The 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was the 21st stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The 13th running of the event, it was held on August 6, 2006, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana before a crowd of 280,000 spectators. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the 160-lap race starting from the fourth position. Roush Racing driver Matt Kenseth finished second and Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick was third.
Jeff Burton won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, and held his start line advantage for the next seven laps until Kasey Kahne passed him. Burton retook the lead from Kahne on the next lap, and led the most laps out of any one else (87) as the lead of the race changed eighteen times by nine different drivers. After falling to 39th because of a flat left-front tire on the 39th lap, Johnson recovered lost ground by maneuvering his way through traffic. He became the new leader on lap 117 after overtaking Harvick. Johnson led for a total of 38 laps en route to his fourth victory of the season, his first at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the 22nd of his career.
After the race Johnson's lead in the Drivers' Championship over Kenseth grew to 107 points. Although Burton finished down the order after slowing midway through the race, he kept the third position. Kyle Busch and Harvick were still in fourth and fifth, and Mark Martin likewise retained sixth the position. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, 38 points ahead of Dodge, and 40 in front of Ford with fifteen races remaining in the season.
Background
The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was the 21st out of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. It was held on August 6, 2006, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races. Indianapolis Motor Speedway's standard layout is a four-turn rectangular-oval track. Its turns are banked at nine degrees, and neither the front stretch (the location of the finish line) nor the back stretch are banked.
Before the race Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 2,939 points, with Matt Kenseth in second and Jeff Burton third. Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were fourth and fifth. Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart rounded out the top ten with six races of the regular season remaining until the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with 150 points; Dodge was second with 117 points, with Ford a close third on 113. Stewart was the race's defending champion.
In preparation for the race, NASCAR held the fifth of its six test days for Nextel Cup entrants on July 10–12 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sessions began at 9:00 a.m. EST, and concluded at 6:00 p.m. 58 cars, participated in the July 10 morning session, while 63 were entered for the afternoon session. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was quickest with a speed of and Robby Gordon had the highest speed of in the afternoon session. Sterling Marlin, David Stremme, Kenseth, Chad Chaffin and Greg Biffle all damaged their cars in collisions with the barriers lining the track. The second day of testing was cancelled because of rain. The start of the final day of testing was delayed because of further rain where 42 cars took part. Reed Sorenson recorded the fastest speed of all three days of in the day's sole testing session.
Robert Yates Racing development driver Stephen Leicht was entered for the race in his attempt to become the youngest person in history to qualify for a Nextel Cup Series race. His Busch Series race seat was taken by David Gilliland to enable full concentrate on the race for Leicht. After taking the pole position for the Pepsi 400 in July, and leading the race with two laps to go before placing fourth, No Fear Racing's Boris Said attempted to qualify for the round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bobby Hamilton Jr. of Bobby Hamilton Racing confirmed through a press release that he would enter the Brickyard 400, and would also compete in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Practice and qualifying Four one-hour practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: two on both Friday and Saturday. The first practice session was held in hot and sunny weather. Ken Schrader was fastest with a time of 49.911 seconds; Robby Gordon was second and Clint Bowyer third. Hamlin was fourth-fastest, ahead of Casey Mears and Earnhardt. Stremme, Scott Wimmer, Harvick and Paul Menard rounded out the session's top ten drivers. Boris Said made contact with a right-hand side wall leaving turn four, but he escaped with minor damage to his car. Practice was stopped for seven minutes because of debris on the track. In the second practice session, which took place in hot and sunny conditions, Kurt Busch was quickest with a 49.440 seconds lap, followed by Kahne, Robby Gordon, Scott Riggs, Schrader, Bowyer, Johnson, Reed Sorenson, Burton, and Hamlin. Early in the session, Michael Waltrip hit the turn four wall, but sustained no major damage to his car. Sorenson lost control of his vehicle in turn one, causing him to spin 90 degrees backwards into the SAFER barrier forty minutes in. Sorenson's car was heavily damaged, and he was transported to the infield care center for a pre-cautionary check-up at the infield medical center and later released. Sorenson was uninjured, and he went into a back-up car.
There were 50 cars entered in the qualifier on Saturday morning, according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, 43 were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times. Qualifying took place in sunny conditions. A widely believed perception in the paddock was that the first cars to set lap times would have more of an advantage over those that drove later in qualifying as track temperatures rose. In what was considered a "surprise" result, Burton clinched his third pole position of the season, and the fifth of his career, with an early lap of 49.240 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by his Richard Childress Racing teammate Bowyer who was two-thousands of a second slower. Kurt Busch qualified third, Kahne took fourth, and Johnson started fifth. J. J. Yeley, Biffle, Ryan Newman, Robby Gordon and Harvick completed the top ten. The seven drivers who failed to qualify were Paul Menard, Waltrip, Johnny Sauter, Kevin Lepage, Leicht, Hamilton and Derrike Cope. After the qualifier Burton said, "I think I left a little bit out there. I ran as hard as I thought I could run and come back. I was a little bit conservative in a few places that if somebody has a little more confidence, they might be able to do better than that."
