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Johnson Cups, Montoya Flames, Biffle at Home at Homestead

The 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion was finally crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson winning the championship by 56 points over Matt Kenseth, who finished sixth in the race.

When all was said and done, Greg Biffle won the race, leading 47 of the 268 laps, Martin Truex finished second, Denny Hamlin third, pole winner Kasey Kahne fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth. But the really big celebration was by the ninth-place finishing team — Jimmie Johnson’s Chad Knaus-led No. 48 Chevy team out of the Hendrick Motorsports stables. The car is co-owned by Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon.

Johnson overcame the loss of his crew chief for the first four races of the season when Chad Knaus was suspended after NASCAR’s inspection process uncovered modifications to the No. 48 Chevy that were not within the rulebook. In spite of this, Johnson won the Daytona 500 and went on to capture four more races, at Talladega, Las Vegas, Indianapolis and Martinsville. Then Sunday afternoon, he had to overcome a potentially race-ending incident when he hit a piece of debris on the track just fifteen laps into the race. The chunk punched a hole in the front of his car but fortunately missed hitting anything vital. The team taped the hole, Johnson went back on the track and proceded to run his race.

Following the race, Johnson was presented a check for $6,245,800 by Sprint-NEXTEL executive Tim Donahue, representing his share of the point fund to be distributed in two weeks at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

A final caution for Casey Mears’ blown engine with five laps to go delayed Jimmie Johnson’s anointing as the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion for what must have felt like an eternity to Johnson and his crew chief Chad Knaus. The green-white-checker restart took the race an extra lap. J. J. Yeley almost sent the race one more extra lap when he ran out of fuel and stopped the No. 18 Chevy on the back straight, waiting for a quick push to a safe parking spot.

Kurt Busch was the first car out of the race, parking the No. 2 Dodge after only ten laps. Eventually joined in the garage by Jeremy Mayfield, Bobby Labonte, Robby Gordon and several more. Most notably, Juan Pablo Montoya, the Columbian open-wheel star’s Dodge slamming into the wall and sliding down the track trailing flames. Until then, Montoya had been running consistently in the top twenty, more or less, and benefited from a lucky dog pass onto the lead lap once. Ryan Newman and his crew chief Mike Nelson were called to the NASCAR trailer after the race for a consultation about the apparent contact with Juan Pablo Montoya’s car.

Montoya’s crash, just 15 laps from the checkered flag, brought out a red flag for the cleanup, one of eleven cautions that slowed the race for 43 laps while ten different drivers led with fifteen lead changes over the 268-lap race distance.

Kasey Kahne, winner of the most races this season, six, bumped Mark Martin back to ninth in year-end point standings with a fourth-place finish. Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Kevin Harvick all won five races each, Matt Kenseth won four and rookie Denny Hamlin captured a pair of points wins, joined by Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon. Single victories went to Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton and the Busch brothers, Kyle and Kurt. Johnson added the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge to his win total, though it did not award points. Other non-points race winners were Denny Hamlin at the Budweiser Shootout, Elliott Sadler and Jeff Gordon each won a Gatorade Duel and Scott Riggs captured the Nextel Open to earn a berth in the All-Star.

