2006 Bank of America 500

2006 Bank of America 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 31 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Date	October 14, 2006
Location	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance	334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
Weather	Temperatures up to 64.4 °F (18.0 °C); wind speeds up to 10.24 mph (16.48 km/h)[3]
Average speed	132.142 mph (212.662 km/h)
Attendance	170,000
Pole position
Driver	Scott Riggs	Evernham Motorsports
Time	28.203
Most laps led
Driver	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports
Laps	134
Winner
No. 9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Bill Weber, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
Nielsen Ratings	4.7/8 (Final) 4.1/7 (Overnight)[4]
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network
Booth Announcers	Mark Garrow, Doug Rice
Turn Announcers	Chuck Carland, Rob Albright

The 2006 Bank of America 500 was the thirty-first stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the fifth in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 14, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, before a crowd of 175,000. The 334-lap race was won by Kasey Kahne of the Evernham Motorsports team, after he started from second position. Jimmie Johnson finished second and Jeff Burton came in third.

Although Scott Riggs won the pole position, he was immediately passed by teammate Kasey Kahne at the start of the race. Riggs regained the lap twelve laps later, only to lose it to Tony Raines on the nineteenth lap. Riggs retook the lead and maintained it for the following sixteen laps, until he was passed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who led the next thirty-one laps. Kahne moved back into the first position on lap 96, with Raines moving back into the position on the 123rd lap. Kahne passed Raines to move back into the lead fifteen laps later. Johnson moved into the lead on lap 168 and held the position for a total of 72 laps. At the race's final restart on lap 307 Johnson led until he was passed by Kahne two laps later, who maintained it to win the race. There was a total of ten cautions and thirty-four lead changes by thirteen different drivers.

The victory was Kahne's sixth of the season, and the seventh of his career. After the race Burton maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship, which increased to 45 points over nearest rival Matt Kenseth. Kahne's victory moved him from ninth to eighth, while Jeff Gordon dropped to tenth because his engine failed in the race's closing laps. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, forty-eight points ahead of Dodge and fifty-four ahead of Ford with five races of the season remaining.

Report

Background

Lowe's Motor Speedway, where the race was held

Lowe's Motor Speedway, now called Charlotte Motor Speedway, is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.^[5] The standard track at Lowe's Motor Speedway is a four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.4 km)-long, quad-oval track. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees; both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch (opposite the front) have a five-degree banking.^[6]

Before the race Jeff Burton led the Drivers' Championship with 5,598 points, with Matt Kenseth second and Mark Martin third. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin were fourth and fifth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the top ten drivers competing in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup.^[7] Chevrolet was leading the Manufacturers' Championship with 231 points; Dodge was second with 180, and Ford was a close third on 179.^[8] Johnson was the race's defending champion.^[9]

After he was rammed by his teammate Brian Vickers in the UAW-Ford 500, Johnson said the expectations for him to succeed at Lowe's Motor Speedway were high and hoped the track's surface would be more predictable.^[10] Martin said he was in the best position that he had been in to win the championship for several years and stated he was less interested at looking at race results.^[11] Having secured one top-ten finish in the season's first four Chase for the Nextel Cup races, Earnhardt stated he need to secure a top-five finishing position and was determined to get his team more involved in the championship battle.^[12]

One team made its début at the race. Red Bull Racing Team elected to start operations early as part of a warm-up to running a full-time schedule in 2007 with the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott driving the No. 83 car. Elliott would attempt to qualify the car at three races towards the end of the season. Elliott said of his decision to join Red Bull: "The organization and its competitive spirit are what attracted me to Team Red Bull. My job is simple, to put the car in the show, drive it toward the front, and provide valuable input so that Team Red Bull is fully prepared by the Daytona 500."^[13]

Practice and qualification

Scott Riggs (pictured in 2007) had the third pole position of his career.

