2006 Food City 500

Last updated
2006 Food City 500
Race details [1]
Race 5 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2006 Food City 500 program cover.jpeg
2006 Food City 500 program cover, featuring Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Date March 26, 2006 (2006-03-26)
Location Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures approaching 41 °F (5 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h) [2]
Average speed 79.427 miles per hour (127.825 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time Owner points
Most laps led
DriverTony StewartJoe Gibbs Racing
Laps 245
Winner
No. 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds

The 2006 Food City 500 was an event held at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 26, 2006, as the fifth race in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

Contents

Qualifying

Qualifying was canceled due to extreme weather conditions, so the field was set with the top 35 owners points from 2005, the Champion's Provisional (for Terry Labonte) and seven others, based on qualifying attempts in 2006. As a result, 2005 champion Tony Stewart sat on the pole.

  1. Tony Stewart#20 Home Depot Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing
  2. Greg Biffle#16 Subway/National Guard Ford Roush Racing
  3. Carl Edwards#99 Office Depot Ford Roush Racing
  4. Mark Martin#6 AAA Ford Roush Racing
  5. Jimmie Johnson#48 Lowe's Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsport
  6. Ryan Newman#12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing
  7. Matt Kenseth#17 USG Sheetrock/DeWalt Ford Roush Racing
  8. Jamie McMurray#26 Sharpie Ford Roush Racing
  9. Kurt Busch#2 Miller Lite Dodge Penske Racing
  10. Jeremy Mayfield#19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Evernham Motorsport
  11. Jeff Gordon#24 DuPont Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsport
  12. Casey Mears#42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing
  13. Elliott Sadler#38 M&M's Ford Robert Yates Racing
  14. Kevin Harvick#29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
  15. Dale Jarrett#88 UPS Ford Robert Yates Racing
  16. Joe Nemechek#01 U.S. Army Chevrolet MB2 Motorsport
  17. Brian Vickers#25 GMAC Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsport
  18. Jeff Burton#31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
  19. Dale Earnhardt Jr#8 Budweiser Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Inc
  20. Kyle Busch#5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsport
  21. Ken Schrader#21 Little Debbie Ford Wood Brothers
  22. Reed Sorensen*#41 Target Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing
  23. Kasey Kahne#9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Evernham Motorsport
  24. JJ Yeley*#18 AsthmaControl.com Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing
  25. Martin Truex Jr*#1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Inc
  26. David Stremme*#40 Lone Star Steakhouse Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing
  27. Clint Bowyer*#07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
  28. Kyle Petty#45 Schwans Dodge Petty Enterprises
  29. Jeff Green#66 Best Buy Chevrolet Haas CNC Racing
  30. Bobby Labonte#43 Cheerios Dodge Petty Enterprises
  31. Brent Sherman*#49 Serta Dodge BAM Racing
  32. Dave Blaney#22 Caterpillar Dodge Bill Davis Racing
  33. Denny Hamlin*#11 FedEx Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing
  34. Michael Waltrip#55 NAPA Dodge Waltrip-Jasper Racing
  35. Sterling Marlin#14 Waste Management Chevrolet MB2 Motorsport
  36. Terry Labonte#96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet Hall of Fame Racing
  37. Robby Gordon#7 Menards Chevrolet Robby Gordon M'tsport
  38. Scott Riggs#10 Valvoline Dodge Evernham Motorsport
  39. Kevin Lepage#61 RoadLoans.com FordPeak Performance M'tsport
  40. Scott Wimmer#4 Aero Exhaust Chevrolet Morgan McClure M'tsport
  41. Travis Kvapil#32 Tide Chevrolet PPI Motorsport
  42. Hermie Sadler#00 Aaron's Ford Michael Waltrip Racing
  43. Stanton Barrett#95 hairofdog.com Chevrolet Barrett Racing

Did Not Qualify

* Denotes Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate ** Denotes Owner Points required *** Denotes Past Champions Provisional Needed

Race recap

Qualifying was cancelled on March 24 due to snow, sleet and rain, and the field was set with top 35 owners points from 2005, the Champion's Provisional (for Terry Labonte) and seven others, based on qualifying attempts in 2006. As a result, 2005 champion Tony Stewart sat on the pole.

The race featured 18 cautions, and over 100 of the 500 laps were run under the yellow flag. Points leader Jimmie Johnson made contact with the car of Reed Sorenson, which caused a flat tire and put the #48 car several laps down; this would lead to him finishing 30th. Lap 188 saw the most notable wreck of the first half of the race, where Clint Bowyer spun Dave Blaney, causing a chain reaction collecting David Stremme, Brian Vickers, and Michael Waltrip. This brought out a red flag to cleanup.

