The 2006 Ford 400 was the thirty-sixth stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, and the final round of the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on November 19, 2006, in Homestead, Florida, at Homestead–Miami Speedway, before a crowd of 80,000 people. The circuit is an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. Roush Racing's Greg Biffle won the 267-lap race from the 22nd position. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Martin Truex Jr. finished second and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin was third. This race was the final race with Benny Parsons in the broadcasting booth, since he died from lung cancer in January 2007.
Kasey Kahne won his 12th career pole position by recording the quickest qualifying lap, and he led the first 18 laps before Kyle Busch passed him. He retook first on the 47th lap and led for 90 laps, more than any other driver. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead after not making a pit stop during a caution period and held it until Truex took the lead after Earnhardt had a lengthy pit stop due to a lug nut problem. Biffle took the lead from Riggs, only to lose it to J. J. Yeley during the pit stop rotation, before passing him with twelve laps remaining to win his second race of the season and eleventh of his career. During the race, there were eleven cautions and fifteen lead changes among ten drivers.
The race resulted in Jimmie Johnson, the pre-race points leader, winning his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Drivers' Championship by 56 points lead over his nearest opponent, Matt Kenseth. Hamlin finished third to end the season as the highest-placed rookie. Chevrolet finished the Manufacturers' Championship with 279 points, 76 more than Dodge and another point ahead of Ford
Background
The Ford 400 was the 36th of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, and the final round of the ten-race season-ending 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on November 19, 2006, in Homestead, Florida, at Homestead–Miami Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The race was held on Homestead–Miami Speedway's standard track; a four-turn oval track. The track's turns are banked from 18 to 20 degrees, while both the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at three degrees.
Before the race, Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 6,332 points, followed by Matt Kenseth. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick tied for third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top five drivers competing for the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup. The final race had a maximum of 195 points available, which meant Kenseth could still win the championship. Johnson had to finish twelfth to become champion because even if Kenseth won, Johnson would still be ahead of him. If Kenseth won and he and Johnson were tied on points, both drivers would have five victories, but Johnson would be the champion because he had more second-place finishes than Kenseth. Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne completed the top ten. Chevrolet had already secured the Manufacturers' Championship, and entered the race on 273 points; Dodge was second with 199, followed by Ford with 193. Greg Biffle was the race's defending champion.
Johnson, the 2004 championship runner-up, had been second in points entering the past three races at Homestead, and stated his strategy was to finish ahead of his competitors. "I can't express enough how much experience in this sport has helped me as a driver. My fifth year, fifth time being in a championship situation. We've been under pressure and we've been in this situation and we are a better, stronger, more mature race team from it. I think the last few months, we've been able to show that." Kenseth stated that his only chance of winning his second championship was if Johnson did not finish, and he was pessimistic given his recent poor performance, "He's going to have to have problems, and we're going to have to have a lot of good luck to get in there. We can't do it on performance. We can't run 25th on performance right now."
Two drivers made their first attempts to qualify for a race this season. After leaving Formula One in July 2006, Juan Pablo Montoya partook in the Ford 400 for Chip Ganassi Racing in its 30 car as preparation for his full-time Nextel Cup Series debut for the 2007 season after team owner Chip Ganassi filed an additional entry for the event. Brewco Motorsports kept Busch Series driver Casey Atwood for Homestead, hoping to qualify for the team's second Nextel Cup Series race, and Atwood's first since racing for Evernham Motorsports in the 2003 season.
Practice and qualifying Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race; one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, the second 60 minutes and the third 35 minutes. Kurt Busch was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.366 seconds, ahead of Elliott Sadler in second, and David Stremme third. Burton, Biffle, Kahne, Brian Vickers, Ryan Newman, Martin, and Scott Riggs rounded out the session's top ten drivers. Dale Jarrett crashed into a trackside wall during the practice session. He used a backup car for the qualifying session later that day.
On Friday afternoon, 56 cars entered the qualifier; NASCAR's qualifying procedure allowed 43 to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order set by the competitor's fastest times. Morgan Shepherd withdrew from the race before qualifying because an accident in the first practice session caused irreparable structural damage to his car. Kahne took his sixth pole position of the season, and the 12th of his career with a time of 30.293 seconds, equalling Kurt Busch's total of pole positions won in 2006. He was joined on the grid's front row by Riggs, his Evernham Motorsports teammate, who was 0.007 seconds slower. Kyle Busch, Sadler, Burton, Vickers, Harvick, J. J. Yeley, David Gilliland, and Clint Bowyer completed the top ten starters. Johnson, a Chase for the Nextel Cup driver, qualified 13th, while Kenseth, another chase driver, set the 19th-fastest lap. 43rd-placed qualifier Bill Elliott used a champion's provisional to qualify for the race. On his second lap, Robby Gordon's engine failed, and he changed engines. The twelve drivers who failed to qualify were Ward Burton, Brandon Whitt, Atwood, Kenny Wallace, Todd Kluever, David Ragan, Michael Waltrip, Mike Skinner, Derrike Cope, Kevin Lepage, Carl Long, and Chad Chaffin. After qualifying, Kahne said, "The engine package we brought here is very strong and the Dodge Chargers are working well. We'll see what happens, but it's pretty nice to have all three cars up front."
