2006 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results
By Zane Miller First round (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (1) #17 Matt Kenseth (7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (2) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6) #5 Kyle Busch v. (3) #29 Kevin Harvick (5) #24 Jeff Gordon v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin The playoffs kicked off at Dover, where it seemed that Matt Kenseth was on his way to a race win with former teammate and postseason competitor Jeff Burton in second. However, Burton was able to get to Kenseth’s bumper with 10 laps remaining, forcing an already fuel-starved Kenseth to burn even more gas. Burton completed the winning pass with six laps to go, while Kenseth ran out of gas coming to the white flag, though he would be credited with finishing 10th. Meanwhile, Burton captured his first race victory in almost half a decade. As for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, their rematch of last year’s finals had a bumpy start as Stewart fell out of contention just 12 laps in after a crash with Kasey Kahne, causing a skirmish between the two pit crews afterwards. Oblivious to the chaos on pit road, Johnson went on to claim a respectable 13th-place finish. Sophomore driver Kyle Busch suffered woes of his own, blowing an engine just past the one-quarter mark. Busch ended the day in 40th and, although Harvick did not fare much better as he also blew his engine later in the race, it was still enough for a 32nd-place result to outdo Busch. Rookie Denny Hamlin and 1998 champ Jeff Gordon both had strong days in the top-10, but ultimately Gordon would be on top in third while Hamlin finished ninth. The next race took place at Kansas, where Burton completed the sweep over Kenseth with a fifth-place finish to Kenseth’s 23rd. Although Stewart did not take the lead until the closing laps, he made them count. Johnson had been dominating for most of the second half of the race and built up a 10-second lead over Stewart, but was dangerously low on fuel. With five laps to go, Johnson was forced down pit road, handing the lead to Stewart from second. Although Stewart now had a massive lead over second-place Casey Mears on the last lap, he too would start running out of gas down the backstretch. With nothing more than fumes in his gas tank, Stewart coasted to the race win while Johnson’s season came to an end in 14th. In the last lap chaos, Busch grabbed the seventh spot while Harvick finished a lap down in 15th. Gordon’s race ended early due to a broken fuel pump, thus allowing Hamlin to continue the series after coming home 18th. Three of the four series were still on the line at Talladega, leading to a myriad of suspenseful moments around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. For the second race in a row, Gordon was done before the checkered flag fell, as he was taken out in a 13-car crash with 50 laps to go. Although Hamlin was also caught up in the wreck, he was able to continue on without major damage and settled for 21st while Gordon left eliminated in 36th. The tight battle between Harvick and Busch went down to the very end, but the former refused to be denied. Despite Busch leading a handful of laps, he could only muster an 11th-place run while Harvick advanced to the semifinals in sixth. However, the craziest finish was, predictably, between Johnson and Stewart. On the final lap, Stewart appeared to be out of contention after an accident left him unable to keep up in the draft, while Johnson was sitting in second behind race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. Had the two simply stayed in place, Johnson would have easily moved on to the semifinal round. However, third-place driver and Johnson’s teammate Brian Vickers had other ideas, and attempted to dip low going into turn three. As he did this, though, Johnson had already moved low himself, causing him to spin and collect Earnhardt Jr. with the pair sliding into the infield grass. When they washed back up onto the asphalt, Johnson T-boned the still sliding #8 car, leaving him unable to make it to the start/finish line. Despite being more than 12 seconds behind before the crash, Stewart survived with a 22nd-place finish as Vickers claimed his first career win. Semifinal (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (3) #29 Kevin Harvick (7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin With the semifinals made up entirely of teammate vs. teammate matchups, Burton would continue his hot streak at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, claiming a strong third-place run while Harvick struggled in 18th, two laps down. The Stewart-Hamlin battle started out on a similarly uncompetitive note, as Hamlin’s night effectively ended on lap three after a multi-car accident. Although Stewart fell a lap down to finish 13th, Hamlin could only manage a 