The 2006 NASCAR Busch Series opened on February 18, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded on November 18, 2006, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kevin Harvick, driving for his own team, Kevin Harvick, Inc., as well as for Richard Childress Racing, was declared champion.
This was the Final Season that Fox Sports/FX, TNT, and NBC covered the Busch Series. Starting in 2007, as part of a new TV contract with the television networks of The Walt Disney Company, ESPN2 televised the entire Busch season with select races on ABC.
Invasion of the "Busch Whackers"
There has been some controversy of the use of NEXTEL Cup teams with their drivers in Busch Series races, most notably at NEXTEL Cup tracks where there are Busch Series support races. This has been dubbed by Fox Sports announcer Mike Joy as "Busch Whacking", and many underfunded (or one-car) teams have failed to qualify for these races because of this. Out of the 35 races that were run in the 2006 Busch Series season, 33 of those races were won by NEXTEL Cup Series drivers. The only 2 non-NEXTEL Cup Series drivers that won Busch Series races in 2006 were David Gilliland at Kentucky and Paul Menard at Milwaukee. The 2006 season has been notable for those "double duty" drivers even traveling to sites where there are stand-alone races at Nashville Superspeedway, Kentucky Speedway, Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez and The Milwaukee Mile just to name a few, even on the rare weeks where there are no NEXTEL Cup races. Kentucky was the big upset where one of the underfunded one-car teams (Gilliland's No.84 entry) took advantage and pulled off the big upset.
In the end, Kevin Harvick, who at the time drove for Richard Childress Racing in the Cup series, won the 2006 championship on October 13, the second of his career having previously won in 2001 (when the death of Dale Earnhardt forced him into doing double-duty between the Busch and then-Winston Cup series; he won Cup Rookie of the Year to go with his Busch title in 2001). After Harvick won the title, talk began about limiting the number of "Busch Whackers" (Cup drivers) in each race or capping the double-dippers appearances for the entire season or even having a "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" playoff system in place for the 2007 season since Harvick was so dominant during 2006 as NEXTEL Cup drivers won every race but two in the season. Ultimately, no changes were made until 2011, where NASCAR announced that Cup drivers could only run for points in one series. A limit over the number of races Cup drivers could run was not put into effect until over a decade later in 2017. The Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series did not have a playoffs ("Chase") until 2016, ten years later.
Schedule No. Race title Track Date1Hershey's Kissables 300Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FloridaFebruary 182Stater Bros. 300California Speedway, Fontana, CaliforniaFebruary 253Telcel-Motorola 200Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, MexicoMarch 54Sam's Town 300Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NevadaMarch 115Nicorette 300Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, GeorgiaMarch 186Sharpie Mini 300Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TennesseeMarch 257O'Reilly 300Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TexasApril 88Pepsi 300Nashville Superspeedway, Gladeville, TennesseeApril 159Bashas' Supermarkets 200Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, ArizonaApril 2110Aaron's 312Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AlabamaApril 2911Circuit City 250 presented by FUNAIRichmond International Raceway, Richmond, VirginiaMay 512Diamond Hill Plywood 200Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South CarolinaMay 1213Carquest Auto Parts 300Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, North CarolinaMay 2614StonebridgeRacing.com 200Dover International Speedway, Dover, DelawareJune 315Federated Auto Parts 300Nashville Superspeedway, Gladeville, TennesseeJune 1016Meijer 300 presented by OreoKentucky Speedway, Sparta, KentuckyJune 1717AT&T 250Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, WisconsinJune 2418Winn-Dixie 250 presented by PepsiCoDaytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FloridaJune 3019USG Durock 300Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IllinoisJuly 820New England 200New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, New HampshireJuly 1521Goody's 250Martinsville Speedway, RidgewayJuly 2222Busch Silver Celebration 250 presented by Shop 'n SaveGateway International Raceway, Madison, IllinoisJuly 2923Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for ChildrenO'Reilly Raceway Park, Brownsburg, IndianaAugust 524Zippo 200Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New YorkAugust 1225Carfax 250Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MichiganAugust 1926Food City 250Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TennesseeAugust 2527Ameriquest 300California Speedway, Fontana, CaliforniaSeptember 228Emerson Radio 250Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, VirginiaSeptember 829Dover 200Dover International Speedway, Dover, DelawareSeptember 2330Yellow Transportation 300Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KansasSeptember 3031Dollar General 300Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, North CarolinaOctober 1332Sam's Town 250Memphis Motorsports Park, Millington, TennesseeOctober 2833O'Reilly ChallengeTexas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TexasNovember 434Arizona.Travel 200Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, ArizonaNovember 1135Ford 300Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, FloridaNovember 18
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule ManufacturerTeamDriverCrew chief Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 11 Paul Menard Dan Stillman Davis Motorsports0 Kertus Davis Adam Risher Randy LaJoie Morgan Shepherd P. J. Jones Chris Wimmer Duesenberg & Leik Motorsports 01 Jay Sauter Fred Wanke Haas CNC Racing 00 Johnny Sauter Harold Holly Bootie Barker Hendrick Motorsports 5 Kyle Busch Chad Walter Justin Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing 18 J. J. Yeley Jason Ratcliff 20 Denny Hamlin Dave Rogers JR Motorsports 88 Mark McFarland (R) Richard Hubbs Wes Ward Martin Truex Jr. Robby Gordon Shane Huffman Kevin Harvick, Inc. 33 Tony Stewart Wally Rogers Charlie Wilson Kevin Harvick Ron Fellows Ron Hornaday Jr. Aaron Fike Sean Caisse Cale Gale 77 Burney Lamar (R) Gene Nead Stacy Johnson Dana Brugman Jeff Burton Bobby Labonte McGill Motorsports 36 Tim Sauter Ricky Pearson Max Papis Jeff Green Stanton Barrett Brent Sherman Richard Childress Racing 2 Clint Bowyer Dan Deeringhoff 21 Jeff Burton Pat Smith Shane Wilson Todd Berrier Kevin Harvick Dodge Biagi Brothers Racing 4 Mark Green Jon Wolfe Mike Harvick Paul Tracy Boris Said Auggie Vidovich Kevin Hamlin Chip Ganassi Racing 41 Reed Sorenson Brian Pattie David Stremme Evernham Motorsports Kasey Kahne Trip Bruce Jeremy Mayfield Boris Said Scott Riggs Erin Crocker FitzBradshaw Racing 12 David Reutimann Paul Wolfe Joel Kauffman (R) Tracy Hines (R) Mike Skinner Carlos Contreras Kevin Hamlin Scott Wimmer Ted Musgrave Rusty Wallace, Inc. 64Steve Wallace Bryant Frazier Jamie McMurray Ford Brewco Motorsports 27 David Green Stewart Cooper Casey Atwood Wood Brothers/JTG Racing 47 Jon Wood Jay Guy Jerry Pitts David Hyder 59 Stacy Compton Ernie Cope Jay Guy ppc Racing 10 John Andretti (R) Rick Gay Steve Plattenberger 22 Kenny Wallace Randy Cox Todd Gordon Robert Yates Racing 90 Elliott Sadler Raymond Fox Skip Eyler Jerry Pitts Cully Barraclough Marc Goossens Stephen Leicht Matt McCall David Gilliland Roush Racing 06 Todd Kluever (R) Mike Kelley 50 Danny O'Quinn Jr. (R) Drew Blickensderfer David Ragan 60 Carl Edwards Pierre Kuettel Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Ashton Lewis Charlie Lewis Todd Brewer 35 Regan Smith Chris Wright Dodge Ford Brewco Motorsports Michael Waltrip Racing Michael Waltrip Racing fielded the No. 99 Dodge in all races and Brewco Motorsports fielded the No. 66 Ford in all races, except at Nashville (Race 8), where they swept their entries for one-race deal. So, at Nashville (Race 8), Michael Waltrip Racing fielded the No. 66 Dodge for David Reutimann while Brewco Motorsports fielded the No. 99 Ford for Michael Waltrip. 