2006 Goody's 250 (Martinsville)

The Goody's 250 was a NASCAR Busch Series stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Virginia. The race was only held once, on July 22, 2006, as a standalone event during the summer. It had been speculated the race would be held at night, under a temporary lighting system to be installed at the track, but it was held in the afternoon instead. The Goody's 250 replaced the ITT Industries & Goulds Pumps Salute to the Troops 250 on the Busch Series schedule. After a Busch Series Martinsville record high 19 cautions for 87 laps, the Goody's 250 was replaced in 2007 by the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The race was the final start in NASCAR for Darrell Waltrip and Ricky Craven.

2006 Goody's 250
Race details[1][2]
Race 21 of 35 in the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series
Date July 22, 2006 (2006-07-22)
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance 250 laps, 131.5 mi (211.629 km)
Average speed 61.139 mph (98.394 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Richard Childress Racing
Time 19.735
Most laps led
Driver Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing
Laps 149
Winner
No. 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Nielsen Ratings
  • 1.7 (Final)
  • (1,926,000 million)[3]

Report

Background
Martinsville Speedway, where the race was held

The Goody's 250 was the 21st out of 35 scheduled stock car races of the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series. It was held on July 22, 2006 at Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Virginia,[2] a short track that holds NASCAR races.[4] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847 km) oval. Its turns are banked at eleven degrees, and neither the front stretch (the location of the finish line) nor the back stretch is banked.[5]

Before the race, Kevin Harvick led the Drivers' Championship with 3,092 points, with Carl Edwards in second and Clint Bowyer third. Denny Hamlin and J. J. Yeley were fourth and fifth, and Greg Biffle, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top ten.[6] This was the first Busch Series race to be held at Martinsville since October 1994,[7] and it had been speculated the race would be held under night conditions with a temporary lighting system installed at the track, but it was held in the afternoon instead.[8]

Two drivers chose to make a one-off return to NASCAR at the race. Three-time Winston Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip drove the No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing car by gaining his wife Stevie's permission after his younger brother Michael Waltrip asked if he wanted to race.[9] Since his car was 16th in the Owner's Championship, Waltrip earned an automatic qualifying berth for the event.[10] Despite winning eleven times at Martinsville in the Nextel Cup Series, the Goody's 250 marked Waltrip's first appearance at the track in the Busch Series.[9] Waltrip said he was entering the race because of his belief he could be competitive: "I’m going to come in there, I’ve got the latest and greatest equipment and Michael’s bunch is excited, I’m pumped and I think we’ll have a lot of fun."[10] 1992 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year and two-time Nextel Cup winner Ricky Craven returned to drive the No. 14 car owned by FitzBradshaw Racing.[1] However, unlike Waltrip, Craven needed to qualify since both FitzBradshaw cars were not within the top-thirty placings in the Owners' Championship.[11] Other drivers returning to compete in the Busch Series included Burney Lamar and Boris Said.[12]

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the Saturday race: all three took place on Friday.[1] The first session ran for 60 minutes, with a half hour practice session reserved for rookie drivers following shortly after. The final practice session lasted 60 minutes.[13] A one-hour test session was scheduled beforehand and it saw Jason Leffler set the only lap time to go under the twenty seconds mark at 19.888 seconds, ahead of the No. 64 car shared by Steve Wallace and his father Rusty Wallace. Sauter was third, Mark McFarland placed fourth, and Menard rounded out the top five.[14] Mike Bliss, Caleb Holman and Eric McClure crashed during the session and the damage to their cars necessitated their withdrawal from the race.[1]

In the first practice session, Stacy Compton was the quickest driver in the field with a lap of 20.010 seconds, seven thousands of a second faster than any one else on the track. His closest challenger was Steve Wallace in second, with Leffler third, and Brandon Miller fourth. McFarland was fifth-fastest, and Matt McCall came sixth. Kevin Hamlin, Randy LaJoie, David Green, and Dennis Setzer rounded out the session's top ten drivers.[15] Sauter paced the final practice session with a time of 19.877 seconds; Leffler was 0.026 seconds in arrears in second and Casey Atwood came third. Menard was fourth-quickest, ahead of Green and Aric Almirola. McFarland was seventh-fastest, Lamar placed eighth, Ron Hornaday Jr. ninth and Jason Keller completed the top ten heading into qualifying.[16]

Race results
2006 Goody's 250 Top Ten Finishers
Pos. Car # Driver Make Team
1 21 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
2 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
3 20 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing
4 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing
5 00 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas CNC Racing
6 60 Carl Edwards Ford Roush Racing
7 10 John Andretti Ford ppc Racing
8 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet Braun Racing
9 18 J. J. Yeley Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing
10 01 Jay Sauter Chevrolet Duesenberg & Leik Motorsports
Average race speed: 61.139 mph (98.394 km/h)
Lead changes: 7 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 19 for 87 laps Winner's Prize (USD): $74,925
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gollark: An impressive amount are ridiculous idiots.
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gollark: Great productivity trick: have a phone with too little RAM so that if you try to have too many open tabs your browser ceases to exist.

References
  1. "The Race: 2006 Goodys 250 - Martinsville Speedway". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  2. "2006 Goody's 250". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. Smith, Michael (February 12, 2007). "What's next for the Busch Series?". Sports Business Daily. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  4. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  5. ESPN SportsTravel (October 26, 2011). "Martinsville Speedway". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  6. "Busch Series points leaders". Arizona Daily Star. July 20, 2006. p. 28. Retrieved August 16, 2017 – via Newspapers.com .
  7. Sorenson, Reed (July 26, 2006). "Poor run at Pocono overshadows solid Busch showing in Martinsville". USA Today. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  8. "Martinsville Busch race moved to afternoon". SceneDaily. May 14, 2006. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  9. "Darrell Waltrip Slated to Drive No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine At Martinsville Speedway". GlobeNewswire. July 18, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  10. White, Ben (July 18, 2006). "Time is still of the essence for Darrell Waltrip". The Dispatch. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  11. Rodman, Dave (July 19, 2006). "Craven makes NASCAR return at Martinsville". NASCAR. Archived from the original on August 7, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  12. Maroglis, Bob (July 20, 2006). "Martinsville magic". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  13. "Rookie O'Quinn Looking Forward To Martinsville Homecoming" (Press release). Martinsville Speedway. July 17, 2006. Archived from the original on July 22, 2006. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  14. "Martinsville Open Test Speeds". BGNRacing.com. July 20, 2006. Archived from the original on January 29, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  15. "Practice 1 Speeds". NASCAR. July 21, 2006. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  16. "Practice 2 Speeds". NASCAR. July 21, 2006. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
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