The 2006 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The 48th Daytona 500 was held on February 19, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before 200,000 spectators. Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson, won the 203-lap race after starting ninth. Chip Ganassi Racing's Casey Mears and Penske Racing South's Ryan Newman finished second and third, respectively.
Jeff Burton claimed his third career pole position with the quickest qualifying lap, and led the first 18 laps until the first round of pit stops. Tony Stewart led the next 20 laps from the 28th lap. Matt Kenseth led from laps 58 to 80 until Dale Earnhardt Jr. took it on the 86th. Earnhardt led seven times for a total of 32 laps, more than any other driver. Before the last round of pit stops, Johnson took the lead from teammate Brian Vickers on lap 187. After Greg Biffle lost control of his car on the final lap, he led Newman and Mears to win under caution. During the race, there were 11 cautions and a race-record 32 lead changes by 18 different drivers.
Johnson won his first Daytona 500, his first at either Talladega Superspeedway or Daytona International Speedway, and the 19th of his career. The victory occurred after Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for illegal car modifications, for which he was fined $25,000 and suspended until March 22. Johnson won the first of five races of the 2006 season, en route to his first of seven NASCAR Cup Series championships at the season's finish.
Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 190 points after the season's first race, followed by Mears and Newman with 170 points each. Elliott Sadler and Stewart were fourth and fifth with 165 and 160 points, respectively. Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with nine points, followed by Dodge with six points and Ford with four points. The race attracted 19.355 million television viewers, the most watched NASCAR race in terms of average viewership.
Background
The 48th Daytona 500 was the first of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, and was held on February 19, 2006, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway, a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races. Its standard track is a four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway. Daytona's turns are banked at 31 degrees, and the front stretch—the location of the finish line—is banked at 18 degrees.
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built the Daytona International Speedway, conceived the Daytona 500. The race was first held in 1959, succeeding shorter races held on beaches around Daytona Beach. It has opened the NASCAR season since 1982, and from 1988, was one of four events that require cars to run restrictor plates. The race is often regarded as NASCAR's most prestigious race because it offers the most prize money in American auto racing. Victory is considered equal to winning either the World Series, the Super Bowl or The Masters. It is often called the "Great American Race" or the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing".
NASCAR held numerous test sessions in preparation for the race on January 9–11 (for teams finishing in an odd-number position in the 2005 car owner points standings) and January 16–18, 2006 (for teams finishing in an even-number position in the 2005 car owner points standings). Every test session began at 9 a.m. EST, stopped for one hour from 12:00 – 1:00 pm. EST, and concluded at 5:00 pm. EST. Jeff Gordon was fastest in the first session with a speed of . Bill Elliott paced the second session with a speed of . Jimmie Johnson led the third session at and Gordon the fourth at . Matt Kenseth and Gordon led sessions five and six with respective speeds of and . Kyle Busch and Sterling Marlin paced sessions seven and eight with speeds of and , while Scott Riggs and Kyle Busch led the ninth and tenth sessions from speeds of and . Dale Jarrett and Kyle Busch led the final two sessions with respective speeds of and .
The event featured 58 entrants from 34 different teams. Following a large amount of bump drafting in the Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR implemented two "no zones" at the exit of corners, which series officials and multiple digital cameras would check for drivers attempting to ram their cars into the rear of other vehicles in order to gain an aerodynamic or overtaking advantage. Drivers would face a drive-through penalty or disqualification from the race depending on the severity of the bump. NASCAR's vice-president of competition, Robin Pemberton, stated that bump drafting in turns would no longer be tolerated. He commented, "It crosses over the line when the drivers are in the corner. That is not a good place to bump-draft. A straight line, it's not the best either, but a straight line is far safer than in the corners. There's guys that haven't totally honed the craft of bump drafting."
Practice and qualifier
Before the race on Sunday, there were six practice sessions. The first two were held on February 11 and lasted 120 and 90 minutes, respectively. The following two were held on February 15 after qualifying, and were shortened to 60 minutes. Two days later, another 75-minute practice session was scheduled. The final practice session was held on February 18 and lasted 60 minutes. Kevin Harvick was fastest in the first practice session with a lap of 47.771 seconds, ahead of Gordon, Kyle Petty, Elliott Sadler, Johnson, Jarrett, Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield, Bobby Labonte, and Joe Nemechek. With a time of 47.757 seconds, Sadler led the rain-curtailed second practice session; Gordon was 0.219 seconds slower as he duplicated his first-practice result in second. Elliott improved to third. Jarrett, Johnson, Marlin, Mayfield, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, and Kurt Busch followed in positions four to ten. Kurt Busch hit a large section of cardboard on the back stretch, stopping the session after an hour.