It continued to be sunny for the third practice session. Kahne paced the session with a time of 51.161 seconds. Bowyer was twenty-seven thousands of a second slower in second, and Harvick was third. Fourth through tenth was composed of Kurt Busch, Burton, Kenseth, Stremme, Jamie McMurray, Johnson, and Martin Truex Jr. Kurt Busch's left-front tire blew after deflating, and he collided with the turn one entry SAFER barrier with the right-hand side of his car. He switched to a back-up car for the remainder of the weekend. Bowyer had a similar issue with his car's left-front tire coming off turn four but he stopped in a safe location. Later that afternoon, in sunny conditions, Burton set the fastest lap in the final practice session at 51.370 seconds; Kenseth was second, and Carl Edwards third. Bowyer was fourth-fastest, Schrader placed fifth, and Brian Vickers sixth. Hamlin was seventh-quickest, Robby Gordon eighth, Martin ninth, and Harvick tenth.
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 131Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet 49.240182.778 2 07Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.242182.771 3 2Kurt BuschPenske Racing SouthDodge 49.247182.752 4 9Kasey KahneEvernham Motorsports Dodge 49.331182.441 5 48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.386182.238 6 18J. J. YeleyJoe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 49.404182.171 7 16Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord 49.433182.065 8 12Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 49.471181.925 9 7Robby GordonRobby Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet 49.484181.877 10 29Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 49.523181.734 11 21Ken SchraderWood Brothers Racing Ford 49.576181.540 12 10Scott Riggs Evernham Motorsports Dodge 49.703181.076 13 96Tony RainesHall of Fame Racing Chevrolet 49.714181.036 14 11Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 49.741180.937 15 19Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge 49.859180.509 16 24Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 49.860180.505 17 37Mike SkinnerR&J Racing Dodge 49.865180.487 18 26Jamie McMurray Roush Racing Ford 49.882180.426 19 6Mark MartinRoush Racing Ford 49.935180.234 20 17Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 49.965180.126 21 01Joe NemechekGinn Racing Chevrolet 49.969180.112 22 99Carl Edwards Roush Racing Ford49.982180.065 23 1Martin Truex Jr.Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet49.982180.065 24 40David StremmeChip Ganassi Racing Dodge 50.150179.462 25 34Chad ChaffinFront Row Motorsports Dodge 50.177179.365 26 00Bill ElliottMichael Waltrip Racing Chevrolet 50.207179.258 27 38Elliott SadlerRobert Yates Racing Ford 50.215179.229 28 78Kenny WallaceFurniture Row Racing Chevrolet 50.223179.201 29 66Jeff GreenHaas CNC Racing Chevrolet 50.272179.026 30 25Brian Vickers Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.287178.973 31 8Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 50.301178.923 32 20Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 50.305178.909 33 14Sterling MarlinMB2 Motorsports Chevrolet 50.323178.845 34 4Scott WimmerMorgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 50.355178.731 35 88Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 50.368178.685 36 32Travis KvapilPPI Motorsports Chevrolet 50.380178.642 37 5Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 50.414178.522 38 43Bobby LabontePetty Enterprises Dodge 50.435178.447 39 42Casey MearsChip Ganassi RacingDodge50.463178.348 40 45Kyle Petty Petty EnterprisesDodge 50.555178.024 41 41Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 50.765177.288 42 22Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingDodge 50.856176.970 43 60Boris SaidNo Fear Racing Ford 50.412178.529 44 15Paul Menard Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 50.499178.221 45 55Michael Waltrip Waltrip-Jasper Racing Dodge 50.536178.091 4670Johnny Sauter Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 50.676177.599 47 49Kevin LepageBAM Racing Dodge 50.818177.103 48 90Stephen Leicht Robert Yates Racing Ford 50.863176.946 49 04Bobby Hamilton Jr.Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge 50.903176.807 50 61Derrike Cope Front Row MotorsportsChevrolet 51.563174.537
Race Live television coverage of the race began at 1:30 p.m. in the United States on NBC. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny with an ambient temperature of and a track temperature of . Howard Brammer, reverend of Traders Point Christian Church in downtown Indianapolis, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Kelly Rowland of the American girl group Destiny's Child performed the national anthem, and the chairwoman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Mari Hulman George commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Chaffin and Dale Jarrett went to the back of the grid for changing their engines, and Kurt Busch did the same after going into his back-up car. NASCAR scheduled a competition caution for laps 15 and 40 to enable teams to check the state of their tires after drivers raised concerns about their lifespan.