2006 Dover 400: Burton Ends a 175-Race Drought at Dover

Jeff Burton won the 2006 Dover 400 on 24 September 2006 at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, starting from 19th on the grid. The 400-lap race was the twenty-eighth of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the second event of the ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. Burton's victory ended a 175-race winless streak and moved him to the top of the Drivers' Championship.

What kind of track is Dover International Speedway?

Dover International Speedway is a four-turn oval that measures 1.6 km (1 mi) around. Its turns are banked at 24 degrees, while the front stretch, where the finish line sits, and the backstretch are each banked at nine degrees. The track is a short oval that holds NASCAR races.

The grandstands drew a crowd of 145,000 for the race, and the afternoon was partly cloudy with an air temperature of 23 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit).

Kenseth had made his Dover debut back in 1998, and he hoped to secure a top-five finish there while not ruling out a win. Johnson was the defending winner at the track, and the 2006 race was the second Chase event of the season.

A 175-race drought ended at Dover, where Jeff Burton came from 19th on the grid to win.

How did the Chase standings look before Dover?

Going into Dover, Harvick topped the Drivers' Championship on 5,230 points. Hamlin was second and Kenseth third, with Gordon and Burton holding fourth and fifth. Martin, Earnhardt, Kahne, Johnson and Kyle Busch filled out the top ten.

In the manufacturers' table, Chevrolet stood on 204 points, with Ford on 167 and Dodge on 162. Harvick had won the previous race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and his team said it would not get cocky about it.

Gordon was not focused on winning races at that stage of the season. He cited the average finishing position of 2005 champion Tony Stewart over that year's final ten races as an example.

What changes were made to the field before the race?

Roush Racing announced before the event that Craftsman Truck Series driver David Ragan would make his Nextel Cup debut in the team's No. 6 car. Ragan said he had never thought the day would come so soon, and he credited his time in the Truck Series with preparing him for the step up.

Team owner Jack Roush said the race would let the team judge Ragan's performance in view of a possible full-time seat in 2007.

Johnson was the defending winner, but the field also contained a number of drivers still fighting for their places in the Chase. That mix made the race important for both the championship and the new faces trying to earn future rides.

How did qualifying decide the grid?

Gordon won the pole with a time of 23.053 seconds, which was his 55th career pole and his first since the 2005 Dodge/Save Mart 350. Forty-seven cars entered the Friday qualifier, and forty-three of them were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, and the starting order came from the fastest of those laps.

Scott Riggs was alongside Gordon on the front row until Gordon's lap. Riggs missed a gear change during his run, which over-revved the engine and forced a change of power plant. Kenseth qualified third, Ryan Newman fourth and Joe Nemechek fifth, with Carl Edwards, Reed Sorenson, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch completing the top ten.

Earnhardt qualified 13th, and Johnson started 18th. Yeley crashed on his first lap after turn one, but he was checked at the infield care centre and released to keep racing. Morgan Shepherd, Kenny Wallace, Chad Blount and Donnie Neuenberger were the four drivers who failed to qualify. Gordon said the pole felt like his first ever.

What happened in practice?

Three practice sessions were held before the race, one on Friday and two on Saturday, lasting 85, 60 and 45 minutes. Kasey Kahne was fastest in the first session at 22.936 seconds, with Biffle second and Gordon third. Several cars switched to backup machines after crashes, including Tony Raines, Casey Mears and David Gilliland.

Ryan Newman was fastest in the second session at 23.655 seconds, ahead of Kahne and Stewart. In the final session, Earnhardt set the best time at 23.798 seconds. The final session was delayed by five minutes after loose paper notes on Burton's car blew into turn one and had to be cleared.

How did the race start?

The race began at 1:10 p.m., after pre-race ceremonies that included a national anthem from Brooke Hogan and a call to start engines from wrestler Hulk Hogan. Three drivers moved to the back during the pace laps for unapproved changes, including Yeley, who had switched to his backup car.

Newman got a better launch than Gordon and passed him around the outside into the first turn. Two laps later the first caution came out when Travis Kvapil spun off turn four and hit the inside wall. Harvick had started 25th and had already moved up to 21st by then.

The second caution came on lap 13, after Tony Stewart lost control in turns three and four and collected Kasey Kahne, which sent Kahne into the inside wall. Both cars were heavily damaged. Newman still led at the lap-16 restart, but a third caution came when Ken Schrader contacted David Ragan and sent him spinning on turn four.

