Joe Nemechek took the U.S. Army for a winning ride Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup veteran scored his fourth career victory by holding off Ricky Rudd in the Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods. The margin of victory was 0.081 seconds as Rudd tried everything within the rules to overhaul him.
Rudd made a late charge to catch and surprise Nemechek, who was trying to save fuel despite getting a big jump on the restart with 13 laps to go. Rudd pulled alongside Nemechek with two laps to go, but he couldnt complete the pass.
"I was like, 'Holy moley,' " said Nemechek of Rudd. "I had to get back on (the gas). He got up beside me one time, but I wasnt going to let it happen.
Nemechek ended a 54-race winless streak in the series, having last won at Richmond International Raceway in 2003. He also swept both weekend races at Kansas Speedway. On Saturday he won the Mr. Goodcents 300, the Busch Series race, by a half of a car length over Greg Biffle.
Biffle, who drives the National Guard Ford in the Cup division, finished third in Sundays race. That gave the armed services a top-three sweep as Rudd drives a Ford for the Air Force in partnership with Motorcraft.
Rudd felt he might have won his first race since 2002 had he not got caught on the outside of Shane Hmiel on the final restart. Rudd preferred to be on the inside groove, and his delay getting there allowed Nemechek and second-place Elliott Sadler to get away to a sizable lead.
Once clear of the lapped car, Rudd closed quickly on the leaders and passed Sadler with ease. Rudd thought he was faster than Nemechek, but he was afraid to take a chance of wrecking both cars when his car bobbled alongside Nemecheks.
"I got to his door, but my car slipped," Rudd said.
Rudd said Nemechek deserved to win with the personal struggles he's endured.
Nemechek lost his brother, John, then 27 years old, in a stock car crash at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in 1997.
Nemecheks team has had its share of troubles, too. Jerry Nadeau was injured in its car last season at Richmond. The victory was the first for crew chief Ryan Pemberton.
It was a big weekend for all of Army. Saturday, its college football team ended a 19-game losing streak, the nations longest.
The day wasn't particularly kind to the 10 drivers competing for the NEXTEL Cup championship. The top finisher was Sadler in fourth place with Jeremy Mayfield in fifth, Kurt Busch in sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in ninth. Sadler improved four positions in the standings.
Jeff Gordon, who won Kansas Speedway races in 2001 and 2002, finished 13th with Tony Stewart 14th. Matt Kenseth was 17th and Mark Martin 20th.
Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman, last year's winner here, had difficult days. They finished 32nd and 33rd, respectively, after spinning.
Busch also spun, but he had one of the stronger cars at the finish to maintain the points lead with six races to go. He said he was lucky not to hit anything.
"I closed my eyes and turned the (steering) wheel," he said.
Busch leads Earnhardt by 29 points with Gordon 79 points behind. Busch said it is too early to be thinking about the championship.
"Things can happen here so quickly," he said.
The Banquet 400 was sold out for the fourth consecutive year. To add your name to the Kansas Speedway wait list for 2005, please call the speedways ticket office at 913.328.RACE or toll free at 866.460.RACE.
