page_title: 2006 UAW-Ford 500
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 UAW-Ford 500 / Report / Background
caption_attribution_description: This image is of the Talladega Superspeedway, located in Talladega, Alabama. The image was taken from approximately 5000ft MSL (4500ft AGL) with visibility limited to approximately 4sm due to haze. The left wheel of the aircraft has been digitally removed from the image, causing some distortion in the lower sections, just below the track. The old w:Talladega Municipal Airport runways are still visible, crossing inside the track. The new airport and runway are located in the background, just north east of the track's position.
context_page_description: The 2006 UAW-Ford 500 was a stock car race that took place on October 8, 2006. The 38th annual running of the event, it was held at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, before 160,000 spectators; the 188-lap race was the 30th in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. Brian Vickers of Hendrick Motorsports won the race; Kasey Kahne finished second, and Kurt Busch came in third.
  David Gilliland, who had the pole position, was passed immediately by teammate Dale Jarrett. The race lead changed 63 times, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading for the most laps. Earnhardt was leading on the final lap when he and Jimmie Johnson crashed after Vickers made contact with Johnson's right rear quarter panel, causing the race to end under caution flag conditions. Vickers was determined the race winner by NASCAR and was later criticized since the crash lowered Johnson in the points standings.
  The victory was the first in Vickers' career. After the race, Jeff Burton maintained his Drivers' Championship points lead, although that lead decreased significantly because he had a flat tire during the final laps of the race.
context_section_description: Talladega Superspeedway is one of six superspeedways which host NASCAR races. The standard track is a four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.28 km) superspeedway. Its turns are banked 33 degrees, and its front stretch (the location of the finish line) is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch also has a two-degree bank.
  Before the race Jeff Burton led the Drivers' Championship with 5,511 points, with Denny Hamlin second and Mark Martin third. Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five and Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top ten drivers competing in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet led with 222 points; Ford was second with 175, and Dodge was a close third with 174 points. Dale Jarrett was the race's defending champion.
  After the previous race at Talladega (the 2006 Aaron's 499), the track's condition was beginning to deteriorate. Cracks in the third and fourth turns were beginning to cause handling problems with the cars, and a temporary storage unit was built outside the track to accommodate the asphalt needed for resurfacing the track. The entire track, including the skid pad and pit road, was resurfaced,  with the work completed shortly before the 2006 UAW-Ford 500 began.
caption: Talladega Superspeedway, where the race was held
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