Who led the race in the early and middle stages?

Carl Edwards passed Newman for the lead two laps after the lap-27 restart, and he pulled away from the field. Kenseth got by Newman for second on the 33rd lap. The fourth caution came on lap 48, when Ragan went up the track, hit the backstretch wall and spun down the track with heavy right-front damage.

Edwards missed his pit box during the stops and had to reverse, which dropped him to 23rd. David Stremme led the lap-53 restart before Elliott Sadler moved ahead, and Kenseth then passed Newman for second on lap 63. Kenseth went around Sadler for the lead eleven laps after that, and he went on to lead more laps than anyone else.

Kenseth led 215 laps in total, with Reed Sorenson and Greg Biffle also taking the lead at different points. Kyle Busch passed Kurt Busch for third on lap 95, and Earnhardt passed Newman for fifth one lap later. The fifth caution came when Robby Gordon's tyre went down and he hit the turn three wall.

On lap 106, Kyle Busch reported that his engine was failing as he tried to move in front of Sadler. He fell back to 25th, and he entered the pits two laps later and retired in the garage. Sadler reclaimed the lead on lap 113, but Kenseth regained it nine laps later.

How did the caution flags shape the back half?

A sixth caution on lap 165 was triggered by debris from Jamie McMurray's car in turns three and four. During that stop Kenseth parked on his pit box and had to be pushed into position, which dropped him to 20th. Sorenson took the lead at the restart on lap 169 and held it briefly.

The seventh caution came on lap 185, when Kevin Lepage lost control in turn two and backed into the outside wall. The eighth came on lap 206, when Stanton Barrett lost his car and struck the turn four wall close to the timing line. Biffle stayed out, and he led the lap-214 restart before pulling away from Sadler and Johnson.

Johnson moved ahead of Sadler for second eleven laps later. Kenseth had dropped back to ninth by lap 224 before working forward. He passed teammate Martin for third, and Martin then lost fourth to Kurt Busch on lap 251.

Who was in the lead at the end of the race?

Green-flag stops started on lap 264, with Biffle taking four tyres and fuel. A flat right-front tyre slowed Earnhardt on lap 282, and a ninth caution on lap 298 came when Riggs' right-front tyre failed and hit the turn three wall. Riggs had a small fire at the front of his car, and the top ten made stops for tyres and fuel under the yellow.

The tenth and final caution came on lap 324, after Yeley lost control leaving turn four and spun on the backstretch. Kenseth led the restart on lap 328, with Kurt Busch, Sorenson, Burton and Gordon behind him.

Earnhardt reported a second flat tyre and dropped to 26th. After five laps of battling, Burton got by Sorenson for third on lap 340. Bowyer also moved past Gordon for sixth that lap. Harvick then had an engine problem, switched ignition systems and retired to the garage on lap 371 with smoke coming from his car.

Burton closed to within one second of Kenseth, then tried to pass him over the following laps without success. Kenseth moved up the track on the 390th lap and fended off the attempt, but Burton finally moved in front of him on the backstretch on lap 395. From there, Burton slowly opened a gap.

How did the race finish?

Burton won, and the race finished with Kenseth and Sorenson both running out of fuel on the final lap. Edwards finished second, ahead of Gordon in third, Kurt Busch in fourth and Biffle in fifth. Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte, Bowyer, Hamlin and Kenseth completed the top ten.

Burton collected $230,370 for the win, and he said afterwards that the race had been a lot of fun against Kenseth. He thanked everyone on his team who had stayed with the car through difficult times. It was the first win of his 2006 season and his 18th career victory.

What did the result mean for the Chase?

Burton's win put him at the top of the Drivers' Championship with 5,351 points, just ahead of Gordon on 5,345. Kenseth and Hamlin shared fourth on 5,335 points apiece, 36 points clear of Harvick in fifth. Martin, Earnhardt, Johnson, Kahne and Busch made up the rest of the top ten.

Kahne said his lap 13 crash effectively ended his championship hopes, while Edwards praised the Ford Fusion as the best car he had raced at Dover. In the manufacturers' standings, Chevrolet extended its lead to 213 points, with Ford on 171 and Dodge three points behind Ford.

The race lasted 3 hours, thirty-four minutes and twenty-one seconds, and the winning margin was 7.955 seconds. Ten cautions and twelve lead changes among nine drivers shaped the afternoon.