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2006 NASCAR Busch Series
     .jpg)  .jpg)  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 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. 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. ScheduleTeams and driversComplete scheduleLimited scheduleNotes
RacesHershey's Kissables 300The Hershey's Kissables 300 race was held on February 18, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway. J. J. Yeley won the pole. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Kertus Davis (#0), Jay Sauter (#01), Kevin Lepage (#56), Chad Chaffin (#05), Larry Hollenbeck (#62), Chris Wimmer (#23). Stater Brothers 300On February 25, 2006, the Busch Series took to California Speedway for this 300-mile race. Carl Edwards was the polesitter. Matt Kenseth suffered a 25-point penalty for an unapproved adjustment found in his car during opening day inspection. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Derrike Cope (#49), Chris Wimmer (#23), David Gilliland (#84). Telcel-Motorola 200This road-course race took place on March 5, 2006 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Boris Said won the pole. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Eduardo Goeters (#49), Stan Silva Jr. (#65), and Chris Wimmer (#23). Sam's Town 300On March 11, 2006, the Busch Series raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Matt Kenseth started from the pole position. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Jorge Goeters (#49), Kertus Davis (#0), Chris Wimmer (#23). This race was the only NASCAR Busch Series race for Spencer Clark. He would pass away two months later. Nicorette 300The Nicorette 300 was held on March 18 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch was the polesitter. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Jorge Goeters (#49), Steadman Marlin (#95), Chris Wimmer (#23) Sharpie Mini 300This race was held on March 25 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Qualifying was snowed out and the field was set by current owner points. As a result, Kevin Harvick started from pole. The race was also halted by snow and drivers, crews, and fans amused themselves by throwing snowballs and building a snowman. The race was restarted after a 90-minute delay and run full-distance. Top Ten results
Failed to qualify: Caleb Holman (#75), Brad Teague (#05), Jerry Robertson (#72), Shane Hall (#28) O'Reilly 300This race was held on April 8 at Texas Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin won the pole, the first of his Busch series career. The race finished under a green-white-checker finish and was won by Kurt Busch in his first Busch Series start. Matt Kenseth suffered a 25-point penalty for an unapproved adjustment to his car found in post-race inspection. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Kertus Davis (#0), Jorge Goeters (#49), Chris Wimmer (#23) Pepsi 300This race was on held April 15 at Nashville Superspeedway. Denny Hamlin won his second pole in a row. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Jason White (#08) Bashas' Supermarkets 200This race was held April 21 at Phoenix International Raceway. Jason Leffler won the pole. The race finished under a green-white-checker finish as Kevin Harvick won his second race in a row. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Jay Sauter (#01), Chris Cook (#56), Jorge Goeters (#49), and Marc Mitchell (#23). Aaron's 312This race was held April 29 at Talladega Superspeedway. J. J. Yeley won the pole. Kevin Harvick, Burney Lamar, who finished 20th, and Tony Stewart, who finished 39th, all suffered 25 point penalties for unapproved adjustments to their cars. Top ten results
As there were the maximum of forty-three cars to race, there were no drivers or teams that failed to qualify.
Circuit City 250This race was held May 5 and May 6 at Richmond International Raceway. Jason Leffler won the pole. The race start was delayed approximately 1 hour for rain, after 13 laps rain fell again and the race was stopped for approximately another 43 minutes. The race eventually finished after midnight local time, resulting in the race occurring over two days. Kevin Harvick won his third Busch race of the year. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Jason Keller (#34), Jorge Goeters (#28), Shane Hall (#49), Kevin Conway (#40), Joel Kauffman (#12), Kertus Davis (#0), A. J. Foyt IV (#14) Diamond Hill Plywood 200This race was held May 12 at Darlington Raceway. Denny Hamlin won from the pole.
