2006 Golden Corral 500

The 2006 Golden Corral 500 was the fourth race in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season which took place on March 20, 2006, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Rain showers forced the green flag to be moved back to Monday. Television coverage moved to cable's FX channel for the race (with some exceptions).

2006 Golden Corral 500
Race details[1]
Race 4 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2006 Golden Corral 500 program cover
2006 Golden Corral 500 program cover
Date March 20, 2006 (2006-March-20)
Official name Golden Corral 500
Location Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance 325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures approaching 59 °F (15 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[2]
Average speed 144.098 miles per hour (231.903 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Evernham Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Greg Biffle Roush Racing
Laps 128
Winner
No. 9 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

Race recap

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Kasey Kahne sat on the pole with a speed of 192.553 mph, edging Ryan Newman by .002 seconds. Bill Lester qualified 19th in the #23 Dodge Charger, becoming the first African-American to start a NASCAR Nextel Cup race since 1986. He finished 38th, six laps down.

For the first time during the season there were no extra laps at the end of the race. Last year's Atlanta winner, Carl Edwards eliminated himself from contention early. He damaged the front end of the 99 car after hitting Dave Blaney on pit road on lap 45 during a caution to address the stopped car of Kyle Busch. Bobby Labonte ran in the top 10 for the first 50 laps before his engine failed on lap 55. Another scary incident took place on pit road during the sixth caution of the day (laps 189–197), when Reed Sorenson hit John Slusher, catch can man for Robby Gordon's crew, as he pulled out of his pit stall. Slusher was attached to a backboard but treated at the infield care center.

Several rookies had good days at Atlanta. Paul Menard and Reed Sorenson finished in the top ten, and Denny Hamlin led 16 laps. He was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop because of a loose condition, and finished 31st.

On the track, the 9 car was near the front all day. Kahne took the lead from Greg Biffle with 79 laps to go. Despite a challenge from Mark Martin, Kahne was not seriously challenged down the stretch and visited victory lane for the second time in his career. Kahne was the first driver to win from the pole since Matt Kenseth in the 2005 Sharpie 500.

Qualifying

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Pos[3][4] Car # Driver Make Primary Sponsor Speed Time Behind
1 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 192.553 28.792 0.000
2 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 192.540 28.794 -0.002
3 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 191.973 28.879 -0.087
4 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 191.914 28.888 -0.096
5 18 J. J. Yeley Chevrolet Husqvarna 191.854 28.897 -0.105
6 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 191.794 28.906 -0.114
7 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Ground 191.695 28.921 -0.129
8 16 Greg Biffle Ford Subway / National Guard 191.496 28.951 -0.159
9 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 191.357 28.972 -0.180
10 42 Casey Mears Dodge Texaco / Havoline 191.245 28.989 -0.197
11 6 Mark Martin Ford AAA 190.968 29.031 -0.239
12 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 190.962 29.032 -0.240
13 1 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 190.922 29.038 -0.246
14 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 190.817 29.054 -0.262
15 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Fujifilm 190.804 29.056 -0.264
16 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 190.765 29.062 -0.270
17 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Kellogg's 190.633 29.082 -0.290
18 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 190.568 29.092 -0.300
19 23 Bill Lester Dodge Waste Management 190.502 29.102 -0.310
20 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 189.928 29.190 -0.398
21 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 189.895 29.195 -0.403
22 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards / Pittsburgh Paints 189.785 29.212 -0.420
23 61 Kevin Lepage Ford Amp Energy Drink 189.720 29.222 -0.430
24 55 Michael Waltrip Dodge NAPA Auto Parts 189.649 29.233 -0.441
25 21 Ken Schrader Ford Little Debbie 189.441 29.265 -0.473
26 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet Budweiser 189.396 29.272 -0.480
27 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT Power Tools 189.357 29.278 -0.486
28 38 Elliott Sadler Ford Combos 189.286 29.289 -0.497
29 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Valvoline / Stanley Tools 189.131 29.313 -0.521
30 22 Dave Blaney Dodge Caterpillar 189.092 29.319 -0.527
31 88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 188.552 29.403 -0.611
32 45 Kyle Petty Dodge National Tire & Battery 188.398 29.427 -0.635
33 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 188.398 29.427 -0.635
34 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 188.341 29.436 -0.644
35 1 Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 188.264 29.448 -0.656
36 7 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Harrah's 188.162 29.464 -0.672
37 25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC 188.041 29.483 -0.691
38 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light 187.970 29.494 -0.702
39 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy 187.843 29.514 -0.722
40 49 Brent Sherman Dodge Serta 187.614 29.550 -0.758
41 00 Hermie Sadler Ford Aaron's 187.304 29.599 -0.807
42 4 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet AERO Exhaust 187.139 29.625 -0.833
43 96 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 29.902
Failed to qualify
44 51 Mike Garvey Chevrolet Marathon Oil 29.651
45 95 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet hairofdog.com 29.862
46 34 Chad Chaffin Chevrolet Oak Glove Co. 29.895
47 74 Derrick Cope Dodge MyGuardian911 29.898
48 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row 29.899
49 32 Travis Kvapil Chevrolet Tide 29.980
50 37 Mike Skinner Dodge R&J Racing 30.039
51 13 Greg Sacks Ford Who's Your Daddy 30.110
52 92 Chad Blount Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 30.919

