Joe Nemechek edges Biffle for 16th win

Backstretch bumping knocked Tony Stewart out of the Kansas race.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Joe Nemechek kept Tony Stewart winless in the NASCAR Busch Series, then earned his first victory of the season in the series' closest race this year.
Stewart, who has a Winston Cup championship and an Indy Racing League title but has never won a Busch race, dominated all but the last few laps Saturday at Kansas Speedway.
But Nemechek reeled him in after a late restart, and Stewart was trying to hold him off when the two made contact in the backstretch with 11/2 laps to go.
"He just kept coming and coming, and I said, 'Please, please, don't come all the way up,' " said Nemechek, whose victory was the 16th of his Busch career. "But he come up, and his bumper poked a hole in the nose of my car, and he went into the wall."
Stewart spun into the backstretch wall, forcing a three-lap shootout that, combined with a caution lap, added 6 miles to the Mr. Goodcents 300.
Photo finish
Nemechek, who will start today's Nextel Cup race on the pole, held off Greg Biffle's Ford by .041 of a second.
"He just had a little more steam to the stripe," Biffle said, adding that neither Nemechek nor Stewart was to blame for the crash that took Stewart out.
"He was looking in the mirror, trying to mirror drive [Nemechek's No.] 87," Biffle said. "Someone said it looked like Joe never let up, but you can't tell once a car starts darting off like that."
Stewart, who finished 25th, left the track without commenting, while Nemechek said he felt compelled to apologize to his friend.
"It was one of those racing deals," he said. "I don't ever turn anyone, especially not on purpose."
Other wrecks kept the top two drivers from gaining much ground in the standings.
Points leader Martin Truex Jr. crashed in the third lap and did not return until the 47th lap, finishing 30th.
But Kyle Busch, who came into the race trailing Truex by 152 points, could not capitalize. He crashed in the 81st lap, was out for 27 laps and finished 29th -- gaining just three points on the leader.
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