Unofficial Finish, Ford 400
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts/Bonus, Status
1, 22, Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 268, 185/5, Running
2, 20, Martin Truex Jr. *, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, 268, 175/5, Running
3, 33, Denny Hamlin *, No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, 268, 165/0, Running
4, 1, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW/Chrysler Financial Dodge, 268, 170/10, Running
5, 7, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 268, 155/0, Running
6, 19, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DEWALT Ford, 268, 150/0, Running
7, 2, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge, 268, 151/5, Running
8, 31, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 268, 142/0, Running
9, 15, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 268, 143/5, Running
10, 10, Clint Bowyer *, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 268, 134/0, Running
11, 23, David Stremme *, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 268, 130/0, Running
12, 24, Scott Wimmer, No. 33 Holiday Inn Chevrolet, 268, 127/0, Running
13, 13, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 268, 124/0, Running
14, 5, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 268, 121/0, Running
15, 21, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 268, 118/0, Running
16, 11, Reed Sorenson *, No. 41 Target Dodge, 268, 115/0, Running
17, 28, Paul Menard, No. 15 Menards/Johns Manville Chevrolet, 268, 117/5, Running
18, 26, Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Salutes Mark Martin Ford, 268, 109/0, Running
19, 14, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 268, 111/5, Running
20, 40, Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet, 268, 103/0, Running
21, 6, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, 267, 100/0, Running
22, 27, Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet, 267, 97/0, Running
23, 16, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 267, 94/0, Running
24, 12, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 267, 91/0, Running
25, 43, Bill Elliott, No. 100 Burger King & Xbox Chevrolet, 267, 88/0, Running
26, 25, Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 266, 85/0, Running
27, 34, Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide-Downy Chevrolet, 266, 82/0, Running
28, 38, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Marathon/Wells Fargo/Tire Kingdom/Schwan’s Dodge, 266, 79/0, Running
29, 37, Ken Schrader, No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford, 266, 76/0, Running
30, 8, J.J. Yeley *, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 265, 78/5, Out of Race
31, 41, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 265, 70/0, Running
32, 39, Casey Mears, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 261, 67/0, Out of Race
33, 9, David Gilliland, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 257, 64/0, Running
34, 29, Juan Montoya, No. 30 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 251, 61/0, Out of Race
35, 42, Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Crown Royal Ford, 250, 58/0, Running
36, 4, Elliott Sadler, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 230, 60/5, Out of Race
37, 18, Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Ginn Clubs & Resorts Chevrolet, 213, 52/0, Out of Race
38, 3, Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 206, 54/5, Running
39, 17, Mike Bliss, No. 49 WhatsOnline.com Dodge, 201, 46/0, Out of Race
40, 35, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, 187, 43/0, Out of Race
41, 30, Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Chex Party Mix Dodge, 83, 40/0, Out of Race
42, 32, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 109 Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge, 78, 37/0, Out of Race
43, 36, Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 9, 34/0, Out of Race

