Greg Biffle won from a twenty-second starting place, while Jimmie Johnson took his first Nextel Cup championship by 56 points over Matt Kenseth.
The 2006 Ford 400 closed the Nextel Cup season on 19 November 2006 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Greg Biffle won the 267-lap race from a twenty-second starting place. Jimmie Johnson clinched his first championship, and Martin Truex Jr. finished second.
The 2006 Ford 400 was the last race of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season and the final round of the ten-race Chase. Greg Biffle won it from a twenty-second starting place, and that result was enough to hand Jimmie Johnson his first Nextel Cup championship. Johnson finished ninth and beat Matt Kenseth to the title by 56 points.
Where and when was the 2006 Ford 400 held?
The race was held on 19 November 2006 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, before a crowd of 80,000 people. It was the 36th and final race of the 2006 Nextel Cup season, and the last round of the Chase for the Nextel Cup. The race covered 267 laps around the 2.4 km (1.5 mi) oval.
The track is an intermediate oval with four turns banked between 18 and 20 degrees. Both the front stretch, where the finish line sits, and the back stretch are banked at three degrees. The race was run on the standard track layout used for NASCAR events at the venue.
A late-season win from the back of the field handed a title to the driver who had been leading the points all along.
Who was in contention for the title before the finale?
Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 6,332 points before the race, followed by Kenseth. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were tied for third, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top five in the Chase. The final race had 195 points available, so Kenseth could still win the title if Johnson faltered.
Johnson had to finish twelfth or better to clinch the championship, because even a Kenseth victory would leave Johnson ahead on the tiebreaker of second-place finishes. Johnson was the 2004 runner-up and had been second in points for the previous three races at Homestead, so he had been in this position before.
Kenseth was realistic about his chances. He said his only route to a second title was for Johnson to have problems, and he admitted that his team could not win on pure speed given their recent form. Chevrolet had already taken the manufacturers' title, entering the race on 273 points, ahead of Dodge on 199 and Ford on 193.
How did qualifying set the field?
Kasey Kahne took pole with a time of 30.293 seconds, his sixth of 2006 and the twelfth of his career. Scott Riggs, his Evernham Motorsports teammate, was 0.007 seconds slower on the front row. Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers and Kevin Harvick came next, with Yeley, Gilliland and Bowyer filling the rest of the top ten.
Two drivers were making their first attempts at qualifying this season. Juan Pablo Montoya ran a Chip Ganassi car in preparation for his full-time Nextel Cup debut in 2007, and Brewco Motorsports entered Casey Atwood, hoping to qualify for the team's second Nextel Cup race. Dale Jarrett crashed into a wall in practice and used a backup car for qualifying later that day.
Johnson qualified thirteenth and Kenseth nineteenth, while Bill Elliott used a champion's provisional to make the 43-car field from the 56 entries. Ward Burton, Michael Waltrip, Casey Atwood and several others failed to qualify. Robby Gordon changed engines after a failure on his second qualifying lap.
Practice had shown promise for several teams. Kurt Busch was fastest in the first session at 30.366 seconds, and Casey Mears was quickest in the second at 31.317 seconds. Burton set the pace in the final session at 31.229 seconds, while Johnson, in sixth, was among the title contenders in the mix.
How did the race unfold?
Kahne led the first 18 laps before Kyle Busch passed him. Kahne retook the lead and went on to lead 90 laps in all, more than any other driver. One lap was removed from the distance after debris was spotted between the first and second corners, Johnson moved from fifteenth to eleventh in the first few laps.
The first caution came when Kurt Busch hit the backstretch wall, and Bobby Labonte then collided with his car. Twenty-three drivers pitted during that yellow. A second caution followed after Kurt Busch lost control on a flat tyre and struck the wall exiting turn four.
At the lap 19 restart Kyle Busch took the lead from Kahne, and Johnson was working his way forward. Johnson's car had been holed by debris from Kurt Busch's crash, and the repair was made under caution, but he kept moving through the field. Kahne fought back and extended his advantage over Kyle Busch to 0.994 seconds.
Johnson moved into tenth on lap 79 and passed Harvick for ninth. Earnhardt Jr. advanced into fourth by lap 94. Green-flag pit stops began on lap 104 and ended on lap 109, with Kahne retaining the lead.
Kyle Busch lost control and hit the wall, then struck the turn two wall with the right side of his car on lap 116. That brought out the fourth caution, and Earnhardt Jr. stayed out to lead the restart. He pulled away from the field after repelling several challenges, but Biffle passed Truex for second eleven laps later.