Casey Mears was fastest with a 31.317-second lap in the second practice session on Saturday afternoon. Harvick set the second-quickest lap time and Newman was third. Burton, Scott Wimmer, Kyle Busch, Kahne, Bowyer, Vickers, and Johnson occupied positions four through ten. Hamlin was the highest-placed Chase driver outside of the top ten in 12th, and Earnhardt was 19th-fastest. At the end of the second practice session, Travis Kvapil's engine failed. Later that day, Burton paced the final practice session with a lap of 31.229 seconds; Newman improved his performance for second, Kahne third, Martin fourth, Kenseth fifth, and his championship rival Johnson sixth. Hamlin placed seventh, Robby Gordon eighth, Mears ninth, and Dave Blaney tenth.
Qualifying results Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer 19Kasey KahneEvernham MotorsportsDodge 30.293178.259 210Scott RiggsEvernham MotorsportsDodge 30.300178.218 35Kyle BuschHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 30.317178.118 419Elliott SadlerEvernham MotorsportsDodge 30.327178.059 531Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 30.340177.983 625Brian VickersHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 30.459177.288 729Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 30.462177.270 818J. J. YeleyJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet 30.494177.084 938David GillilandRobert Yates RacingFord 30.507177.009 1007Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 30.518176.945 1141Reed SorensonChip Ganassi RacingDodge 30.529176.881 1224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 30.536176.840 1301Joe NemechekGinn RacingChevrolet 30.557176.719 148Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet 30.574176.621 1548Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 30.583176.569 1612Ryan NewmanPenske Racing SouthDodge 30.594176.505 1749Mike BlissBAM RacingDodge 30.613176.396 1814Sterling MarlinMB2 MotorsportsChevrolet 30.615176.384 1917Matt KensethRoush RacingFord 30.622176.344 201Martin Truex Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet 30.631176.292 2120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet 30.663176.108 2216Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord 30.679176.016 2340David StremmeChip Ganassi RacingDodge 30.679176.016 2433Scott WimmerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.682175.999 2522Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingDodge 30.689175.959 266Mark MartinRoush RacingFord 30.703175.879 2766Jeff GreenHaas CNC RacingChevrolet 30.715175.810 2815Paul MenardDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet 30.740175.667 2930 Juan Pablo MontoyaChip Ganassi RacingDodge30.755175.581 3043Bobby LabontePetty EnterprisesChevrolet 30.760175.553 3199Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFord 30.768175.507 3209Jeremy MayfieldPhoenix RacingDodge30.774175.473 3311Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet 30.794175.359 3432Travis KvapilPPI MotorsportsChevrolet 30.801175.319 357Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevrolet 30.812175.256 362Kurt BuschPenske Racing SouthDodge 30.817175.228 3721Ken SchraderWood Brothers RacingFord 30.818175.222 3845Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge 30.864174.961 3942Casey MearsChip Ganassi RacingDodge 30.955174.447 4096Tony RainesHall of Fame RacingChevrolet 30.994174.227 4188Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord 31.084173.723 4226Jamie McMurrayRoush RacingFord 31.087173.706 4300Bill ElliottMichael Waltrip RacingChevroletChampion's ProvisionalFailed to qualify 444Ward BurtonMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet 30.870174.927 4572 Brandon Whitt CJM RacingChevrolet30.943174.514 4695Casey Atwood Brewco MotorsportsFord 30.982174.295 4778Kenny WallaceFurniture Row RacingChevrolet31.002174.182 4806Todd KlueverRoush RacingFord 31.012174.126 4960David RaganNo Fear RacingFord 31.082173.734 5055Michael WaltripWaltrip-Jasper RacingDodge 31.208173.033 5127Mike SkinnerKirk Shelmerdine RacingChevrolet31.303172.507 5274Derrike CopeMcGlynn RacingDodge 31.699170.352 5361Kevin LepageFront Row MotorsportsDodge 31.713170.277 5446Carl LongCupp MotorsportsDodge 31.878169.396 5534Chad ChaffinFront Row MotorsportsDodge 32.181167.801 Moved to the back of the grid for changing engines (#07, 7)Sources:
Race
Live television coverage of the race began at 14:01 Eastern Standard Time (UTC+04:00) in the United States on NBC. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were clear with the air temperature at . Jenna Edwards, Miss Florida USA 2007, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. American Idol season five winner and blues rock singer Taylor Hicks performed the national anthem, and Ford board of directors member Edsel Ford II commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Bowyer and Robby Gordon moved to the back of the grid because of engine changes.