28th-place result after losing several laps due to repairs. Determined not to go down without a fight, Hamlin and the #11 crew rebounded in a big way at Martinsville. Hamlin led 28 laps in his home state on the way to an impressive runner-up finish to outpace Stewart in fourth. Burton was also unable to finish off Harvick, as his engine let go prior to the event’s halfway mark and was relegated to 42nd. Harvick went on to earn the ninth spot. Both spots in the championship finals were undecided at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but Stewart made it clear right from the get-go that he had saved his best for last. He took the lead for the first time on lap 24 and led the most laps on the day, taking the race win while Hamlin’s breakout title run ended in eighth. Meanwhile, Harvick failed to find speed all afternoon, ending up four laps down in 31st by the race’s end. Burton claimed an adequate 13th-place finish, sealing his first championship finals appearance since the 1997 season. Final (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (7) #20 Tony Stewart The first-ever matchup of a #8-seed and #7-seed for the Cup Series title started with a bang at Texas, and I mean that literally as Burton’s right-front tire exploded on the frontstretch just 90 laps in. The severe damage forced Burton to lose multiple laps on the way to a disappointing 38th-place finish, in stark contrast to Stewart’s race with Smoke pacing the field for 278 of the 339 laps before capturing his fifth victory of the season. The championship hopefuls then headed west to Phoenix, where both dealt with lackluster qualifying runs keeping them at midpack. However, Burton was able to grind out a 10th-place result while Stewart could only work his way to a 14th-place finish. This meant that the finals would go all three rounds for the seventh consecutive season. At Homestead, Burton and Stewart would start many rows apart from each other, as Burton started the race in fifth while Stewart had another mediocre qualifying run putting him in 21st. By the midway point in the race, very little had changed in this regard as Burton remained comfortably inside the top-10 while Stewart had only gone backwards, going a lap down while struggling to even stay in the top 30. However, with 51 laps to go, Stewart finally caught the break he was looking for as an oil slick brought out the caution, allowing him to take the free pass back on the lead lap. The situation was flipped after that, as Stewart began his charge through the field while Burton started to slide back through the field. Unfortunately for Stewart but fortunately for Burton, a handful of late cautions stifled Stewart’s late-race progress. When the final yellow set up a green-white-checkered finish, Burton was only one spot ahead of Stewart. On the restart, however, Burton got the jump he needed while Stewart did not. Burton came to the line in 14th with Stewart a few car lengths back in 15th, as Burton claimed his first career Cup Series championship in his 13th full-time season. Jeff Burton’s stats for 2006 were one victory, seven top-fives and 20 top-10s, taking seventh in the real-life standings to champion Jimmie Johnson. 2006 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/2006-nascar-cup-series-season-recap
2006 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results
By Zane Miller First round (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (1) #17 Matt Kenseth (7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (2) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6) #5 Kyle Busch v. (3) #29 Kevin Harvick (5) #24 Jeff Gordon v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin The playoffs kicked off at Dover, where it seemed that Matt Kenseth was on his way to a race win with former teammate and postseason competitor Jeff Burton in second. However, Burton was able to get to Kenseth’s bumper with 10 laps remaining, forcing an already fuel-starved Kenseth to burn even more gas. Burton completed the winning pass with six laps to go, while Kenseth ran out of gas coming to the white flag, though he would be credited with finishing 10th. Meanwhile, Burton captured his first race victory in almost half a decade. As for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, their rematch of last year’s finals had a bumpy start as Stewart fell out of contention just 12 laps in after a crash with Kasey Kahne, causing a skirmish between the two pit crews afterwards. Oblivious to the chaos on pit road, Johnson went on to claim a respectable 13th-place finish. Sophomore driver Kyle Busch suffered woes of his own, blowing an engine just past the one-quarter mark. Busch ended the day in 40th and, although Harvick did not fare much better as he also blew his engine later in the race, it was still enough for a 32nd-place result to outdo Busch. Rookie Denny Hamlin and 1998 champ Jeff Gordon both had