*: Rookie

Rank	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	--	Jimmie Johnson	6475	Leader	36	1	5	13	24
2	--	Matt Kenseth	6419	-56	36	0	4	15	21
3	+1	Denny Hamlin*	6407	-68	36	3	2	8	20
4	-1	Kevin Harvick	6397	-78	36	1	5	15	20
5	--	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	6328	-147	36	0	1	10	17
6	--	Jeff Gordon	6256	-219	36	2	2	14	18
7	--	Jeff Burton	6228	-247	36	4	1	7	20
8	+1	Kasey Kahne	6183	-292	36	6	6	12	19
9	-1	Mark Martin	6168	-307	36	0	0	7	15
10	--	Kyle Busch	6027	-448	36	1	1	10	18
11	--	Tony Stewart	4727	-1748	36	0	5	15	19
12	--	Carl Edwards	4428	-2047	36	0	0	10	20
13	--	Greg Biffle	4075	-2400	36	2	2	8	15
14	+1	Casey Mears	3914	-2561	36	0	0	2	8
15	+1	Brian Vickers	3906	-2569	36	1	1	5	9
16	-2	Kurt Busch	3900	-2575	36	6	1	7	12
17	--	Clint Bowyer*	3833	-2642	36	0	0	4	11
18	--	Ryan Newman	3748	-2727	36	2	0	2	7
19	+1	Martin Truex Jr.*	3673	-2802	36	0	0	2	5
20	+1	Scott Riggs	3619	-2856	35	2	0	1	8
21	-2	Bobby Labonte	3567	-2908	36	0	0	3	8
22	--	Elliott Sadler	3469	-3006	36	1	0	1	7
23	--	Dale Jarrett	3438	-3037	36	0	0	1	4
24	+1	Reed Sorenson*	3434	-3041	36	0	0	1	5
25	-1	Jamie McMurray	3405	-3070	36	0	0	3	7
26	--	Dave Blaney	3259	-3216	36	0	0	1	2
27	+2	Joe Nemechek	3255	-3220	36	0	0	0	2
28	-1	Jeff Green	3253	-3222	36	0	0	0	2
29	-1	J.J. Yeley*	3220	-3255	36	0	0	0	3
30	--	Robby Gordon	3113	-3362	36	0	0	1	3
31	--	Ken Schrader	3049	-3426	36	0	0	0	2
32	--	Kyle Petty	2928	-3547	36	0	0	0	2
33	+1	David Stremme*	2865	-3610	34	0	0	0	0
34	-1	Sterling Marlin	2854	-3621	36	0	0	0	1
35	--	Tony Raines	2609	-3866	29	0	0	0	1
36	--	Travis Kvapil	2451	-4024	31	0	0	0	0
37	--	Michael Waltrip	2350	-4125	33	0	0	0	0
38	--	Scott Wimmer	1812	-4663	24	0	0	0	0
39	--	Jeremy Mayfield	1684	-4791	22	0	0	0	0
40	--	Kevin Lepage	1346	-5129	22	0	0	0	0
41	--	Terry Labonte	1278	-5197	17	0	0	1	1
42	--	David Gilliland	1178	-5297	15	1	0	0	0
43	--	Kenny Wallace	984	-5491	17	0	0	0	0
44	--	Bill Elliott	765	-5710	10	0	0	0	0
45	+1	Paul Menard	669	-5806	7	0	0	0	1
46	-1	Chad Chaffin	553	-5922	10	0	0	0	0
47	--	Boris Said	415	-6060	4	1	0	1	2
48	+3	Mike Bliss	387	-6088	6	0	0	0	0
49	-1	Brent Sherman*	372	-6103	6	0	0	0	0
50	-1	Mike Wallace	355	-6120	4	0	0	0	0
51	-1	Stanton Barrett	343	-6132	7	0	0	0	0
52	--	Derrike Cope	317	-6158	9	0	0	0	0
53	--	Ward Burton	252	-6223	3	0	0	0	0
54	--	Hermie Sadler	251	-6224	7	0	0	0	0
55	--	Scott Pruett	223	-6252	2	0	0	0	1
56	--	Todd Kluever	187	-6288	4	0	0	0	0
57	--	Mike Skinner	184	-6291	4	0	0	0	0
58	--	Kirk Shelmerdine	177	-6298	3	0	0	0	0
59	--	Todd Bodine	143	-6332	2	0	0	0	0
60	--	Mike Garvey	138	-6337	4	0	0	0	0
61	--	Jimmy Spencer	122	-6353	2	0	0	0	0
62	--	Ron Fellows	119	-6356	2	0	0	0	0
63	--	David Ragan	88	-6387	2	0	0	0	0
64	--	Brandon Ash	88	-6387	2	0	0	0	0
65	--	Chad Blount	74	-6401	2	0	0	0	0
66	--	Morgan Shepherd	71	-6404	2	0	0	0	0
67	--	Eric McClure	70	-6405	1	0	0	0	0
68	--	Bill Lester	67	-6408	2	0	0	0	0
69	--	Juan Montoya	61	-6414	1	0	0	0	0
70	-1	P.J. Jones	55	-6420	1	0	0	0	0
71	-1	Brian Simo	40	-6435	1	0	0	0	0
72	--	Ted Christopher	40	-6435	1	0	0	0	0
73	-2	Carl Long	40	-6435	1	0	0	0	0
74	--	Marc Goossens	34	-6441	1	0	0	0	0
75	--	Brandon Whitt	34	-6441	1	0	0	0	0
76	-3	Tom Hubert	34	-6441	1	0	0	0	0
77	-1	Johnny Sauter	0	-6475	1	0	0	0	0
78	-1	Stephen Leicht	0	-6475	1	0	0	0	0

*: Rookie

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