2006 Auto Club 500

The 2006 Auto Club 500 was the second race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on February 26, 2006 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

2006 Auto Club 500
Race details[1]
Race 2 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Track map of Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway)
Date February 26, 2006 (2006-February-26)
Official name Auto Club 500
Location Auto Club Speedway
Fontana, California, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.23 km)
Distance 251 laps, 502 mi (807.89 km)
Scheduled Distance 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 75.2 °F (24.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed 147.852 miles per hour (237.945 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Penske Racing
Time 38.485
Most laps led
Driver Greg Biffle Roush Racing
Laps 168
Winner
No. 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds

Summary

Body styles and engines were the story of the second race of the Nextel Cup season. Kurt Busch won the pole (187.086 mph) using a 2004 Dodge Intrepid-styled body, as opposed to the new Dodge Charger, which his Penske Racing team believed was aerodynamically superior. Bobby Labonte and the #43 team ran the Intrepid as well. Others, including Evernham Motorsports drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne, drove the Charger.

On race day, Greg Biffle dominated, leading 168 of the first 218 laps. Biffle won last year's spring race at California, finished second in the fall, and had won the Busch race the day before. Tony Stewart was the fastest Chevy in the early going. He overcame the car falling off the jack on a pit stop and an unscheduled stop for a flat tire to claw his way back among the leaders only to have an engine failure at lap 215, ending a string of 30 straight races without a DNF. Biffle continued up front until lap 226. He reported to the crew that his engine had lost a cylinder and a few laps later, he retired to the garage. This left Matt Kenseth to take the lead and only a late-race caution kept him from pulling away. Smoke and oil from the #4 car of Scott Wimmer brought out a yellow with three laps to go. Kenseth easily held off Jimmie Johnson in the green-white-checker finish to earn his 11th career win.

Race results

Fin St Driver Car # Make Points Bonus Laps Winnings
1 31 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 185 5 251 $324,991
2 3 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 170 251 $235,936
3 22 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 165 251 $165,550
4 13 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge 165 5 251 $166,239
5 6 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 155 251 $158,970
6 25 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford 150 251 $142,375
7 20 Casey Mears 42 Dodge 146 251 $140,858
8 4 J.J. Yeley * 18 Chevrolet 147 5 251 $140,075
9 10 Mark Martin 6 Ford 143 5 251 $104,800
10 7 Kyle Busch 5 Chevrolet 134 251 $105,225
11 18 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevrolet 135 5 251 $132,366
12 5 Denny Hamlin * 11 Chevrolet 127 251 $104,575
13 9 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 129 5 251 $127,261
14 32 Clint Bowyer * 7 Chevrolet 121 251 $100,425
15 23 Martin Truex Jr. * 1 Chevrolet 118 251 $114,383
16 1 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge 120 5 251 $144,558
17 19 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford 112 251 $133,050
18 28 Brian Vickers 25 Chevrolet 109 250 $97,625
19 14 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge 106 250 $88,925
20 11 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge 103 250 $132,683
21 29 Reed Sorenson * 41 Dodge 100 250 $97,875
22 21 Jeremy Mayfield 19 Dodge 97 250 $116,916
23 16 Elliott Sadler 38 Ford 94 250 $115,083
24 26 Jeff Green 66 Chevrolet 91 250 $121,058
25 39 Kyle Petty 45 Dodge 88 250 $107,333
26 34 Robby Gordon 7 Chevrolet 85 249 $95,075
27 8 Joe Nemechek 1 Chevrolet 82 249 $109,820
28 41 Ken Schrader 21 Ford 79 249 $109,589
29 15 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 76 249 $116,611
30 24 Dave Blaney 22 Dodge 73 249 $91,583
31 27 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge 70 249 $116,186
32 17 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet 67 249 $88,592
33 40 David Stremme * 40 Dodge 64 248 $87,775
34 43 Terry Labonte 96 Chevrolet 61 248 $78,625
35 37 Kevin Lepage 61 Ford 58 248 $78,425
36 33 Michael Waltrip 55 Dodge 55 247 $78,275
37 42 Brent Sherman * 49 Dodge 52 247 $78,050
38 35 Mike Garvey 151 Chevrolet 49 247 $77,800
39 38 Scott Wimmer 4 Chevrolet 46 246 $77,680
40 30 Stanton Barrett 195 Chevrolet 43 242 $77,525
41 36 Kenny Wallace 178 Chevrolet 40 237 $77,400
42 2 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 47 10 229 $106,005
43 12 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet 39 5 214 $119,453

Failed to qualify: Travis Kvapil (#32), Hermie Sadler (#00), Derrike Cope (#74), Randy LaJoie (#34), Morgan Shepherd (#89)

References

  1. "2006 Auto Club 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
Previous race:
2006 Daytona 500
Nextel Cup Series
2006 season
Next race:
2006 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
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