strong days in the top-10, but ultimately Gordon would be on top in third while Hamlin finished ninth. The next race took place at Kansas, where Burton completed the sweep over Kenseth with a fifth-place finish to Kenseth’s 23rd. Although Stewart did not take the lead until the closing laps, he made them count. Johnson had been dominating for most of the second half of the race and built up a 10-second lead over Stewart, but was dangerously low on fuel. With five laps to go, Johnson was forced down pit road, handing the lead to Stewart from second. Although Stewart now had a massive lead over second-place Casey Mears on the last lap, he too would start running out of gas down the backstretch. With nothing more than fumes in his gas tank, Stewart coasted to the race win while Johnson’s season came to an end in 14th. In the last lap chaos, Busch grabbed the seventh spot while Harvick finished a lap down in 15th. Gordon’s race ended early due to a broken fuel pump, thus allowing Hamlin to continue the series after coming home 18th. Three of the four series were still on the line at Talladega, leading to a myriad of suspenseful moments around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. For the second race in a row, Gordon was done before the checkered flag fell, as he was taken out in a 13-car crash with 50 laps to go. Although Hamlin was also caught up in the wreck, he was able to continue on without major damage and settled for 21st while Gordon left eliminated in 36th. The tight battle between Harvick and Busch went down to the very end, but the former refused to be denied. Despite Busch leading a handful of laps, he could only muster an 11th-place run while Harvick advanced to the semifinals in sixth. However, the craziest finish was, predictably, between Johnson and Stewart. On the final lap, Stewart appeared to be out of contention after an accident left him unable to keep up in the draft, while Johnson was sitting in second behind race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. Had the two simply stayed in place, Johnson would have easily moved on to the semifinal round. However, third-place driver and Johnson’s teammate Brian Vickers had other ideas, and attempted to dip low going into turn three. As he did this, though, Johnson had already moved low himself, causing him to spin and collect Earnhardt Jr. with the pair sliding into the infield grass. When they washed back up onto the asphalt, Johnson T-boned the still sliding #8 car, leaving him unable to make it to the start/finish line. Despite being more than 12 seconds behind before the crash, Stewart survived with a 22nd-place finish as Vickers claimed his first career win. Semifinal (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (3) #29 Kevin Harvick (7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin With the semifinals made up entirely of teammate vs. teammate matchups, Burton would continue his hot streak at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, claiming a strong third-place run while Harvick struggled in 18th, two laps down. The Stewart-Hamlin battle started out on a similarly uncompetitive note, as Hamlin’s night effectively ended on lap three after a multi-car accident. Although Stewart fell a lap down to finish 13th, Hamlin could only manage a 28th-place result after losing several laps due to repairs. Determined not to go down without a fight, Hamlin and the #11 crew rebounded in a big way at Martinsville. Hamlin led 28 laps in his home state on the way to an impressive runner-up finish to outpace Stewart in fourth. Burton was also unable to finish off Harvick, as his engine let go prior to the event’s halfway mark and was relegated to 42nd. Harvick went on to earn the ninth spot. Both spots in the championship finals were undecided at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but Stewart made it clear right from the get-go that he had saved his best for last. He took the lead for the first time on lap 24 and led the most laps on the day, taking the race win while Hamlin’s breakout title run ended in eighth. Meanwhile, Harvick failed to find speed all afternoon, ending up four laps down in 31st by the race’s end. Burton claimed an adequate 13th-place finish, sealing his first championship finals appearance since the 1997 season. Final (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (7) #20 Tony Stewart The first-ever matchup of a #8-seed and #7-seed for the Cup Series title started with a bang at Texas, and I mean that literally as Burton’s right-front tire exploded on the frontstretch just 90 laps in. The severe damage forced Burton to lose multiple laps on the way to a disappointing 38th-place finish, in stark contrast to Stewart’s race with Smoke pacing the field for 278 of the 339 laps before capturing his fifth victory of the season. The championship hopefuls then headed west to Phoenix, where both dealt with lackluster