page_title: 2006 Brickyard 400
section_title: Practice and qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 Brickyard 400 / Practice and qualifying
caption_attribution_description: English: NASCAR driver en:Jeff Burton in August 2007 at en:Bristol Motor Speedway
context_page_description: 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. The 160-lap race was won by Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports after 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 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.
context_section_description: Four one-hour practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: two on both Friday and Saturday. Ken Schrader was fastest in the first practice session 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. In the second practice session, 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 backwards into a wall forty minutes in. Sorenson's car was heavily damaged, and he was transported to the infield care center for a pre-cautionary check-up and later released. Sorenson went into a back-up car.
  Fifty cars were entered in the qualifier on Saturday morning, according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times. 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."
  Kahne paced the third practice 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 wall. 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, 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.
caption: Jeff Burton (pictured in 2007) had the fifth pole position of his career.
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