Nemechek Wins at Fort Worth

Joe Nemechek won his second NASCAR Busch Series race of the season Saturday, crossing the finish line under caution in an event marred by two red flags and eight other caution periods at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Nemechek was in front on the restart on the 196th of 200 laps in the O’Reilly 300 after the second red flag, which was brought out after a chain-reaction accident that involved 15 cars and caused a 22-minute stoppage.

On the second lap after the restart, Hermie Sadler spun and hit the wall after being bumped from behind by Regan Smith. That brought out the final caution and Nemechek’s Chevrolet beat Scott Riggs’ Ford to the finish line.

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Yamaha’s Chad Reed won his fifth 250cc THQ World Supercross GP/AMA Supercross Series race of the season, edging Honda’s Ricky Carmichael at Houston.

Boxing

World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis can fight Mike Tyson, as long as that bout is followed by a mandatory defense against Vitali Klitschko. WBC vice president Ruben Martinez said that Lewis has until June 30 to fight Tyson, a more lucrative fight than a bout against Klitschko.

Former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman fought David Tua to a draw in an International Boxing Federation elimination bout at Philadelphia. Rahman (35-4-1), winless since he shocked WBC champion Lennox Lewis nearly two years ago, effectively neutralized the knockout power from Tua (42-3-1). But Rahman also was unable to do much damage himself.

Undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins stopped European champion Morrade Hakkar after eight rounds of a scheduled 12-round bout. Hopkins (42-2-1), defending his title for the 16th time, overpowered Hakkar (29-4) and the fight was stopped after the eighth round, on the request of Hakkar’s corner.

Dariusz Michalczewski stopped Derrick Harmon in the ninth round at Hamburg, Germany, to defend his World Boxing Organization light-heavyweight title for the 23rd time. Michalczewski (48-0) knocked Harmon (23-4) down 1 minute 2 seconds into ninth and Harmon couldn’t beat the count.

Swimming

Caesar Garcia won the platform diving competition to help Auburn win the team title in the NCAA men’s swimming and diving championships at Austin, Texas. Auburn won with 609.5 points. Texas, the winner the last three years, finished second with 413 points.

Brendan Hansen and Aaron Peirsol set NCAA records for the Longhorns. Hansen won the 200-yard breaststroke for the third straight year, breaking his own record with a time of 1 minute 52.62 seconds. He set the previous mark of 1:52.88 last year.

Peirsol, a freshman from Newport Harbor High, won the 200 backstroke in 1:39.16, breaking the mark of 1:40.06 set in 1995 by Stanford’s Brian Retterer.

USC’s Erik Vendt defended his title in the 1,650 freestyle, finishing in 14:29.85.

Pro Football

Running back Fred Taylor and the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $20 million and filled with incentives that will pay him simply for suiting up. The contract, which could keep him in Jacksonville through 2007, includes an $8-million signing bonus and guarantees his salary of $530,000 next season and $1 million in 2004.

The Green Bay Packers will match the Detroit Lions’ offer for outside linebacker Na’il Diggs, Coach Mike Sherman said. Diggs, a free agent, signed an offer sheet from the Lions last weekend. According to reports, the deal was for four years and $10 million, including a $2.8-million signing bonus.

Clint Dolezel threw five touchdown passes to help Grand Rapids (6-3) beat Chicago, 48-34, in an Arena Football League game at Grand Rapids, Mich.... Jose Davis threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Brown with five seconds left to give Arizona (4-5) a 62-55 victory over host Dallas (5-4).... Host Las Vegas defeated Georgia (6-3), 46-41, to improve to 5-4.

Cross-Country

Deena Drossin, trying to become the first American to win the World Cross-Country championship since Lynn Jennings in 1992, lost her lead in the final 250 meters of the five-mile race at Avenches, Switzerland, and finished second to Ethiopia’s Werknesh Kidane.

Passings

Pat Kelly, a former tight end at Syracuse who played four years in the NFL, died Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va., of brain cancer. He was 37. Kelly was drafted by Denver in 1988 and played for the Broncos (1988-89) before moving to the New York Jets (1990-91).