Failed to qualify: Derrike Cope (#49), Morgan Shepherd (#0), Shane Hall (#28), Caleb Holman (#75) Carquest Auto Parts 300This race was held May 27 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the pole. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Aaron Fike (#43), David Gilliland (#84), Stanton Barrett (#72), Joel Kauffman (#12), Eric McClure (#04), Kevin Conway (#40), Kertus Davis (#34) Stonebridgeracing.com 200This race was held June 3 at Dover International Speedway. Qualifying was rained out, and the field was set by the rulebook, with the top 30 teams taking the first fifteen rows. Because of that, Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole position. Top ten results:
As there were the maximum of forty-three cars needed to race, no drivers or teams failed to qualify. Federated Auto Parts 300This race was held June 10 at Nashville Superspeedway. Todd Kluever won the pole. top ten results
Failed to qualify: Jerry Robertson (#78), John Hayden (#85) Meijer 300This race was held June 17 at Kentucky Speedway. Denny Hamlin won the pole. In a stunning upset, David Gilliland became the first winner in the 2006 season that was not on a team with a Nextel Cup driver. Jeff Fuller was involved in a severe crash where, trying to avoid the spinning car of Jason Leffler, Fuller hit the inside wall at full speed, and the car practically imploded on impact. Fuller suffered a broken wrist and thumb.[1] Later in the race on lap 140, a fire alarm went off in the FX broadcasting booth, with lead broadcaster Phil Parsons jokingly stating there was "nothing to be alarmed about".[2] Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: John Hayden (#85), David Odell (#07), Stan Boyd (#23) AT&T 250This race was held June 24 at The Milwaukee Mile. Aric Almirola won the pole in the car normally driven by Denny Hamlin who actually drove the race in the car and started from the back. As a result, Paul Menard started the race from the pole position. He then went on to capture his first Busch series victory. Menard's victory was the only one all season by a full-time Busch Series driver who wasn't also full-time in the Cup Series. Only 41 cars started the race, instead of the usual 43. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: none Winn-Dixie 250The Winn-Dixie 250 was held June 30 at Daytona International Speedway. J. J. Yeley won the pole. Kevin Harvick and Burney Lamar, who finished 22nd, suffered 50 point penalties for unapproved adjustments found on their cars during post-race inspection. This was the final race to be broadcast on FOX until the 2015 Alert Florida 300. Top ten results:
As there were the maximum of forty-three cars needed to race, no drivers or teams failed to qualify. USG Durock 300This race was held on July 8 at Chicagoland Speedway. Carl Edwards won the pole. Casey Mears captured his first NASCAR victory using an alternate fuel strategy.[3] Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Derrike Cope (#49), Justin Diercks (#70), Carl Long (#23) New England 200The New England 200 was held July 15 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Kyle Busch won the pole. Clint Bowyer dominated early in the race but Carl Edwards captured the victory. Aaron Fike was black-flagged on lap 60 for intentionally throwing his glove on the track to cause a caution. Top ten results:
As there were the maximum of forty-three cars needed to race, no drivers or teams failed to qualify. Goody's 250The Goody's 250 was held July 22 at Martinsville Speedway. Clint Bowyer won the pole. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Richard Landreth (#89)
Busch Silver Celebration 250The Busch Silver Celebration 250 was held July 29 at Gateway International Raceway. Denny Hamlin won the pole. Tim Sauter, who finished 22nd, suffered a 50-point penalty for illegal shocks found on his car during post-race inspection. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Brad Teague (#05), Shane Hall (#49), Kevin Hamlin (#12) Kroger 200The Kroger 200 was held August 5 at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Denny Hamlin won his second pole in a row for the second time in 2006. Top ten results
Failed to qualify: Todd Shafer (#28) Zippo 200This race was held August 12 at Watkins Glen International. Kurt Busch won the race from the pole. Kurt Busch and Robby Gordon cut off track several times to duel on the final lap.[4][5] Top ten results: 202.45 miles/83 laps due to green-white-checkered rule.
Failed to qualify: Stan Silva Jr. (#65), Eduardo Troconis (#23), John Finger (#49) Carfax 250This race was held August 19 at Michigan International Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole. Top ten results: 128 laps/256 miles due to green-white-checkered rule.
