2006 Golden Corral 500

2006 Golden Corral 500

Race details[1]
Race 4 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Atlanta Motor Speedway (after 1997, before Atlanta International Speedway)
Date	March 20, 2006
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	Kasey Kahne	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

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 the Monday. Television coverage moved to cable's FX channel for the race (with some exceptions).

Race recap

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 Waste Management 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.

Race results

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 *	7	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

1. Official results at NASCAR.com
2. Weather information at the Old Farmer's Almanac