2006 Golden Corral 500

2006 Golden Corral 500

Race details [1]
Race 4 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2006 Golden Corral 500 program cover
Date	March 20, 2006 (2006-03-20)
Official name	Golden Corral 500
Location	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.54 miles (2.48 km)
Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Weather	Cold with temperatures approaching 59 °F (15 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h) [2]
Average speed	144.098 miles per hour (231.903 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing
Laps	128
Winner
No. 9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2006 Golden Corral 500 was the fourth race in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season which took place on March 20, 2006, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Rain showers forced the green flag to be moved back to Monday. Television coverage moved to cable's FX channel for the race (with some exceptions).

Race recap

Kasey Kahne sat on the pole with a speed of 192.553 mph, edging Ryan Newman by .002 seconds. Bill Lester qualified 19th in the #23 Dodge Charger, becoming the first African-American to start a NASCAR Nextel Cup race since 1986. He finished 38th, six laps down.

For the first time during the season there were no extra laps at the end of the race. Last year's Atlanta winner, Carl Edwards eliminated himself from contention early. He damaged the front end of the 99 car after hitting Dave Blaney on pit road on lap 45 during a caution to address the stopped car of Kyle Busch. Bobby Labonte ran in the top 10 for the first 50 laps before his engine failed on lap 55. Another scary incident took place on pit road during the sixth caution of the day (laps 189–197), when Reed Sorenson hit John Slusher, catch can man for Robby Gordon's crew, as he pulled out of his pit stall. Slusher was attached to a backboard but treated at the infield care center.

Several rookies had good days at Atlanta. Paul Menard and Reed Sorenson finished in the top ten, and Denny Hamlin led 16 laps. He was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop because of a loose condition, and finished 31st.

On the track, the 9 car was near the front all day. Kahne took the lead from Greg Biffle with 79 laps to go. Despite a challenge from Mark Martin, Kahne was not seriously challenged down the stretch and visited victory lane for the second time in his career. Kahne was the first driver to win from the pole since Matt Kenseth in the 2005 Sharpie 500.

Qualifying

Pos [3] [4]	Car #	Driver	Make	Speed	Time	Behind
1	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	192.553	28.792	0.000
2	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	192.540	28.794	-0.002
3	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	191.973	28.879	-0.087
4	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	191.914	28.888	-0.096
5	18	J. J. Yeley	Chevrolet	191.854	28.897	-0.105
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	191.794	28.906	-0.114
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Chevrolet	191.695	28.921	-0.129
8	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	191.496	28.951	-0.159
9	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	191.357	28.972	-0.180
10	42	Casey Mears	Dodge	191.245	28.989	-0.197
11	6	Mark Martin	Ford	190.968	29.031	-0.239
12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	190.962	29.032	-0.240
13	1	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	190.922	29.038	-0.246
14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	190.817	29.054	-0.262
15	41	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	190.804	29.056	-0.264
16	07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	190.765	29.062	-0.270
17	5	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	190.633	29.082	-0.290
18	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	190.568	29.092	-0.300
19	23	Bill Lester	Dodge	190.502	29.102	-0.310
20	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	189.928	29.190	-0.398
21	20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	189.895	29.195	-0.403
22	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	189.785	29.212	-0.420
23	61	Kevin Lepage	Ford	189.720	29.222	-0.430
24	55	Michael Waltrip	Dodge	189.649	29.233	-0.441
25	21	Ken Schrader	Ford	189.441	29.265	-0.473
26	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	189.396	29.272	-0.480
27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	189.357	29.278	-0.486
28	38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	189.286	29.289	-0.497
29	10	Scott Riggs	Dodge	189.131	29.313	-0.521
30	22	Dave Blaney	Dodge	189.092	29.319	-0.527
31	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	188.552	29.403	-0.611
32	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	188.398	29.427	-0.635
33	14	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	188.398	29.427	-0.635
34	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	188.341	29.436	-0.644
35	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet	188.264	29.448	-0.656
36	7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	188.162	29.464	-0.672
37	25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	188.041	29.483	-0.691
38	40	David Stremme	Dodge	187.970	29.494	-0.702
39	66	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	187.843	29.514	-0.722
40	49	Brent Sherman	Dodge	187.614	29.550	-0.758
41	00	Hermie Sadler	Ford	187.304	29.599	-0.807
42	4	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet	187.139	29.625	-0.833
43	96	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet		29.902
Failed to qualify
44	51	Mike Garvey	Chevrolet		29.651
45	95	Stanton Barrett	Chevrolet		29.862
46	34	Chad Chaffin	Chevrolet		29.895
47	74	Derrick Cope	Dodge		29.898
48	78	Kenny Wallace	Chevrolet		29.899
49	32	Travis Kvapil	Chevrolet		29.980
50	37	Mike Skinner	Dodge		30.039
51	13	Greg Sacks	Ford		30.110
52	92	Chad Blount	Chevrolet		30.919