On February 12, 58 cars ran two qualifying laps for 43 slots in the race. Unlike most races throughout the season, qualifying set the first two positions. The remaining drivers had to qualify through the 2006 Gatorade Duels, in which 37 drivers were assigned mostly based on where they finished. Three remaining drivers were chosen through their qualifying speed, and one prior series champion qualified with a champions' provisional. The weather was cold with a tailwind. Jeff Burton was the 34th driver to set a lap time; he took his first pole position at Daytona International Speedway, his first since the 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400, and the third of his career with a time of 47.581 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Gordon who was 0.169 seconds slower. Kenseth was the only driver to not set a time due to a flat left-rear tire to start his lap. After qualifying, Burton said, "We just got lucky. That's the best wind we've had down here in all of testing and everything else. It just played into our hands, and we had a car that could take advantage of it.", and, "Today had nothing to do with me. The only impact that I had on today at all was to be a warm-blooded person that could mash the gas and turn the thing on. I think Michael Waltrip once said a drunk monkey could do it, and I was a drunk monkey, I guess."
Following post-qualifying inspection, Johnson's lap times were deleted due to an illegal rear window template lowered by a track bar adjuster to the right rear of his vehicle, giving Johnson an aerodynamic advantage. Terry Labonte's lap times were also invalidated after it was found that his car's carburetor had non-sanctioned modifications. Both Johnson and Labonte were ordered to start from the rear of the field in the Gatorade Duels. NASCAR did not confiscate Johnson's primary car, and his crew corrected the infraction to let it to compete again. NASCAR ejected Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus from the Daytona 500, which was unappealable. Knaus was replaced by Hendrick Motorsports lead engineer Darian Grubb.
In the third practice session, Dale Earnhardt Jr. led with a 47.024 seconds lap, ahead of Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kevin Lepage, Scott Wimmer, Jeff Green. Kurt Busch, David Stremme, Burton, and Jamie McMurray. Petty and Kenny Wallace had anxious moments drafting other cars; both drivers were able to control their vehicles. Both Hamlin and Derrike Cope hit a wall beside the track; they continued with no major car damage. Brian Vickers led the fourth practice session with a 46.946 seconds time, with Mike Wallace, Greg Biffle, Jarrett, Kenseth, Bowyer, Robby Gordon, Burton, Chad Chaffin and Dave Blaney in positions two to ten. Mike Wallace had a tire detach and his oil line failed 15 minutes into the session.
Sadler and Jeff Gordon won the Gatorade Duels. The qualifying grid was finalized with Sadler, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, McMurray, Earnhardt, Bobby Labonte, Johnson and Mark Martin completing the top ten starters. Travis Kvapil, Hermie Sadler, and Kirk Shelmerdine were the final three drivers to qualify based on their qualifying speed. Terry Labonte began the race on a champions' provisional. Riggs, Kenny Wallace, Wimmer, Mike Skinner, Cope, Larry Gunselman, Chad Blount, Larry Foyt, Andy Belmont, Randy LaJoie, Morgan Shepherd, Chaffin, Carl Long, Paul Menard, and Stanton Barrett were the 15 drivers who did not qualify. Marlin went to a backup car after being involved in a collision in the first qualifying race. Nemechek's team changed his engine after it failed in the second qualifier.
Stremme paced the fifth practice session with a 47.038 seconds, 0.001 seconds faster than Robby Gordon in second. Harvick, Green, Elliott, Ken Schrader, McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Earnhardt and Kurt Busch followed in the top ten. In the final practice session, which took place in warm weather and saw drivers limit their running to preserve their cars, Schrader lapped fastest overall at 46.708 seconds; Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt, Green, Lepage, Jarrett, Marlin, Petty, Burton, and Brent Sherman completed the top ten. The session passed without major incident. Bobby Labonte's engine failed late in practice, and his team changed engines. Vickers glanced the turn three wall and resumed without major car damage.
Qualifying results