qualifying runs keeping them at midpack. However, Burton was able to grind out a 10th-place result while Stewart could only work his way to a 14th-place finish. This meant that the finals would go all three rounds for the seventh consecutive season. At Homestead, Burton and Stewart would start many rows apart from each other, as Burton started the race in fifth while Stewart had another mediocre qualifying run putting him in 21st. By the midway point in the race, very little had changed in this regard as Burton remained comfortably inside the top-10 while Stewart had only gone backwards, going a lap down while struggling to even stay in the top 30. However, with 51 laps to go, Stewart finally caught the break he was looking for as an oil slick brought out the caution, allowing him to take the free pass back on the lead lap. The situation was flipped after that, as Stewart began his charge through the field while Burton started to slide back through the field. Unfortunately for Stewart but fortunately for Burton, a handful of late cautions stifled Stewart’s late-race progress. When the final yellow set up a green-white-checkered finish, Burton was only one spot ahead of Stewart. On the restart, however, Burton got the jump he needed while Stewart did not. Burton came to the line in 14th with Stewart a few car lengths back in 15th, as Burton claimed his first career Cup Series championship in his 13th full-time season. Jeff Burton’s stats for 2006 were one victory, seven top-fives and 20 top-10s, taking seventh in the real-life standings to champion Jimmie Johnson. 2006 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/2006-nascar-cup-series-season-recap
2006 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results
By Zane Miller First round (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (1) #17 Matt Kenseth (7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (2) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6) #5 Kyle Busch v. (3) #29 Kevin Harvick (5) #24 Jeff Gordon v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin The playoffs kicked off at Dover, where it seemed that Matt Kenseth was on his way to a race win with former teammate and postseason competitor Jeff Burton in second. However, Burton was able to get to Kenseth’s bumper with 10 laps remaining, forcing an already fuel-starved Kenseth to burn even more gas. Burton completed the winning pass with six laps to go, while Kenseth ran out of gas coming to the white flag, though he would be credited with finishing 10th. Meanwhile, Burton captured his first race victory in almost half a decade. As for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, their rematch of last year’s finals had a bumpy start as Stewart fell out of contention just 12 laps in after a crash with Kasey Kahne, causing a skirmish between the two pit crews afterwards. Oblivious to the chaos on pit road, Johnson went on to claim a respectable 13th-place finish. Sophomore driver Kyle Busch suffered woes of his own, blowing an engine just past the one-quarter mark. Busch ended the day in 40th and, although Harvick did not fare much better as he also blew his engine later in the race, it was still enough for a 32nd-place result to outdo Busch. Rookie Denny Hamlin and 1998 champ Jeff Gordon both had strong days in the top-10, but ultimately Gordon would be on top in third while Hamlin finished ninth. The next race took place at Kansas, where Burton completed the sweep over Kenseth with a fifth-place finish to Kenseth’s 23rd. Although Stewart did not take the lead until the closing laps, he made them count. Johnson had been dominating for most of the second half of the race and built up a 10-second lead over Stewart, but was dangerously low on fuel. With five laps to go, Johnson was forced down pit road, handing the lead to Stewart from second. Although Stewart now had a massive lead over second-place Casey Mears on the last lap, he too would start running out of gas down the backstretch. With nothing more than fumes in his gas tank, Stewart coasted to the race win while Johnson’s season came to an end in 14th. In the last lap chaos, Busch grabbed the seventh spot while Harvick finished a lap down in 15th. Gordon’s race ended early due to a broken fuel pump, thus allowing Hamlin to continue the series after coming home 18th. Three of the four series were still on the line at Talladega, leading to a myriad of suspenseful moments around the 2.66-mile superspeedway. For the second race in a row, Gordon was done before the checkered flag fell, as he was taken out in a 13-car crash with 50 laps to go. Although Hamlin was also caught up in the wreck, he was able to continue on without major damage and settled for 21st while Gordon left eliminated in 36th. The tight battle between Harvick and Busch went down to the very end, but the former refused to be denied. Despite Busch leading a handful of laps, he