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: one on Thursday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first practice session lasted ninety minutes, the second sixty minutes and the third fifty minutes.^[1] Kahne set the fastest time in the first practice session with a lap of 28.834 seconds; Scott Riggs was second and Kurt Busch third. Elliott Sadler took fourth position, and Martin placed fifth. Johnson, Joe Nemechek, Martin Truex, Jr., Jeff Green and Hamlin rounded out the session's top-ten fastest drivers.^[14]

Although fifty-two cars were entered in the qualifier;^[15] according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure only forty-three could race.^[1] Riggs clinched the third pole position of his career and his third consecutive at Lowe's Motor Speedway in a time of 28.203 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Kahne, his Evernham Motorsports teammate and held the pole position until Riggs' lap.^[16] Kurt Busch originally qualified in third, but his car's right-rear shock absorber was found to have violated NASCAR regulations during the post-qualifying inspection because it did not work as required. Busch was required to start from forty-second position after using a provisional.^[1] As a result, Casey Mears inherited third, Sadler fourth and Harvick fifth. Burton, Martin, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and Johnson rounded out the top ten qualifiers. Kenseth, a Chase for the Nextel Cup driver, qualified eleventh, while Earnhardt took sixteenth and Kyle Busch eighteenth. The nine drivers who failed to qualify were Elliott, Kevin Lepage, Derrike Cope, Chad Chaffin, Hermie Sadler, Kirk Shelmerdine, Kenny Wallace, (who crashed on his first timed lap) Morgan Shepherd (who elected not to set a lap time) and Carl Long (who crashed while attempting to record a lap tme).^[16][17] After the qualifier Riggs said: "We knew we had a good car, and we got a good draw going late. Coming back here we wanted to get back on our streak of qualifying well and finishing well. We can put it right back where it was."^[16]

On Friday afternoon Kyle Busch was fastest in the second practice session with a time of 29.378 seconds, ahead of Kahne and Robby Gordon. Bowyer was fourth-fastest; Johnson was fifth and Truex sixth. Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Burton and Martin followed in the top ten. Of the other drivers in the Chase, Edwards was eleventh-fastest, Hamlin set the twelfth-fastest time and Harvick was fifteenth.^[18] Ryan Newman crashed and switched to a back-up car.^[1] Later on Saturday afternoon Earnhardt paced the final practice session with a time of 29.357; Kyle Busch was second and Hamlin third. Kahne was fourth-fastest, ahead of Johnson and Bowyer. Biffle was seventh-fastest, Truex eighth, Riggs ninth and Robby Gordon tenth. Other Chase drivers included Jeff Gordon in thirteenth and Burton in fifteenth; all were within three-tenths of a second of Earnhardt's time.^[19]

Race

Live television coverage of the race, the thirty-first of thirty-six of the 2006 season began at 7:04 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time in the United States on NBC. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny with the air temperature at 64 °F (18 °C) which was forecast to drop as the race progressed. Dr. William K. Thierfelder, the president of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. American Idol contestant and country music singer Kellie Pickler performed the national anthem, and the winner of a sponsored Grand Marshal contest Mickey Jackson along with his five-year-old son Kalob commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Newman moved to the rear of the field because he switched to his back-up car.^[1][20][21]

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (pictured in 2008) led a total of 37 laps.

The race started at 7:21 p.m. Kahne accelerated faster than teammate Riggs off the line, and was ahead of him by the second turn. The first caution of the race was given one lap later when Todd Bodine contacted Robby Gordon in the tri-oval who slid but regained control of his car with Bodine slowing, which triggered a multi-car accident that involved Mike Bliss hitting the rear of Hamlin who was sent spinning down the front stretch which involved Mike Skinner, Truex, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Petty, J. J. Yeley, Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Newman and Nemechek which temporarily blocked the track. Hamlin drove back to his garage where his team repaired his car. Kahne led the field at the lap-nine restart, followed by Riggs and Mears. The caution was immediately issued at the start of lap nine as the cars drove through the first turn because three safety vehicles were on the track and the laps were counted towards the first caution. Several cars elected to make pit stops under caution. Stewart made repairs to his car's body which was damaged in the lap two crash. Kahne maintained the top position at the lap twelve restart, with Riggs in second. Riggs reclaimed the first position from Kahne on the 13th lap; after starting from 41st, Jeff Gordon moved up to 22nd position by lap 15. Two laps later, Dave Blaney spun after leaving turn four and hit the outside wall with his car's left-rear quarter, triggering the race's third caution. Most of the field, including Riggs, chose to make pit stops for fuel and tires under caution.^[1][20][21]

