2006 Banquet 400
The 2006 Banquet 400 was the twenty-ninth stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the third in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 1, 2006 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas before a crowd of 125,000. The 267-lap race was won by Tony Stewart of the Joe Gibbs Racing team who started from twenty-first position. Casey Mears finished second and Mark Martin came in third.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 29 of 36 in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series | |||
|
2006 Banquet 400 program cover | |||
| Date | October 1, 2006 | ||
| Official name | Banquet 400 Presented by ConAgra Foods | ||
| Location | Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 91.4 °F (33.0 °C); wind speeds up to 17.26 miles per hour (27.78 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 121.753 mph (195.942 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 125,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Evernham Motorsports | ||
| Time | 30.273 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 105 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach Jr. | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
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| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
| Booth Announcers | Joe Moore, Barney Hall | ||
| Turn Announcers | Mike Bagley, Dan Hubbard, Dave Moody, Jeff Striegle | ||
Pole position driver Kasey Kahne led the field until Jimmie Johnson moved into the first position after a caution period. Johnson lost the lead when he was passed by Kahne's teammate Scott Riggs on lap 28. He held the position for the next seven laps until Clint Bowyer took over the lead. Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved into first on the 64th lap and held it for sixteen laps when he was passed by Kyle Busch. Busch held the lead position for 64 laps. Bowyer reclaimed the first position and led for a further 17 laps, before Johnson moved ahead of him. After drivers made pit stops for fuel, Stewart took over the lead after electing to stay out, and held the position to win the race despite running out of fuel on the race's final lap. The race had a total of eleven cautions and twenty lead changes by thirteen different drivers.
It was Stewart's third win of the season, and the twenty-seventh of his career. The result kept Jeff Burton in the lead of the Drivers' Championship, sixty-nine points in front of Kevin Harvick. Martin moved up into third place, while Jeff Gordon fell to sixth because he retired with a broken fuel-pump. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, forty-seven ahead of Ford and forty-eight in front of Dodge with seven races left in the season.