Race results

Fin	St	Car #	Driver	Make	Points	Bonus	Laps	Winnings
1	1	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	185	5	325	$197,664
2	11	6	Mark Martin	Ford	170		325	$127,800
3	26	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	165		325	$138,841
4	12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	165	5	325	$137,236
5	21	20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	160	5	325	$154,961
6	14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	150		325	$121,761
7	22	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	146		325	$78,625
8	32	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	142		325	$108,133
9	31	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	138		325	$109,850
10	15	41	Reed Sorenson *	Dodge	134		325	$89,225
11	29	10	Scott Riggs	Dodge	130		325	$74,650
12	17	5	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	127		325	$88,025
13	27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	124		325	$118,616
14	34	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	121		325	$108,350
15	5	18	J. J. Yeley *	Chevrolet	118		325	$109,050
16	8	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	125	10	325	$104,175
17	13	1	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	112		325	$99,020
18	2	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	114	5	325	$115,033
19	35	1	Martin Truex Jr. *	Chevrolet	106		324	$92,608
20	24	55	Michael Waltrip	Dodge	108	5	324	$85,158
21	10	42	Casey Mears	Dodge	100		324	$105,908
22	43	96	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	102	5	324	$67,850
23	37	25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	94		324	$80,200
24	25	21	Ken Schrader	Ford	91		324	$98,164
25	3	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	93	5	324	$97,870
26	39	66	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	85		324	$90,033
27	16	07	Clint Bowyer *	Chevrolet	82		324	$78,060
28	36	7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	79		324	$69,810
29	28	38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	76		324	$97,433
30	42	4	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet	73		323	$69,900
31	7	11	Denny Hamlin *	Chevrolet	75	5	323	$70,125
32	30	22	Dave Blaney	Dodge	67		323	$75,797
33	38	40	David Stremme *	Dodge	64		322	$75,125
34	33	14	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	61		322	$66,130
35	23	61	Kevin Lepage	Ford	63	5	322	$66,190
36	40	49	Brent Sherman *	Dodge	55		322	$66,055
37	9	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	57	5	321	$99,153
38	19	23	Bill Lester	Dodge	PE		319	$65,985
39	6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	46		313	$102,876
40	18	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	43		313	$85,700
41	20	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	40		235	$95,846
42	41	0	Hermie Sadler	Ford	37		166	$65,815
43	4	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	39	5	56	$103,725

Failed to qualify: Mike Garvey (#51), Stanton Barrett (#95), Chad Chaffin (#34), Derrike Cope (#74), Kenny Wallace (#78), Travis Kvapil (#32), Mike Skinner (#37), Greg Sacks (#13), Chad Blount (#92)

References

1. Official results at NASCAR.com
2. Weather information at the Old Farmer's Almanac
3. "Qualifying times: Golden Corral 500". Crash. March 18, 2006. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
4. "Golden Corral 500 Qualifying Results and Starting Lineup Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR 2006". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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Nextel Cup Series 2006 season

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