Tony Raines decided not to make a pit stop and led the field back up to speed at the lap-22 restart, ahead of Newman, McMurray, Terry Labonte and Riggs. On the 24th lap, Riggs and Kahne got ahead of Labonte for fourth and fifth positions. Riggs passed McMurray for third one lap later, and Kahne got ahead of McMurray for fourth on lap 25. Newman fell down to fourth place when he was passed by Riggs and Kahne two laps later. Riggs passed Raines for the lead on the 30th lap, while Kahne moved into second place. Truex hit the wall on the same lap but no caution was shown. Sorenson ran into the rear-end of Dale Jarrett, who spun backwards into the turn four wall, prompting the fourth caution. Jarrett retired from the race when he drove into his garage. All drivers elected to make pit stops for fuel under caution. Riggs maintained his lead at the lap-39 restart, followed by Kahne and Bowyer. Johnson got ahead of Sadler to move into eighth on lap 44. On lap 46, the fourth caution was given; Todd Kluever was hit by Greg Biffle after leaving turn two and spun on the backstretch, causing Ken Schrader and Petty to hit Kluever. Michael Waltrip contacted the wall in avoidance. Most drivers (including Riggs) chose to make pit stops for fuel. Earnhardt led at the lap-53 restart, ahead of Edwards, Newman. Biffle and Sorenson who all chose to not pit. Riggs moved back into third place on lap 59 after passing Biffle and Newman. By lap 66, Earnhardt held a 1.78 second advantage over Edwards. Two laps later, Riggs passed Edwards to take over second place.^[1][20][21]

Riggs closed the gap to Earnhardt, and was 1.5 seconds behind by lap 75. Green-flag pit stops began on lap 78, with Earnhardt pitting on lap 79, giving the lead back to Riggs. Kahne and Riggs made pit stops on the 85th lap for scuffed right-hand tires. After the pit stops which concluded on lap 91, Riggs reclaimed the first position. Kahne closed the gap to teammate Riggs by lap 95 who was holding a 0.4 second lead. One lap later, Kahne passed Riggs (who complained his car was experiencing excessive understeer) for first place. Earnhardt moved into second when he passed Riggs on the 100th lap. Lap 105 saw the fifth caution; Waltrip lost control of his car and hit the turn four outside wall, which caused him to spin while attempting to pit for fuel. During the caution, all drivers again made pit stops. Kahne maintained the lead at the lap-110 restart, followed by Earnhardt and Bowyer. Gordon passed Bowyer to claim third position one lap later. Bowyer lost two further positions when he was passed by the 115th lap. The sixth caution was prompted on the following lap when Kurt Busch spun leaving turn two and hit the inside wall on the backstretch; Sorenson lost control at turn two while attempting to avoid Busch and went towards the outside backstretch wall. Most of the leaders, including Kahne, made pit stops for fuel. Harvick and Kahne avoided a collision on pit road. Sadler led the field at the lap-121 restart, followed by Raines and Robby Gordon. Raines passed Sadler to reclaim the lead two laps later, while Sadler drove back to pit road with engine problems on lap 125.^[1][20][21]

Kasey Kahne (pictured in 2009) won the race after passing Jimmie Johnson with twenty-four laps remaining.

