2006 Daytona 500 (Dale Earnhardt Survives)

The weather dawned cloudy and cold for the 48th running of the "Great American Race", as Jeff Burton led the field to the green at 2:45 p.m., which at the time was the latest scheduled start in the history of the race (the reason for this was that NBC chose it as its lead-in program to the prime-time portion of its day's coverage of the Winter Olympic Games from Turin). There were several lead changes in the early part of the race, with a total of 32. 
Going into the race, DEI were the odds-on favorites to have one of their cars win. Jimmie Johnson edged Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take the win. 
The first caution came on lap 18 when Martin Truex, Jr. hit the wall. During this caution, Burton was passed by Elliott Sadler for the lead a lap later. The race restarted on lap 20 and four laps later, Jeff Gordon took the led away from Sadler. Carl Edwards, a popular "dark horse candidate" for the Nextel Cup championship, had his day end early, as he was involved in a five-car pileup on lap 80 that collected Dale Jarrett, Kyle Petty, Jeff Green, J.J. Yeley, and Joe Nemechek. This was the biggest crash of the day, since the "Big One" never occurred. This would also bring out the third caution flag. Because of this, Edwards finished 43rd. 
Tony Stewart was a "magnet for controversy", tangling in two incidents with Jeff Gordon on lap 48 and Matt Kenseth on lap 106. The first incident, which left debris on the track, brought out the second caution and the second brought out the fifth caution. Stewart was penalized for aggressive driving after the incident with Kenseth, in which he blocked the No. 17 car into the grass, causing it to spin and hit the turn 3 wall. Kenseth took matters into his own hands and was black-flagged for hitting Stewart's car in retaliation on pit road. The three drivers involved in these two incidents repaired their cars and got back into contention.
Jimmie Johnson had one of the strongest cars all day. He took the lead with 10 laps to go. This set up a 10-lap battle for the win, involving the two DEI cars #8 and #15 in second and third. The race was extended into "overtime" when McMurray and Burton collided on lap 197, bringing out yet the 10th caution. The green-white-checker finish ended when Johnson held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to take the victory. The race ended under caution when Greg Biffle crashed in turn 4. To the finish line, since they were on the last lap coming off of turn 4, there was a drag race down the first section of the front stretch into the trioval between Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. Johnson won by half a car length. 
Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives
Category:Motor sport