, handling, $63,975.
39. (20) Todd Bodine, Dodge, 66, steering box, $63,765.
40. (41) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet, 38, rear end, $63,550.
41. (43) Stanton Barrett, Ford, 30, vibration, $63,355.
42. (40) Larry Gunselman, Ford, 26, suspension, $63,170.
43. (42) Kirk Shelmerdine, Ford, 3, clutch, $63,212.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 3 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.081 seconds.
Winner's Average Speed: 128.058 mph.
Caution Flags: Nine for 39 laps.
Lead Changes: 24 among 12 drivers.
Lap Leadezs: J.Nemechek (Pole Winner); J.Mayfield 5-16; K.Kahne 17-19; J.Mayfield 20-62; G.Biffle 63-73; J.Mayfield 74; R.Newman 75-76; R.Rudd 77-78; K.Busch 79; K.Kahne 80-110; G.Biffle 111-130; J.Mayfield 131; R.Newman 132-137; D.Jarrett 138-139; K.Kahne 140-143; J.Mayfield 144-158; C.Mears 159-172; G.Biffle 173-195; D.Jarrett 196-197; K.Kahne 198; T.Labonte 199; G.Biffle 200-209; J.McMurray 210-228; E.Sadler 229-230; J.Nemechek 231-267.
Point Standings: 1. K.Busch, 5,685. 2. D.Earnhardt Jr., 5,656. 3. J.Gordon, 5,606. 4. E.Sadler, 5,542. 5. M.Martin, 5,535. 6. T.Stewart, 5,512. 7. M.Kenseth, 5,505. 8. R.Newman, 5,453. 9 J.Johnson, 5,438. 10. J.Mayfield, 5,428.