Kahne moved up into second place by lap 132 after passing Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt and Robby Gordon. Johnson got ahead of Robby Gordon for fourth place one lap later. Kahne moved back into the lead after passing Raines on the backstretch on lap 138, while Johnson moved into second one lap later. The second round of green-flag pit stops commenced on lap 148, when Robby Gordon pitted for right-side tires and car adjustments. Kahne stopped on lap 154 with Riggs, Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Johnson made similar stops over the next three laps. After the pit stops, Kahne reclaimed the lead after battling with Raines. The seventh caution was given three laps later when Gilliland spun in turn two and heavily contacted the inside wall, and drove to his garage to retire. Most of the leaders, including Kahne, made pit stops. Sterling Marlin stayed out and led at the lap-168 restart, ahead of Johnson. That same lap, Marlin lost the lead when Johnson passed him on the backstretch, and Marlin was passed by Kahne for second on lap 169. Martin got ahead of Earnhardt for fifth position ten laps later. By lap 180, Johnson held a 1.4 second lead over Kahne. Gordon passed Martin for third on lap 182, while Edwards got ahead of Kyle Busch for seventh two laps later. Upfront, Kahne closed the gap to Johnson to 0.6 seconds by the 188th lap. The third round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 199; Johnson stopped on lap 203, while Earnhardt made a pit stop on the following lap. After the pit stops, Kahne retook the lead.^[1][20][21]

Johnson drove down the race track at turn three and passed Kahne for the lead on lap 211 and started to pull away from Kahne. Bowyer drove to his garage on lap 216 for a transmission change because he lost the use of first gear. Jeff Gordon had closed the gap to Kahne by lap 229. Green-flag pit stops started six laps later when Kahne pitted from second place. Johnson pitted for four tires on lap 239, handing the lead to Jeff Gordon, who ceded it to Earnhardt two laps later. The eighth caution was triggered on lap 242 when Yeley attempted to drive down pit road, and contacted Martin who attempted to avoid Yeley by driving below the driver; Martin spun and went into the tri-oval wall and Robby Gordon hit Yeley, causing him to spin into the front stretch grass. Earnhardt pitted on lap 244, followed by Kahne on the following lap. Edwards gained the lead and maintained it at a lap-252 restart, followed by Earnhardt and Kahne. Five laps later, Kahne passed Edwards to reclaim the lead as they came across slower cars and began to pull away. Debris was located on the track on lap 276, necessitating the race's ninth caution. During the caution, the leaders elected to make pit stops. Kahne maintained his lead at the lap-281 restart and pulled away from Earnhardt. Jeff Gordon passed Nemechek to move into fourth place on the following lap. Jeff Gordon's engine failed after he crossed the start-finish line on lap 302, trigging the race's final caution. The leaders, including Kahne, made pit stops for fuel under caution.^[1][20][21]

Johnson led the field at the lap-307 restart, ahead of Kahne, Earnhardt and Burton. Kahne drove up the track and passed Johnson around the inside in turn one for the lead on the 309th lap. Burton (who felt a vibration from his car) passed Earnhardt to take over third position seven laps later. Kahne increased the advantage to Johnson over the remaining seventeen laps to win the race and became the eighth driver to win both points races at Lowe's Motor Speedway in a calendar year.^[20][21] Johnson finished second, ahead of Burton in third, Earnhardt in fourth and Bobby Labonte in fifth. Kyle Busch, Raines, Edwards, Nemechek and Vickers rounded out the top ten finishers,^[1] The race had a total of ten cautions and thirty-four lead changes by thirteen different drivers.^[2]

Post-race

Kahne appeared in victory lane to celebrate his sixth win of the season in front a crowd of 170,000;^[2] the win earned him $305,889.^[22] Kahne was delighted with his victory: "We had a great car. It was unbelievable all night. I got to thank the transmission and rear end guys. I slammed it into second gear at the end of pit road one time and I thought I had to break something. This isn't the special car. This car's been good two other times this year, but it went to waste. It's just an awesome team."^[23] Second-place finisher Johnson said: "“I only made up ten points. But ten points is ten points. We finished the race where we ran all day long, which is important.”^[24] Third-place finisher Burton was happy he was able to recover from a tire issue from the previous race at Talladega Superspeedway.^[25] He also said of his late-race vibration: "It shook bad enough where it scared me, I screamed, ‘We’ve got a wheel loose, we got a wheel loose’ and they said, we do not have a wheel loose, we know we got them tight. I was glad the race ended because I mean it was vibrating hard."^[24]

