2006 a time of change for NASCAR
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The year began with the controversial suspension of his crew chief, who was caught cheating before the Daytona 500 and kicked out of the garage for four weeks. It ended with Johnson and Chad Knaus hoisting the Nextel Cup trophy as the championship winning team.
It was a headlining year for Johnson, but he hardly stole the show.
NASCAR?s 2006 season was thick with story lines, subplots and drama that didn?t involve Johnson at all.
There was NASCAR?s intense focus on the future, two elite teams moving in opposite directions and the defending Nextel Cup champion embarking on his own rollercoaster season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon both returned to the top of the sport ? with Gordon making a pit stop to get married along the way ? while a handful of former contenders dropped to the back of the field.
But the main theme of the season was change as everyone spent most of the year preparing for what?s to come in 2007: A foreign automaker, a Colombian driver, a futuristic car and a new television network.
NASCAR chairman Brian France is confident the new look can jump-start a sport that seemingly has stalled after a decade in the fast lane.
?It?s an awful lot of change, but it?s going to be good change,? France said before Sunday?s season finale. ?A lot of exciting things for the fans and the drivers and everyone else to look forward to. I love where we?re at, and we?re excited about where we?re going.?
It all started with Toyota, which said in January it would enter Camrys in the Nextel Cup Series in 2007. The announcement coincided with NASCAR?s decision to phase in its custom-designed ?Car of Tomorrow,? which will debut next season and is meant to cut costs and improve safety.
Fans will become acquainted with Toyota and the CoT next year on ESPN, which will replace NBC.
Toyota started the biggest domino effect as it worked hard to land the top talent in NASCAR: The garage was consumed for months with which drivers would sign with the automaker. Toyota had its sights set on Kevin Harvick or Matt Kenseth but got Dale Jarrett and Brian Vickers instead.
Still, Harvick played the game and kept his options open ? a hardline stance that forced car owner Richard Childress to pull his once-proud team from the back of the field to the front of the pack. When Harvick realized RCR was a competitor again, he re-signed and had the best season of his career.
With five Cup wins, nine Busch victories and that series title, as well as a spot in the Chase for the championship, Harvick helped RCR become a major player again. But he received help from teammate Jeff Burton, who resuscitated his career by ending a five-year winless drought and making a major play for the Nextel Cup title.
With Harvick off the free-agent market, 1999 Cup champion Jarrett became a viable option for Toyota, sending RYR into a free-fall that threatened the team?s survival.
Jarrett opted out of the No. 88 Ford to drive a Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing, and sponsor UPS went with him. Then Elliott Sadler asked out of his seat, leaving RYR down two drivers, two crew chiefs and a sponsor.
Yates heads into the offseason still trying to save his flagship No. 88. So far, he has only David Gilliland ? the unproven driver who shot to stardom with a freak Busch win in June ? holding his operation together.
Toyota also lured Vickers away from powerful Hendrick Motorsports, as well as Champ Car driver A.J. Allmendinger, who is just one of the many open-wheelers invading NASCAR.
It started in July with Juan Pablo Montoya, who stunned the racing world by fleeing Formula One for NASCAR. He?s committed to a full schedule next year, while reigning IndyCar champion Sam Hornish Jr. is testing the waters. He closed the year with two forgettable Busch Series starts.
When the open-wheelers get comfortable, they might find themselves battling with former series champion Tony Stewart.
The two-time champ had a truly bizarre season as he struggled with his role as a garage leader, slumped on the race track and missed the Chase for the championship.
It started at Daytona, when he publicly warned someone would be killed because of the dangerous racing conditions. That led NASCAR to police aggressive driving, and Stewart was one of the first offenders. Then he angrily backed away from commenting further on the issue.
He was a split-personality most of the season, lecturing young drivers on etiquette then breaking most of his edicts. He ultimately hit a summer swoon (no thanks, probably, to the broken shoulder blade he suffered in May) and failed to qualify for the Chase.
Unable to defend his Nextel Cup title, he spent the final 10 weeks of the season focusing on himself. He hired a personal trainer, lost 20 pounds and breezed his way to three wins during the Chase.
He wasn?t the only previous contender to watch from the sidelines: Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield, both two-time Chase qualifiers, also failed to make the postseason. Newman never really got rolling, while Mayfield feuded with car owner Ray Evernham. Mayfield was fired, then aired the team?s dirty laundry in court documents in an attempt to land a better severance package.