Blaney's left-rear tyre burst on lap 160, scattering debris and bringing out the fifth caution. Earnhardt Jr. had a slow stop because of a lug nut problem, and Truex took the lead at the restart. A sixth caution followed when Gilliland hit the turn one wall, and he crashed again two corners later.
Racing resumed on lap 179 with Truex leading Kahne and Biffle. Johnson's battle with Kenseth went back and forth for fifth before Bowyer passed Johnson for sixth. On lap 188 Robby Gordon spun 360 degrees exiting turn four, and Johnson steered left to avoid him, which brought out the seventh caution.
Bliss's engine gave out on lap 206, leaving oil on the surface and bringing out the eighth caution. Kahne won the race off pit road and retook the lead for the restart, before Riggs took it back for a moment. Biffle then began to move forward, passing his teammate Kenseth and then Riggs to reach second.
Biffle passed Kahne for the lead, and Earnhardt Jr. scraped the wall through turn two on lap 225 but kept going in twelfth. Johnson moved up to eighth and did not need another stop. Newman's left-rear tyre was cut by contact with Montoya on lap 247, which brought out the ninth caution.
The leaders pitted for tyres, and Yeley stayed out to lead the restart on lap 252. On that lap Newman collided with Montoya's rear in turn one, and Montoya's car hit the wall and caught fire after a ruptured fuel cell. Montoya was unhurt. Officials then red-flagged the race for seven minutes and 58 seconds while the track was cleared.
Biffle passed Yeley on the restart, and Hamlin moved into third. Mears's engine failed on lap 262, laying oil and bringing out the eleventh and final caution. Yeley ran out of fuel on the backstretch, and Biffle held the lead to the flag.
How did Biffle win from so far back?
Biffle started twenty-second but worked forward through the caution periods and pit stops. He led twice for 47 laps in total, and he took the lead for the last time on the restart after the final caution, holding it for the last two laps to win his second race of the season and his eleventh of his career. The race produced fifteen lead changes among ten drivers, so the lead changed hands many times before the final restart.
Kahne, who had led the most laps, finished fourth, and his race was a strong one. Hamlin, who took third, was the highest-placed rookie of the season, while Truex finished second after his fast car gave him a run in the closing stages.
Who finished where at Homestead?
Biffle won ahead of Truex, Hamlin, Kahne and Harvick, the top five. Kenseth was sixth, Riggs seventh and Edwards eighth. Johnson finished ninth to take the championship, and Bowyer completed the top ten.
| Finish | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | Greg Biffle | Second win of 2006 and eleventh career win, from twenty-second on the grid |
| Second | Martin Truex Jr. | Ran strongly with a fast car for most of the race |
| Third | Denny Hamlin | Highest-placed rookie of the season |
| Fourth | Kasey Kahne | Led 90 laps, the most of any driver, and started on pole |
| Fifth | Kevin Harvick | Passed Johnson for seventh late in the race |
| Sixth | Matt Kenseth | Runner-up in the championship by 56 points |
| Seventh | Scott Riggs | Teammate of Kahne at Evernham Motorsports |
| Eighth | Edwards | Top-ten finish in the final race |
| Ninth | Jimmie Johnson | Clinched his first Nextel Cup championship |
| Tenth | Clint Bowyer | Completed the top ten |
How did the championship finish?
Johnson took the Drivers' Championship with 6,475 points, 56 clear of Kenseth. Hamlin was third with 6,407 points, and Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. were fourth and fifth with 6,397 and 6,328 points. Jeff Gordon, Burton, Kahne, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch completed the top ten in the final Chase standings.
Chevrolet won the manufacturers' title with 279 points. Dodge finished 76 points back, and Ford was one point further behind in third. The race lasted three hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds, and the winning margin was 0.389 seconds.
What did the drivers say after the race?
Biffle said the win made up for a tough season, and he praised his car for helping him in the closing laps. Truex said the last few months had brought the team together, and that closing the deal felt good. Hamlin said he was ecstatic with the way his team had run, and that a top-five finish was the right way to end the year.
Johnson credited his team's luck and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, who said the team had come into its own over the year. Kenseth said he had been disappointed with his Chase, but he was proud of his best season, in which he had won four races. He believed the team could have won eight or nine.
After the race NASCAR called Newman and his crew chief, Matt Borland, to explain the contact with Montoya. Montoya described it as one of those things in racing, while Newman said he had not been retaliating when he hit the Dodge.