Four days after the race, Penske Racing South were given penalties for Kurt Busch's car. The penalties, for "actions detrimental to stock car racing"; "car, car parts, components and/or equipment that do not conform to NASCAR rules"; and a right rear shock absorber that did not compress, included a $25,000 fine and a two race suspension for crew chief Roy McCauley who was placed on probation until December 31, 2006. Team owner Roger Penske and Kurt Busch were penalized 50 points in the Drivers' and Owners Championships.^[26] The following day, Penske Racing South announced it would not appeal the penalties.^[27]

The result kept Burton in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 5,763 points, ahead of Kenseth on 5,718. Harvick moved into third with 5,674, thirteen points ahead of Martin who fell to fourth. Earnhardt moved in front of Hamlin for fifth, and Johnson, Kahne and Kyle Busch filled positions seven to nine.^[28] After the race, Jeff Gordon (who fell to tenth) said he would try and win races to return to contention for the championship.^[24] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained the lead with 237 points. Dodge remained in second with 189, six points ahead of Ford.^[8] The race took three hours, forty-seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 1.624 seconds.^[22]

Results

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Grid	Car	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	10	Scott Riggs	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	28.203	191.469
2	9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	28.392	190.194
3	42	Casey Mears	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	28.479	189.613
4	19	Elliott Sadler	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	28.568	189.023
5	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.611	188.739
6	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.636	188.574
7	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	28.636	188.574
8	07	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.650	188.482
9	41	Reed Sorenson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	28.687	188.239
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.694	188.193
11	17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing	Ford	28.747	187.846
12	40	David Stremme	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	28.749	187.833
13	14	Sterling Marlin	Ginn Racing	Chevrolet	28.760	187.761
14	4	Todd Bodine	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.765	187.728
15	12	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing South	Dodge	28.772	187.682^1
16	8	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	28.802	187.487
17	21	Ken Schrader	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	28.832	187.292
18	5	Kyle Busch	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.833	187.285
19	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.845	187.208
20	66	Jeff Green	Haas CNC Racing	Chevrolet	28.849	187.182
21	43	Bobby Labonte	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	28.861	187.104
22	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	28.867	187.065
23	55	Michael Waltrip	Waltrip-Jasper Racing	Dodge	28.880	186.981
24	49	Mike Bliss	BAM Racing	Dodge	28.896	186.877
25	25	Brian Vickers	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.923	186.703
26	1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	28.925	186.690
27	26	Jamie McMurray	Roush Racing	Ford	28.929	186.664
28	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Racing	Ford	28.939	186.599
29	72	Mike Skinner	CJM Racing	Chevrolet	28.961	186.458
30	01	Joe Nemechek	Ginn Racing	Chevrolet	28.965	186.432
31	20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	28.982	186.322
32	45	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	29.009	186.149
33	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing	Ford	29.027	186.034
34	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	29.055	185.854
35	38	David Gilliland	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	29.072	185.746
36	22	Dave Blaney	Bill Davis Racing	Dodge	29.093	185.612
37	06	Todd Kluever	Roush Racing	Ford	29.119	185.446
38	32	Travis Kvapil	PPI Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.122	185.427
39	96	Tony Raines	Hall of Fame Racing	Chevrolet	29.149	185.255
40	18	J. J. Yeley	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	29.237	184.697
41	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.492	183.100
42	2	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing South	Dodge	28.462	189.713^2
43	44	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Champion's Provisional
Failed to qualify
44	83	Bill Elliott	Red Bull Racing Team	Dodge	29.131	185.370
45	34	Kevin Lepage	Front Row Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.182	185.076
46	74	Derrike Cope	McGlynn Racing	Dodge	29.301	184.294
47	61	Chad Chaffin	Front Row Motorsports	Dodge	29.316	184.200
48	00	Hermie Sadler	MBA Racing	Chevrolet	29.886	180.687
49	27	Kirk Shelmerdine	Kirk Shelmerdine Racing	Chevrolet	31.667	170.525
50	78	Kenny Wallace	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	–	–
51	89	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Dodge	–	–
52	46	Carl Long	Cupp Motorsports	Dodge	–	–
Source:[17]
^1 Moved to the back of the field for switching to a back-up car
^2 Moved from third to forty-second because of a car infringement