Jeff Gordon spun Martin Truex, Jr. out on lap 415, collecting Jeff Burton, Robby Gordon, and J. J. Yeley. Kurt Busch, who had made up two laps lost earlier in the day due to tire problems, used the "bump-and-run" to nudge Matt Kenseth out of the lead with four laps to go. Gordon used the same tactic to take third but on the final lap, Kenseth used the bump and run to spin Gordon out as Busch raced to victory. Gordon finished 21st and was involved in a shoving match with Kenseth on pit road after the race, for which he was put on probation and fined $10,000 by NASCAR.

Kurt Busch celebrates after winning the 2006 Food City 500. KurtBuschBristol2006.jpg
Kurt Busch celebrates after winning the 2006 Food City 500.

Besides the dyed between Gordon and Kenseth, there also was bitter rivalry shown between Busch and Kevin Harvick following contact last week at Atlanta. During the pre-race ceremonies and in the drivers meeting, Harvick spent his time taunting Busch for no good reason. Busch ignored his insults and dismissed reporters. Harvick had been complaining about Busch all week and once retorted that Roger Penske (Busch's team owner) would make a fool of himself in hiring Busch. NASCAR warned Busch and Harvick that if they got into a feud on the track, they would get penalized. Busch later won the race and Harvick ended up second. When interviewed, Kevin was not finished and said "I am glad for my second-place spot but seeing Kurt [Busch] up there is terrible. I hate to see him win. He is a big whiner."

The win was Busch's fifth in 11 career races at the track and the fifteenth in his career. It was Dodge's first win at Bristol since Richard Petty in 1975.

Race results

PosGridDriverNo.MakePointsBonusLapsWinnings
19 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge 1855500$175,858
214 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 1755500$160,886
37 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 1705500$166,566
43 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 1600500$122,575
530 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge 155500$138,836
64 Mark Martin 6 Ford 150500$105,825
72 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 1515500$105,150
820 Kyle Busch 5 Chevrolet 1475500$102,450
96 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge 138500$129,258
1023 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge 134500$125,864
1119 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevrolet 130500$124,516
121 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet 13710500$168,886
1313 Elliott Sadler 38 Ford 124500$115,733
1433 Denny Hamlin *11 Chevrolet 121500$88,000
1529 Jeff Green 66 Chevrolet 118500$113,458
1610 Jeremy Mayfield 19 Dodge 115500$115,866
1735 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet 112500$101,783
1828 Kyle Petty 45 Dodge 109500$107,633
1940 Scott Wimmer 4 Chevrolet 106500$85,050
2015 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford 103500$119,475
2111 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 1055500$129,336
2222 Reed Sorenson *41 Dodge 97499$92,350
2332 Dave Blaney 22 Dodge 94499$96,683
2421 Ken Schrader 21 Ford 91499$111,014
2512 Casey Mears 42 Dodge 88498$118,083
2637 Robby Gordon 7 Chevrolet 85497$83,300
2736 Terry Labonte 96 Chevrolet 82497$80,060
2816 Joe Nemechek 01 Chevrolet 79495$109,255
2927 Clint Bowyer *07 Chevrolet 76495$90,800
305 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 73487$128,486
3139 Kevin Lepage 61 Ford 755485$81,150
3234 Michael Waltrip 55 Dodge 67481$88,147
3324 J.J. Yeley *18 Chevrolet 64469$114,075
3418 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 61467$104,845
358 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford 58440$125,275
3626 David Stremme *40 Dodge 55435$86,400
3717 Brian Vickers 25 Chevrolet 52434$86,350
3825 Martin Truex Jr. *1 Chevrolet 49430$86,300
3943 Stanton Barrett 95 Chevrolet 46381$78,240
4041 Travis Kvapil 32 Chevrolet 43349$78,165
4138 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge 40344$78,115
4231 Brent Sherman *49 Dodge 37302$78,060
4342 Hermie Sadler 00 Chevrolet 3496$77,481

Failed to make field: Chad Chaffin (#34), Mike Skinner (#37), Mike Garvey (#51), Derrike Cope (#74), Kenny Wallace (#78), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Chad Blount (#92).

Related Research Articles

2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 57th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 57th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 34th modern-era Cup series. The season began on Saturday, February 12. The ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400.