could only muster an 11th-place run while Harvick advanced to the semifinals in sixth. However, the craziest finish was, predictably, between Johnson and Stewart. On the final lap, Stewart appeared to be out of contention after an accident left him unable to keep up in the draft, while Johnson was sitting in second behind race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. Had the two simply stayed in place, Johnson would have easily moved on to the semifinal round. However, third-place driver and Johnson’s teammate Brian Vickers had other ideas, and attempted to dip low going into turn three. As he did this, though, Johnson had already moved low himself, causing him to spin and collect Earnhardt Jr. with the pair sliding into the infield grass. When they washed back up onto the asphalt, Johnson T-boned the still sliding #8 car, leaving him unable to make it to the start/finish line. Despite being more than 12 seconds behind before the crash, Stewart survived with a 22nd-place finish as Vickers claimed his first career win. Semifinal (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (3) #29 Kevin Harvick (7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin With the semifinals made up entirely of teammate vs. teammate matchups, Burton would continue his hot streak at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, claiming a strong third-place run while Harvick struggled in 18th, two laps down. The Stewart-Hamlin battle started out on a similarly uncompetitive note, as Hamlin’s night effectively ended on lap three after a multi-car accident. Although Stewart fell a lap down to finish 13th, Hamlin could only manage a 28th-place result after losing several laps due to repairs. Determined not to go down without a fight, Hamlin and the #11 crew rebounded in a big way at Martinsville. Hamlin led 28 laps in his home state on the way to an impressive runner-up finish to outpace Stewart in fourth. Burton was also unable to finish off Harvick, as his engine let go prior to the event’s halfway mark and was relegated to 42nd. Harvick went on to earn the ninth spot. Both spots in the championship finals were undecided at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but Stewart made it clear right from the get-go that he had saved his best for last. He took the lead for the first time on lap 24 and led the most laps on the day, taking the race win while Hamlin’s breakout title run ended in eighth. Meanwhile, Harvick failed to find speed all afternoon, ending up four laps down in 31st by the race’s end. Burton claimed an adequate 13th-place finish, sealing his first championship finals appearance since the 1997 season. Final (8) #31 Jeff Burton v. (7) #20 Tony Stewart The first-ever matchup of a #8-seed and #7-seed for the Cup Series title started with a bang at Texas, and I mean that literally as Burton’s right-front tire exploded on the frontstretch just 90 laps in. The severe damage forced Burton to lose multiple laps on the way to a disappointing 38th-place finish, in stark contrast to Stewart’s race with Smoke pacing the field for 278 of the 339 laps before capturing his fifth victory of the season. The championship hopefuls then headed west to Phoenix, where both dealt with lackluster qualifying runs keeping them at midpack. However, Burton was able to grind out a 10th-place result while Stewart could only work his way to a 14th-place finish. This meant that the finals would go all three rounds for the seventh consecutive season. At Homestead, Burton and Stewart would start many rows apart from each other, as Burton started the race in fifth while Stewart had another mediocre qualifying run putting him in 21st. By the midway point in the race, very little had changed in this regard as Burton remained comfortably inside the top-10 while Stewart had only gone backwards, going a lap down while struggling to even stay in the top 30. However, with 51 laps to go, Stewart finally caught the break he was looking for as an oil slick brought out the caution, allowing him to take the free pass back on the lead lap. The situation was flipped after that, as Stewart began his charge through the field while Burton started to slide back through the field. Unfortunately for Stewart but fortunately for Burton, a handful of late cautions stifled Stewart’s late-race progress. When the final yellow set up a green-white-checkered finish, Burton was only one spot ahead of Stewart. On the restart, however, Burton got the jump he needed while Stewart did not. Burton came to the line in 14th with Stewart a few car lengths back in 15th, as Burton claimed his first career Cup Series championship in his 13th full-time season. Jeff Burton’s stats for 2006 were one victory, seven top-fives and 20 top-10s, taking seventh in the real-life standings to champion Jimmie Johnson. 2006 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/2006-nascar-cup-series-season-recap