Race results

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Fin St Driver Car # Make Points Bonus Laps Winnings
1 1 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge 185 5 325 $197,664
2 11 Mark Martin 6 Ford 170 325 $127,800
3 26 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8 Chevrolet 165 325 $138,841
4 12 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 165 5 325 $137,236
5 21 Tony Stewart 20 Chevrolet 160 5 325 $154,961
6 14 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 150 325 $121,761
7 22 Paul Menard 15 Chevrolet 146 325 $78,625
8 32 Kyle Petty 45 Dodge 142 325 $108,133
9 31 Dale Jarrett 88 Ford 138 325 $109,850
10 15 Reed Sorenson * 41 Dodge 134 325 $89,225
11 29 Scott Riggs 10 Dodge 130 325 $74,650
12 17 Kyle Busch 5 Chevrolet 127 325 $88,025
13 27 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 124 325 $118,616
14 34 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford 121 325 $108,350
15 5 J. J. Yeley * 18 Chevrolet 118 325 $109,050
16 8 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 125 10 325 $104,175
17 13 Joe Nemechek 1 Chevrolet 112 325 $99,020
18 2 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge 114 5 325 $115,033
19 35 Martin Truex Jr. * 1 Chevrolet 106 324 $92,608
20 24 Michael Waltrip 55 Dodge 108 5 324 $85,158
21 10 Casey Mears 42 Dodge 100 324 $105,908
22 43 Terry Labonte 96 Chevrolet 102 5 324 $67,850
23 37 Brian Vickers 25 Chevrolet 94 324 $80,200
24 25 Ken Schrader 21 Ford 91 324 $98,164
25 3 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 93 5 324 $97,870
26 39 Jeff Green 66 Chevrolet 85 324 $90,033
27 16 Clint Bowyer * 07 Chevrolet 82 324 $78,060
28 36 Robby Gordon 7 Chevrolet 79 324 $69,810
29 28 Elliott Sadler 38 Ford 76 324 $97,433
30 42 Scott Wimmer 4 Chevrolet 73 323 $69,900
31 7 Denny Hamlin * 11 Chevrolet 75 5 323 $70,125
32 30 Dave Blaney 22 Dodge 67 323 $75,797
33 38 David Stremme * 40 Dodge 64 322 $75,125
34 33 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet 61 322 $66,130
35 23 Kevin Lepage 61 Ford 63 5 322 $66,190
36 40 Brent Sherman * 49 Dodge 55 322 $66,055
37 9 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge 57 5 321 $99,153
38 19 Bill Lester 23 Dodge PE 319 $65,985
39 6 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 46 313 $102,876
40 18 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 43 313 $85,700
41 20 Jeremy Mayfield 19 Dodge 40 235 $95,846
42 41 Hermie Sadler 0 Ford 37 166 $65,815
43 4 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge 39 5 56 $103,725

Failed to qualify: Mike Garvey (#51), Stanton Barrett (#95), Chad Chaffin (#34), Derrike Cope (#74), Kenny Wallace (#78), Travis Kvapil (#32), Mike Skinner (#37), Greg Sacks (#13), Chad Blount (#92)

References

edit
  1. ^ Official results at NASCAR.com
  2. ^ Weather information at the Old Farmer's Almanac
  3. ^ "Qualifying times: Golden Corral 500". Crash. 2006-03-18. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  4. ^ "Golden Corral 500 Qualifying Results and Starting Lineup Atlanta Motor Speedway NASCAR 2006". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2021-06-03.


Previous race:
2006 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
Nextel Cup Series
2006 season
Next race:
2006 Food City 500