Race results

Race results

Pos	Grid	Car	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps Run	Points
1	2	9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	334	190^2
2	10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	175^1
3	6	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	334	165
4	16	8	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	334	165^1
5	21	43	Bobby Labonte	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	334	160^1
6	18	5	Kyle Busch	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	155^1
7	39	96	Tony Raines	Hall of Fame Racing	Chevrolet	334	151^1
8	28	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Racing	Ford	334	147^1
9	30	01	Joe Nemechek	Ginn Racing	Chevrolet	334	138
10	25	25	Brian Vickers	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	134
11	13	14	Sterling Marlin	Ginn Racing	Chevrolet	334	135^1
12	3	42	Casey Mears	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	333	127
13	31	29	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	333	124
14	11	17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing	Ford	332	126^1
15	12	40	David Stremme	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	332	118
16	20	66	Jeff Green	Haas CNC Racing	Chevrolet	332	115
17	1	10	Scott Riggs	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	332	117^1
18	5	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	332	109
19	14	4	Todd Bodine	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	331	106
20	38	32	Travis Kvapil	PPI Motorsports	Chevrolet	331	103
21	43	44	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	331	100
22	32	45	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	330	97
23	8	07	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	329	99^1
24	41	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	301	96^1
25	19	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	88
26	36	22	Dave Blaney	Bill Davis Racing	Dodge	278	85
27	15	12	Ryan Nemwan	Penske Racing South	Dodge	272	82
28	22	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	265	79
29	40	18	J. J. Yeley	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	258	76
30	7	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	239	73
31	26	1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	216	70
32	42	2	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing South	Dodge	208	17^3
33	35	38	David Gilliland	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	161	64
34	27	26	Jamie McMurray	Roush Racing	Ford	160	61
35	4	19	Elliott Sadler	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	124	63^1
36	9	41	Reed Sorenson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	115	55
37	33	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing	Ford	111	52
38	23	55	Michael Waltrip	Waltrip-Jasper Racing	Dodge	102	49
39	37	06	Todd Kluever	Roush Racing	Ford	45	46
40	17	21	Ken Schrader	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	45	43
41	34	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	32	40
42	24	49	Mike Bliss	BAM Racing	Dodge	1	37
43	29	72	Mike Skinner	CJM Racing	Chevrolet	1	34
Source:[2][22]
^1 Includes five bonus points for leading a lap
^2 Includes ten bonus points for leading the most laps
^3 Includes a 50-point post-race penalty

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos +/– Driver Points 1 Jeff Burton 5,763 2 Matt Kenseth 5,718 (−45) 3 2 Kevin Harvick 5,674 (−89) 4 1 Mark Martin 5,661 (−102) 5 1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 5,657 (−106) 6 1 Denny Hamlin 5,626 (−137) 7 1 Jimmie Johnson 5,617 (−146) 8 1 Kasey Kahne 5,603 (−160) 9 1 Kyle Busch 5,568 (−195) 10 3 Jeff Gordon 5,547 (−216) Source:[2][28]

Jeff Burton (pictured in 2007) remained the points leader after the race. Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 237 2 Dodge 189 (−48) 3 Ford 183 (−54) Source:[8] Note: Only the top ten positions are included for the driver standings. These drivers qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

References

1. "The Race: The Bank of America 500 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
2. "2006 Bank Of America 500". Racing-Reference. USA Today Media Sports Group. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
3. "Weather Information from Concord, North Carolina". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
4. "2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
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