KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Joe Nemechek outdueled Ricky Rudd over the closing laps Sunday to win the Banquet 400 -- the fourth victory of his NASCAR career.
Nemechek, who won the pole for this event on Friday, was caught by Rudd with less than two laps remaining and they drove side by side for most of the rest of the way.
Rudd appeared to inch his way in front at the start of the final lap, but Nemechek was able to fight him off and win by less than a tenth of a second.
It was Nemechek's first victory since May of last year.
Greg Biffle finished third, followed by Elliott Sadler, Jeremy Mayfield and Kurt Busch.
By finishing sixth, Busch was able to stay in front of the Nextel Cup championship chase with six races to go.
Busch increased his lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. to 29 points. Earnhardt finished ninth in Sunday's race. Jeff Gordon is third in the championship hunt, 79 points behind.
Sadler moved into fourth place, 143 points behind Busch and seven points in front of Mark Martin.