66 Ken Schrader Newt Moore Cully Barraclough Scott Wimmer Jorge Goeters (R) David Reutimann Greg Biffle Bobby Labonte Jason Keller Brad Coleman Michael Waltrip Racing Brewco Motorsports 99 Michael Waltrip Cully Barraclough Newt Moore Jerry Baxter David Reutimann Darrell Waltrip Joey Miller Ford Chevrolet Jay Robinson Racing 49 Steve Grissom Kenneth Campbell Derrike Cope Eduardo Goeters Jorge Goeters (R) Shane Hall Randy LaJoie Jamie Mosley John Finger Dexter Bean Jennifer Jo Cobb Morgan Shepherd Dodge Chevrolet Phoenix Racing 1 Jason Keller Marc Reno Mike Wallace Cale Gale Scott Pruett
Limited schedule ManufacturerTeamRace driverRound(s) Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing29 Kevin Harvick Jeff Burton Timothy Peters Hendrick Motorsports 48 Jimmie Johnson 57 Brian Vickers Adrián Fernández Robby Gordon Motorsports 7 Robby Gordon Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Martin Truex Jr. Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Aric Almirola Tony Stewart Keith Coleman Racing 26 Joey McCarthy Carl Long Duesenberg & Leik Motorsports Dwayne Leik SKI Motorsports 30 Mike Bliss Marsh Racing 31 Steve Park Peyton Sellers Frank Cicci Racing 34 Paul Tracy Todd Bodine Carlos Pardo Scott Lynch Mike Bliss Jason Keller Kertus Davis Jeff Fuller Kim Crosby Kevin Lepage Brian Simo Vision Racing 37 Josh Krug Randy LaJoie Mac Hill Motorsports 56 Kevin Lepage Chris Cook Kevin Grubb Tim Schendel Keith Coleman Racing 23 Chris Wimmer (R) Marc Mitchell Carl Long Stan Boyd Eduardo Troconis Brad Keselowski Brian Keselowski Horn Auto Racing58 Chris Horn MacDonald Motorsports Donnie Neuenberger Patrick Goeters S.W.A.T. Racing 62 Larry Hollenbeck Silva Motorsports 65 Stan Silva Jr. ML Motorsports 70 Justin Diercks RB1 Motorsports 71 Ron Young Henderson Motorsports 75 Caleb Holman Team Johnson Racing 76 Jerick Johnson Furniture Row Racing 78 Jerry Robertson Odle Motorsports 79 Chris Wimmer Shelby Howard Richardson Racing 80 Robert Richardson Jr. JR Motorsports 83 Shane Huffman Clay Andrews Racing 84 David Gilliland Premier Motorsport 85 John Hayden NEMCO Motorsports 87 Joe Nemechek Stanton Barrett Racing 95 Stanton Barrett Matt Kobyluck Racing04 Matt Kobyluck Morgan-McClure Motorsports Eric McClure Ginn Racing Kraig Kinser Day Enterprise Racing 05 Chad Chaffin Brad Teague Justin Ashburn Morgan Shepherd Brett Rowe TC Motorsports 07 David Odell Chuck Barnes Jr. Boys Racing 08 Trevor Boys Braun-Akins Racing 32 Jason Leffler Dave Blaney Chase Pistone 38 Ryan Moore Jason Leffler Dodge A. J. Foyt IV (R) FitzBradshaw Racing 14 Tracy Hines (R) Carlos Contreras Steadman Marlin A. J. Foyt IV Ricky Craven Ted Musgrave Scott Wimmer Willie Allen 44 David Reutimann Carver Racing 40Kevin Conway 58 Chip Ganassi Racing 42 Casey Mears Juan Pablo Montoya Curb Agajanian Performance Group 43 Aaron Fike Kertus Davis Chris Cook P. J. Jones Erin Crocker Penske Racing 39 Kurt Busch Sam Hornish Jr.Ryan Newman 02 Rusty Wallace, Inc. 61 Steve Wallace Tom Eriksen Racing 67 Rogelio López TW Motorsports 68 Jimmy Morales Bryan Racing Dawayne Bryan Robert Torriere Racing 79 Butch Leitzinger Sadler Brothers Racing 95 Steadman Marlin Chad Chaffin Ashton Gray Racing 08 Jason White Ford Long Brothers Racing 89 Richard Landreth Carl Long Roush Racing 6 Mark Martin David Ragan 16 Greg Biffle 17 Matt Kenseth ppc Racing 15 Michel Jourdain Jr. Brewco Motorsports 37 Brad Coleman Chris Diederich Racing 65 Spencer Clark Donnie Neuenberger 52 Donnie Neuenberger Chevrolet Dodge MacDonald Motorsports 72 Jerry Robertson Stanton Barrett Donnie Neuenberger Eric McClure Randy MacDonald D. J. Kennington Brad Baker Chevrolet Ford Jay Robinson Racing 28 Shane Hall Randy MacDonald Jorge Goeters (R) James Hylton Josh Richeson Todd Shafer Hermie Sadler Derrike Cope Jeff Spraker Racing 63 Jeff Spraker Dexter Bean Jorge Goeters
Notes
Races
Hershey's Kissables 300 The Hershey's Kissables 300 race was held on February 18, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway. J. J. Yeley won the pole.
Top ten results
#33 - Tony Stewart #77 - Burney Lamar #2 - Clint Bowyer #47 - Jon Wood