2006 DirecTV 500

The 2006 DirecTV 500 was the sixth race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on April 2, 2006 at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. Jimmie Johnson won the pole and Tony Stewart led the most laps and won the race.[5]

2006 DirecTV 500

Race details[1][2][3][4]
Race 6 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2006 DirecTV 500 Finish
Date	April 2, 2006
Location	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 80.6 °F (27.0 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)[2]
Average speed	72.741 miles per hour (117.065 km/h)
Attendance	65,000
Pole position
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	19.575
Most laps led
Driver	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	288
Winner
No. 20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds

Background

Martinsville Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Martinsville Speedway is a 4-turn short track that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.[6] Its turns are banked at 11° while the frontstretch, where the start/finish line is located, is banked 0°.[6] Like the front stretch, the backstraightaway also does not have a banked surface.[6]

Martinsville Speedway is the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit, [6] but because of its size and shape – described most often as the shape of a paperclip – Martinsville offers some of the most exciting and close racing in the sport.[6] Also because of its size, fans are closer to the action than any other track.[6] The cars are never more than a few hundred yards away and sometimes they seem close enough to reach out and touch.

In a recent poll of race fans by a major publication, Martinsville Speedway was voted as the top bargain in all of Sprint Cup racing as well as the track having the best view of the action.[6] The track is also one of the most modern, with high-rise aluminum chair back seating, corporate and fan suites and state-of-the-art facilities for the media.[6]

The race track was built in 1947 and is owned by the International Speedway Corporation.

The race consisted of 500 laps, equivalent to a race distance of 263 miles (423 km).[6] Jeff Gordon was the defending race winner, after he won the race in 2005, the previous year.

Race results

Pos	Grid	Driver	No.	Make	Points	Bonus	Laps	Winnings
1	3	Tony Stewart	20	Chevrolet	190	10	500	$220,786
2	8	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	170	0	500	$153,461
3	1	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	170	5	500	$150,361
4	29	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	8	Chevrolet	160	0	500	$133,416
5	17	Kyle Busch	5	Chevrolet	155	0	500	$98,400
6	7	Elliott Sadler	38	Ford	150	0	500	$120,808
7	26	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	146	0	500	$115,011
8	24	Brian Vickers	25	Chevrolet	142	0	500	$85,350
9	2	Jamie McMurray	26	Ford	143	5	500	$122,675
10	11	Scott Riggs	10	Dodge	134	0	500	$76,700
11	9	Kurt Busch	2	Dodge	130	0	500	$111,683
12	25	Reed Sorenson*	41	Dodge	127	0	500	$85,925
13	30	Mark Martin	6	Ford	124	0	500	$90,575
14	6	Sterling Marlin	14	Chevrolet	126	5	500	$92,083
15	28	Dale Jarrett	88	Ford	123	5	500	$106,825
16	15	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	115	0	500	$89,100
17	14	Dave Blaney	22	Dodge	112	0	499	$89,233
18	4	Ryan Newman	12	Dodge	109	0	498	$114,358
19	21	Martin Truex, Jr.*	1	Chevrolet	106	0	498	$94,208
20	18	J.J. Yeley*	18	Chevrolet	108	5	497	$109,125
21	12	Tony Raines	96	Chevrolet	100	0	497	$67,850
22	42	Clint Bowyer*	07	Chevrolet	97	0	496	$84,250
23	22	Joe Nemechek	01	Chevrolet	94	0	495	$98,245
24	16	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	91	0	493	$113,491
25	34	Jeff Green	66	Chevrolet	88	0	491	$90,483
26	23	Jeremy Mayfield	19	Dodge	85	0	462	$100,066
27	32	Casey Mears	42	Dodge	82	0	456	$103,918
28	36	Scott Wimmer	4	Chevrolet	79	0	451	$69,460
29	33	Michael Waltrip	55	Dodge	76	0	445	$78,722
30	37	Kyle Petty	45	Dodge	73	0	439	$77,550
31	10	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	70	0	436	$86,100
32	13	Bobby Labonte	43	Dodge	67	0	429	$105,211
33	20	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	64	0	426	$92,845
34	40	Travis Kvapil	32	Chevrolet	61	0	403	$65,425
35	5	Kasey Kahne	9	Dodge	58	0	374	$102,889
36	31	Chad Chaffin	34	Chevrolet	55	0	345	$65,325
37	41	Denny Hamlin*	11	Chevrolet	52	0	307	$65,250
38	38	David Stremme*	40	Dodge	49	0	299	$73,200
39	35	Stanton Barrett	95	Chevrolet	46	0	280	$65,140
40	19	Ken Schrader	21	Ford	43	0	164	$92,279
41	39	Mike Garvey	51	Chevrolet	PE	0	93	$65,015
42	43	Chad Blount	92	Dodge	37	0	92	$64,960
43	27	Robby Gordon	7	Chevrolet	34	0	7	$64,384
Sources:[1][3][4][7]

Failed to qualify: Derrike Cope (#74), Kevin Lepage (#61), Kenny Wallace (#78), Jimmy Spencer (#49), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Hermie Sadler[1][3][4]

References

1. "2006 DirecTV 500 - Racing-Reference.info". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
2. "Complete weather information". Almanac.com.
3. "Official results". NASCAR.com.
4. "2006 DirecTV 500 - Martinsville Speedway". Martinsvillespeedway.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-05-22.
5. "Tony Stewart Leads Chevrolet To Win the 2006 DirecTV 500 In Exciting Martinsville Shootout". NASCAR.about.com.
6. "About the Track". Retrieved April 1, 2013.
7. "NASCAR Race Results at Martinsville - April 2, 2006 [DIRECTV 500] [DriverAverages]". Driveraverages.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.