2006 Auto Club 500
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fontana, California, U.S.
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season | |||
 2006 Auto Club 500 program cover | |||
| Date | February 26, 2006 | ||
| Official name | Auto Club 500 | ||
| Location |
Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California, U.S. | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.0 miles (3.23 km) | ||
| Distance | 251 laps, 502 mi (807.89 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 75.2 °F (24.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 147.852 miles per hour (237.945 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Penske Racing | ||
| Time | 38.485 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Greg Biffle | Roush Racing | |
| Laps | 168 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds | ||
The 2006 Auto Club 500 was the second race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on February 26, 2006 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
| Pos[2] | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | 187.086 | 38.485 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 186.186 | 38.671 | -0.186 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 185.735 | 38.765 | -0.280 |
| 4 | 18 | J. J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 185.180 | 38.881 | -0.396 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chevrolet | 184.919 | 38.936 | -0.451 |
| 6 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 184.871 | 38.946 | -0.461 |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | 184.800 | 38.961 | -0.476 |
| 8 | 1 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | 184.758 | 38.970 | -0.485 |
| 9 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 184.720 | 38.978 | -0.493 |
| 10 | 6 | Mark Martin | Ford | 184.450 | 39.035 | -0.550 |
| 11 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | 184.318 | 39.063 | -0.578 |
| 12 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 184.303 | 39.066 | -0.581 |
| 13 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | 184.219 | 39.084 | -0.599 |
| 14 | 10 | Scott Riggs | Dodge | 184.209 | 39.086 | -0.601 |
| 15 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 184.195 | 39.089 | -0.604 |
| 16 | 38 | Elliott Sadler | Ford | 183.767 | 39.180 | -0.695 |
| 17 | 14 | Sterling Marlin | Chevrolet | 183.613 | 39.213 | -0.728 |
| 18 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 183.570 | 39.222 | -0.737 |
| 19 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Ford | 183.566 | 39.223 | -0.738 |
| 20 | 42 | Casey Mears | Dodge | 183.524 | 39.232 | -0.747 |
| 21 | 19 | Jeremy Mayfield | Dodge | 183.397 | 39.259 | -0.774 |
| 22 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 183.360 | 39.267 | -0.782 |
| 23 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | 183.173 | 39.307 | -0.822 |
| 24 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Dodge | 183.155 | 39.311 | -0.826 |
| 25 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | 183.090 | 39.325 | -0.840 |
| 26 | 66 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | 183.020 | 39.340 | -0.855 |
| 27 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | 183.020 | 39.340 | -0.855 |
| 28 | 25 | Brian Vickers | Chevrolet | 182.913 | 39.363 | -0.878 |
| 29 | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | 182.820 | 39.383 | -0.898 |
| 30 | 95 | Stanton Barrett | Chevrolet | 182.801 | 39.387 | -0.902 |
| 31 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 182.588 | 39.433 | -0.948 |
| 32 | 7 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 182.486 | 39.455 | -0.970 |
| 33 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Dodge | 182.454 | 39.462 | -0.977 |
| 34 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Chevrolet | 182.380 | 39.478 | -0.993 |
| 35 | 51 | Mike Garvey | Chevrolet | 182.320 | 39.491 | -1.006 |
| 36 | 78 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | 182.306 | 39.494 | -1.009 |
| 37 | 61 | Kevin Lepage | Ford | 182.242 | 39.508 | -1.023 |
| 38 | 4 | Scott Wimmer | Chevrolet | 182.007 | 39.559 | -1.074 |
| 39 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | 181.461 | 39.678 | -1.193 |
| 41 | 40 | David Stremme | Dodge | 181.005 | 39.778 | -1.293 |
| 41 | 21 | Ken Schrader | Ford | 179.341 | 40.147 | -1.662 |
| 42 | 49 | Brent Sherman | Dodge | 178.169 | 40.411 | -1.926 |
| 43 | 96 | Terry Labonte | Chevrolet | 181.059 | 39.766 | -1.281 |
| Failed to qualify or withdrew | ||||||
| 44 | 32 | Travis Kvapil | Chevrolet | |||
| 45 | 00 | Hermie Sadler | Ford | |||
| 46 | 74 | Derrike Cope | Dodge | |||
| 47 | 34 | Randy LaJoie | Dodge | |||
| 48 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Dodge | |||
| WD | 50 | Jimmy Spencer | Dodge | |||
Summary
Body styles and engines were the story of the second race of the Nextel Cup season. Kurt Busch won the pole (187.086 mph) using a 2004 Dodge Intrepid-styled body, as opposed to the new Dodge Charger, which his Penske Racing team believed was aerodynamically superior. Penske teammate Ryan Newman and the #12 team alongside Bobby Labonte and the #43 team ran the Intrepid as well. Others, including Evernham Motorsports drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Kasey Kahne, drove the Charger.
On race day, Greg Biffle dominated, leading 168 of the first 218 laps. Biffle won last year's spring race at California, finished second in the fall, and had won the Busch race the day before. Tony Stewart was the fastest Chevy in the early going. He overcame the car falling off the jack on a pit stop and an unscheduled stop for a flat tire to claw his way back among the leaders only to have an engine failure at lap 215, ending a string of 30 straight races without a DNF. Biffle continued up front until lap 226. He reported to the crew that his engine had lost a cylinder and a few laps later, he retired to the garage. This left Matt Kenseth to take the lead and only a late-race caution kept him from pulling away. Smoke and oil from the #4 car of Scott Wimmer brought out a yellow with three laps to go. Kenseth easily held off Jimmie Johnson in the green-white-checker finish to earn his 11th career win.