Failed to qualify: Jerry Robertson (#78), Dexter Bean (#49)
Food City 250This race was held August 25 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Carl Long (#89), Caleb Holman (#75), D. J. Kennington (#72), Brad Keselowski (#23) Ameriquest 300This race was held September 2 at California Speedway. Clint Bowyer won the pole. Brad Keselowski made his NASCAR debut in this race. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Derrike Cope (#49) Emerson Radio 250This race was held September 8 at Richmond International Raceway. Jeff Burton won the pole. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Chris Cook (#43), Hermie Sadler (#28), Justin Diercks (#70), Josh Krug (#37), Shane Hall (#49) Dover 200This race was held September 23 at Dover International Speedway. Scott Riggs won the pole. Clint Bowyer held off Matt Kenseth in a green-white-checker finish.[6] Top ten results:
As there were the maximum of forty-three cars needed to race, no drivers or teams failed to qualify. Yellow Transportation 300The Yellow Transportation 300 was held September 30 at Kansas Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the pole. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Randy LaJoie (#37), Steadman Marlin (#95) Dollar General 300This race was held October 13 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Carl Edwards started from the pole. Dave Blaney would earn his first career Busch Series win, and Kevin Harvick, despite failing to finish on the lead lap for the only time in the 2006 season, clinched the Busch Series Championship following a wreck involving second-place driver Carl Edwards and Casey Mears on lap 199 (at the start-finish line from lap 198 to lap 199) of a scheduled 200-lap race. Top ten results: 203 laps/304.5 miles due to the green-white-checker rule
Failed to qualify: Tim Sauter (#36), Kertus Davis (#0), Robert Richardson Jr. (#80), Eric McClure (#04), Derrike Cope (#49) Sam's Town 250This race was held October 28 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Johnny Sauter won the pole. Juan Pablo Montoya made his NASCAR debut in this race. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Ron Young (#71), Stanton Barrett (#95), Chris Wimmer (#0), Shane Hall (#49), Richard Landreth (#89), Chuck Barnes Jr. (#07), Brett Rowe (#05) O'Reilly ChallengeThis race was held on November 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mark Martin won the pole. This was the final race for former series champion Randy LaJoie. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Justin Diercks (#70), Robert Richardson Jr. (#80), Jerry Robertson (#78), Derrike Cope (#49), Jorge Goeters (#63) Arizona.Travel 200The Arizona.Travel 200 was held November 11 at Phoenix International Raceway. Sam Hornish Jr., the 2006 IRL champion, made his NASCAR debut here. Matt Kenseth won the race from the pole. It was also the last Busch Series race to air on NBC until 2015. Top ten results: 203 miles/203 laps due to green-white-checkered rule.
Failed to qualify: Mike Skinner (#12), D. J. Kennington (#72), Shane Hall (#49), Josh Krug (#37) Ford 300The Ford 300 was held November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kevin Harvick won the pole. This was the final Busch Series broadcast on TNT. ESPN/ABC took over exclusive rights for the series from 2007-2014. Top ten results:
Failed to qualify: Robert Richardson Jr. (#80), Justin Diercks (#70), D. J. Kennington (#72), Kertus Davis (#0), Kraig Kinser (#04), Dawayne Bryan (#68), Morgan Shepherd (#49), Trevor Boys (#08), Brett Rowe (#05) Final standingsFull Drivers' Championship(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by owner's points. * – Most laps led.
Declaring for points in one series: Rules change for 2011This was the fifth-to-last season where Cup Series drivers could run for points in another series. NASCAR implemented this change after Cup drivers were winning the Busch/Nationwide championships over the series regulars for 5 years straight (2006-2010). If the change had been implemented for the 2006 season, Menard would have been the champion. The rest of the top 10 in the standings would have been Johnny Sauter in 2nd, Kenny Wallace (who finished 11th in points), John Andretti (12th), Jason Leffler (13th), Jon Wood (14th), Ashton Lewis (15th), Stacy Compton (16th), Todd Kluever (17th), and Danny O'Quinn Jr. (19th). Rookies
Also, John Andretti was officially considered a Busch Series rookie of the year contender for 2006, even though he is a Winston/Nextel Cup veteran. ROTY favorite Lamar was released early from his ride at KHI while leading the standings. Eventually, the ROTY came down to a fight between NEXTEL Cup veteran John Andretti and former USAR Pro Cup driver Danny O'Quinn Jr. Eventually, O'Quinn Jr., despite being pulled from his ride for two races in favor of David Ragan to prepare him for his full time Cup season in 2007, still managed to hold off Andretti to win the award by only a single point. Another preseason favorite and 2005 NCTS Rookie of the Year, Tood Kluever, struggled in his transition to the Busch Series. Another USAR driver, Mark McFarland, had an up and down year and was replaced by Shane Huffman. Joel Kauffman and Chris Wimmer made bids for ROTY, but were released from their rides. A. J. Foyt IV, in his transition to stock cars, was released due to a Dodge development deal. See also
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