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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, featuring Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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
Driver Tony Stewart Joe 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.

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. J. J. 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

  • DNQ. Kenny Wallace #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing
  • DNQ. Mike Garvey #51 Marathon Oil ChevroletCompetitive Edge M'sport
  • DNQ. Mike Skinner #37 Dodge R&J Racing
  • DNQ. Derrike Cope #74 Royal Admin Dodge McGlynn Motorsports
  • DNQ. Morgan Shepherd #89 Dutch Quality Stone Dodge Morgan Shepherd Racing
  • DNQ. Chad Blount #92 Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports
  • DNQ. Chad Chaffin* #34 Kingsport Iron Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports [3]

* 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.

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

Pos Grid Driver No. Make Points Bonus Laps Winnings
1 9 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge 185 5 500 $175,858
2 14 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 175 5 500 $160,886
3 7 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 170 5 500 $166,566
4 3 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 160 0 500 $122,575
5 30 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge 155 500 $138,836
6 4 Mark Martin 6 Ford 150 500 $105,825
7 2 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 151 5 500 $105,150
8 20 Kyle Busch 5 Chevrolet 147 5 500 $102,450
9 6 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge 138 500 $129,258
10 23 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge 134 500 $125,864
11 19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevrolet 130 500 $124,516
12 1 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet 137 10 500 $168,886
13 13 Elliott Sadler 38 Ford 124 500 $115,733
14 33 Denny Hamlin * 11 Chevrolet 121 500 $88,000
15 29 Jeff Green 66 Chevrolet 118 500 $113,458
16 10 Jeremy Mayfield 19 Dodge 115 500 $115,866
17 35 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet 112 500 $101,783
18 28 Kyle Petty 45 Dodge 109 500 $107,633
19 40 Scott Wimmer 4 Chevrolet 106 500 $85,050
20 15 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford 103 500 $119,475
21 11 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 105 5 500 $129,336
22 22 Reed Sorenson * 41 Dodge 97 499 $92,350
23 32 Dave Blaney 22 Dodge 94 499 $96,683
24 21 Ken Schrader 21 Ford 91 499 $111,014
25 12 Casey Mears 42 Dodge 88 498 $118,083
26 37 Robby Gordon 7 Chevrolet 85 497 $83,300
27 36 Terry Labonte 96 Chevrolet 82 497 $80,060
28 16 Joe Nemechek 01 Chevrolet 79 495 $109,255
29 27 Clint Bowyer * 07 Chevrolet 76 495 $90,800
30 5 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 73 487 $128,486
31 39 Kevin Lepage 61 Ford 75 5 485 $81,150
32 34 Michael Waltrip 55 Dodge 67 481 $88,147
33 24 J. J. Yeley * 18 Chevrolet 64 469 $114,075
34 18 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 61 467 $104,845
35 8 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford 58 440 $125,275
36 26 David Stremme * 40 Dodge 55 435 $86,400
37 17 Brian Vickers 25 Chevrolet 52 434 $86,350
38 25 Martin Truex Jr. * 1 Chevrolet 49 430 $86,300
39 43 Stanton Barrett 95 Chevrolet 46 381 $78,240
40 41 Travis Kvapil 32 Chevrolet 43 349 $78,165
41 38 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge 40 344 $78,115
42 31 Brent Sherman * 49 Dodge 37 302 $78,060
43 42 Hermie Sadler 00 Chevrolet 34 96 $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).

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2006 Food City 500.
  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.
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2006 Golden Corral 500 		Nextel Cup Series
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2006 DirecTV 500
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