They were replaced in the Chase by Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon, the two big stars who missed it in 2005. Harvick and Burton stepped in for RCR, and rookie Denny Hamlin surprised many by racing his way to a third-place finish in the points.
?This has definitely been a year that exceeded every expectation,? Hamlin said, speaking for almost everyone.
Nextel Cup at a Glance
2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule and standings
By The Associated Press
Feb. 19 ? Daytona 500, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Jimmie Johnson)
Feb. 26 ? Auto Club 500, Fontana, Calif. (Matt Kenseth)
March 12 ? UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400, Las Vegas (Jimmie Johnson)
March 19 ? Golden Corral 500, Hampton, Ga. (Kasey Kahne)
March 26 ? Food City 500, Bristol, Tenn. (Kurt Busch)
April 2 ? DIRECTV 500, Martinsville, Va. (Tony Stewart)
April 9 ? Samsung/RadioShack 500, Fort Worth, Texas (Kasey Kahne)
April 22 ? Subway Fresh 500, Avondale, Ariz. (Kevin Harvick)
April 30 ? Aaron?s 499, Talladega, Ala. (Jimmie Johnson)
May 6 ? Crown Royal 400, Richmond, Va. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.)
May 13 ? Dodge Charger 500, Darlington, S.C. (Greg Biffle)
May 28 ? Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C. (Kasey Kahne)
June 4 ? Neighborhood Excellence 400, Dover, Del. (Matt Kenseth)
June 11 ? Pocono 500, Long Pond, Pa. (Denny Hamlin)
June 18 ? 3M Performance 400, Brooklyn, Mich. (Kasey Kahne)
June 25 ? Dodge/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif. (Jeff Gordon)
July 1 ? Pepsi 400, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Tony Stewart)
July 9 ? USG Sheetrock 400, Joliet, Ill. (Jeff Gordon)
July 16 ? Lenox Industrial Tools 300, Loudon, N.H. (Kyle Busch)
July 23 ? Pennsylvania 500, Long Pond, Pa. (Denny Hamlin)
Aug. 6 ? Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Indianapolis (Jimmie Johnson)
Aug. 13 ? AMD at the Glen, Watkins Glen, N.Y. (Kevin Harvick)
Aug. 20 ? GFS Marketplace 400, Brooklyn, Mich. (Matt Kenseth)
Aug. 26 ? Sharpie 500, Bristol, Tenn. (Matt Kenseth)
Sept. 3 ? Sony HD 500, Fontana, Calif. (Kasey Kahne)
Sept. 9 ? Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Richmond, Va. (Kevin Harvick)
Sept. 17 ? Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H. (Kevin Harvick)
Sept. 24 ? Dover (Del.) 400 (Jeff Burton)
Oct. 1 ? Banquet 400, Kansas City, Kan. (Tony Stewart)
Oct. 8 ? UAW-Ford 500, Talladega, Ala. (Brian Vickers)
Oct. 14 ? Bank of America 500, Concord, N.C. (Kasey Kahne)
Oct. 22 ? Subway 500, Martinsville, Va. (Jimmy Johnson)
Oct. 29 ? Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Hampton, Ga. (Tony Stewart)
Nov. 5 ? Dickies 500, Fort Worth, Texas (Tony Stewart)
Nov. 12 ? Checker Auto Parts 500, Avondale, Ariz. (Kevin Harvick)
Nov. 19 ? Ford 400, Homestead, Fla. (Greg Biffle)
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Final Standings
1. Jimmie Johnson, 6,475
2. Matt Kenseth, 6,419
3. Denny Hamlin, 6,407
4. Kevin Harvick, 6,397
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 6,328
6. Jeff Gordon, 6,256
7. Jeff Burton, 6,228
8. Kasey Kahne, 6,183
9. Mark Martin, 6,168
10. Kyle Busch, 6,027
11. Tony Stewart, 4,727
12. Carl Edwards, 4,428
13. Greg Biffle, 4,075
14. Casey Mears, 3,914
15. Brian Vickers, 3,906
16. Kurt Busch, 3,900
17. Clint Bowyer, 3,833
18. Ryan Newman, 3,748
19. Martin Truex Jr., 3,673
20. Scott Riggs, 3,619