YellaWood 500 Auto race held at Talladega, United States

The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the others being the GEICO 500 in May, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and the Daytona 500. Through 1996, this race was normally held in early August or late July. In 1997, it was moved to early October due to the uncomfortably hot summer temperatures, and sometimes unpredictable summertime thunderstorms in the Alabama area. In 2009, the race moved again, this time to November 1 as part of a realignment agreement with Atlanta and Fontana.

2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 58th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 58th season of professional Stock car racing in the United States and the 35th modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. It was started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on Monday, November 20, with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the Nextel Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17, at New Hampshire International Speedway. This was the last full-time season with the Gen 4 car.

2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 56th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 56th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 33rd modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Saturday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch, who drove a Ford for Roush Racing, was the Nextel Cup champion. It would be the last time until 2012 that the championship would be won by someone other than Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson.

2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series 55th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 55th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 32nd modern-era Cup Series season. The season began on February 8 at the Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. Despite only winning one race throughout the whole season, Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Racing, was strongly consistent following the lone win, and was crowned the Winston Cup champion. His only win came in the third race of the 36 race season. Chevrolet took home the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins and 264 points over second-place finisher Dodge, who had nine wins and 203 points. Ford finished the year third with seven wins and 200 points, and Pontiac finished fourth with one win and 125 points.

2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series 54th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 54th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 31st modern-era Cup Series season. It began on February 10, 2002, at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 17, 2002, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was declared as the Winston Cup champion. Bill Elliott won the 2002 NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award. He would win it for the 16th and final time in his career. He withdrew from the ballot after receiving the award. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was captured by Ford after winning 14 events and gaining 245 points over second-place finisher Chevrolet, who had 10 wins and 211 points.

2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series 53rd season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.

2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 59th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 59th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 36th modern-era Cup series. Beginning on February 10 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, the season ended on November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. The Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway and was contested over the final ten races.

2007 Daytona 500 49th iteration of the Daytona 500

The 2007 Daytona 500, the 49th running of the event, was the first race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, taking place on February 18, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Kevin Harvick won the race by 0.02 second over Mark Martin in the closest finish since the first race at Daytona International Speedway when it took three days to declare Lee Petty the winner in 1959. The race was decided by a green-white-checker finish for the third year in a row, with two extra laps added for a total of 202 laps and 505 miles (813 km).

2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Motor car race

The 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was the sixteenth stock car race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the first of the season's two road course events. It was held on June 24, 2007 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California before a crowd of 102,000. The 90-lap race was won by Juan Pablo Montoya of the Chip Ganassi Racing team who started from thirty-second position. Kevin Harvick finished second and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton came in third.

2008 Aarons 499 Motor car race

The 2008 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. It was held on April 27, 2008, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama.

The Sprint Pit Crew Challenge was an event held by NASCAR annually at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The event was an exhibition pit stop contest featuring the top teams from the Sprint Cup Series. The event was cancelled for 2013 due to lack of sponsorship.

2012 Aarons 499 Motor car race

The 2012 Aaron's 499 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 6, 2012 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Contested over 194 laps, it was the tenth race of the 2012 season. Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing took his second win of the season, while Kyle Busch finished second and Matt Kenseth finished third.

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 65th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 65th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 42nd modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 24. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17.

2003 Food City 500 Motor car race

The 2003 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on March 23, 2003, before a crowd of 160,000, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The 500-lap race was won by Kurt Busch of the Roush Racing team after starting from ninth position. Matt Kenseth finished in second and Bobby Labonte came in third.

2004 Subway 400 Motor car race

The 2004 Subway 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on February 22, 2004, at North Carolina Speedway in Richmond County, North Carolina. The race was the second of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 67th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, the Budweiser Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch won the championship, despite missing the first third of the season due to severe leg injuries suffered in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Busch also became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Despite not running the full season, Brett Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year.

2004 Subway 500 Motor car race

The 2004 Subway 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race held on October 24, 2004 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps, the race was the 32nd of the 36-race 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, and the sixth race in the 2004 Chase for the Nextel Cup.

2004 Pop Secret 500 Motor car race

The 2004 Pop Secret 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race held on September 5, 2004 at California Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps on the 2-mile (3.23 km) asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the twenty-fifth race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Elliott Sadler of Robert Yates Racing won the race.

2004 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race

The 2004 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on March 7, 2004, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. Contested at 267 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 3rd race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing won the race.

References

  1. Official results of the 2006 Food City 500 at NASCAR.com
  2. Weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  3. "Qualifying times: Food City 500". Crash. 2006-03-25. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
Previous race:
2006 Golden Corral 500
Nextel Cup Series
2006 season
Next race:
2006 DirecTV 500