2006 Dodge Charger 500

The 2006 Dodge Charger 500, the 57th running of the event that dates to the 1957 Rebel 300 , was held on May 13, 2006 at Darlington Raceway as the eleventh race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. Kasey Kahne won the pole.

2006 Dodge Charger 500

Race details[1]
Race 11 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date	May 13, 2006
Official name	Dodge Charger 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km)
Weather	Warm with temperatures approaching 78.8 °F (26.0 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed	135.127 miles per hour (217.466 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports
Time	29.096
Most laps led
Driver	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing
Laps	170
Winner
No. 16	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

Background

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

The track, Darlington Raceway, is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval.[2] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[2] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[2] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[2]

Race results

Rookie of the year contenders denoted by *

Fin	St	Driver	Car #	Make	Points	Bonus	Laps	Winnings
1	9	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	190	10	367	$290,175
2	12	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	175	5	367	$223,161
3	31	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	170	5	367	$205,291
4	25	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	165	5	367	$165,311
5	22	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	8	Chevrolet	155		367	$152,916
6	2	Ryan Newman	12	Dodge	155	5	367	$139,333
7	29	Kyle Busch	5	Chevrolet	151	5	367	$120,625
8	17	Mark Martin	6	Ford	142		367	$105,625
9	20	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	138		367	$115,320
10	5	Denny Hamlin *	11	Chevrolet	134		367	$97,900
11	16	Reed Sorenson *	41	Dodge	130		367	$94,375
12	13	Tony Stewart	20	Chevrolet	127		367	$133,386
13	24	Robby Gordon	7	Chevrolet	129	5	367	$85,225
14	39	Martin Truex Jr. *	1	Chevrolet	121		367	$108,408
15	23	Ken Schrader	21	Ford	118		366	$109,814
16	36	Joe Nemechek	1	Chevrolet	115		366	$106,995
17	21	Casey Mears	42	Dodge	112		366	$113,908
18	40	Kyle Petty	45	Dodge	109		366	$103,133
19	10	Kurt Busch	2	Dodge	106		366	$115,633
20	42	Tony Raines	96	Chevrolet	103		366	$76,725
21	1	Kasey Kahne	9	Dodge	105	5	366	$126,439
22	11	Bobby Labonte	43	Dodge	97		366	$113,136
23	3	Clint Bowyer *	7	Chevrolet	94		365	$84,400
24	35	Dale Jarrett	88	Ford	96	5	365	$106,750
25	4	David Stremme *	40	Dodge	88		365	$96,533
26	26	J.J. Yeley *	18	Chevrolet	85		365	$107,775
27	32	Dave Blaney	22	Dodge	87	5	364	$84,158
28	27	Sterling Marlin	14	Chevrolet	79		364	$81,322
29	6	Elliott Sadler	38	Ford	76		364	$99,483
30	18	Travis Kvapil	32	Chevrolet	73		364	$71,400
31	19	Scott Riggs	10	Dodge	70		363	$68,150
32	28	Jeff Green	66	Chevrolet	67		363	$75,975
33	38	Scott Wimmer	4	Chevrolet	64		363	$68,750
34	43	Terry Labonte	44	Chevrolet	61		361	$67,675
35	37	Michael Waltrip	55	Dodge	58		359	$67,450
36	41	Kevin Lepage	49	Dodge	55		353	$67,300
37	14	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	52		350	$104,036
38	30	Jeremy Mayfield	19	Dodge	49		346	$96,866
39	7	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	46		281	$86,550
40	34	Stanton Barrett	95	Chevrolet	43		255	$66,600
41	8	Brian Vickers	25	Chevrolet	40		246	$74,475
42	15	Jamie McMurray	26	Ford	37		223	$113,200
43	33	Derrike Cope	74	Dodge	34		11	$66,577
Source:[3]

Failed to qualify: Chad Chaffin (#61), Kenny Wallace (#78), Carl Long (#37), Chad Blount (#34)

References

1. "2006 Dodge Charger 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
2. "Darlington Raceway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
3. Official results at NASCAR.com