The 2006 Golden Corral 500 was the fourth race in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup season which took place on March 20, 2006, at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...

. Rain showers forced the green flag to be moved back to Monday. Television coverage moved to cable's FX channel for the race (with some exceptions).

Race recap

Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American professional dirt track racing and stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing. Currently, K ...

sat on the pole with a speed of 192.553 mph, edging Ryan Newman by .002 seconds.

Bill Lester William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 17 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing. Lester pre ...

qualified 19th in the #23 Dodge Charger, becoming the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

to start a NASCAR Nextel Cup race since 1986. He finished 38th, six laps down. For the first time during the season there were no extra laps at the end of the race. Last year's Atlanta winner,

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards Jr. (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current analyst for ''NASCAR on Prime Video''. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No ...

eliminated himself from contention early. He damaged the front end of the 99 car after hitting

Dave Blaney David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful Sprint car racing, sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series ...

on pit road on lap 45 during a caution to address the stopped car of

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and par ...

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes part-time in the SMART Modified Tour, driving the No. 18L for Hermie Sa ...

ran in the top 10 for the first 50 laps before his engine failed on lap 55. Another scary incident took place on pit road during the sixth caution of the day (laps 189–197), when

Reed Sorenson Bradley Reed Sorenson (born February 5, 1986) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and Spotter (auto racing), spotter. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation ...

hit John Slusher, catch can man for

Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA, Inter ...

's crew, as he pulled out of his pit stall. Slusher was attached to a backboard but treated at the infield care center. Several rookies had good days at Atlanta.

Paul Menard John Paul Christian Menard (born August 21, 1980) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver who currently competes full-time in the Trans-Am Series, driving the No. 3 Ford Mustang for 3GT Racing. Menard is the 2024 Trans-Am ...

and

finished in the top ten, and

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing. He also co-owns and op ...

led 16 laps. He was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop because of a loose condition, and finished 31st. On the track, the 9 car was near the front all day. Kahne took the lead from

Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969), nicknamed "the Biff", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former race ...

with 79 laps to go. Despite a challenge from

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...

, Kahne was not seriously challenged down the stretch and visited victory lane for the second time in his career. Kahne was the first driver to win from the pole since

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...

in the 2005

Sharpie 500 The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City 500. From 1978 to 2019, the race ha ...

Qualifying

Race results

Failed to qualify:

Mike Garvey Michael Garvey (born September 13, 1962) is an American professional stock car racing driver who currently works as a crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for DGM Racing's No. 90 Chevrolet Camaro. As a driver, he competed in NASCAR and the Ame ...

(#51),

Stanton Barrett Stanton Thomas Barrett (born December 1, 1972) is an American professional stock car racing driver and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood stunt double, stuntman who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mike Harmon Racing, WRL ...

(#95),

Chad Chaffin Chad Chaffin (born July 20, 1968) is an American former stock car racing driver. Chaffin has raced in all three of NASCAR's major series. He was a two-time track champion at the historic Nashville Speedway USA, where he met his friend, Andy Ki ...

(#34),

Derrike Cope Derrike Wayne Cope (born November 3, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He is best known for his surprise win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet ...

(#74),

Kenny Wallace Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for '' Fox NASCAR''. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning 25 years in NASCAR, Wallace had ...

(#78),

Travis Kvapil Travis Wade Kvapil ( ; born March 1, 1976) is an American former professional stock car driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Silverado for Beaver Motorsports. He was the 2003 ...

(#32), Mike Skinner (#37),

Greg Sacks Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka. Sacks has spent most of his career a ...

(#13),

Chad Blount Chad Blount (born September 4, 1979) is an American former stock car racing driver. He raced in all three of NASCAR's major series, with his last appearance coming in 2010. He currently serves as an interior specialist for Rick Ware Racing. NASCA ...

(#92)

References

{{2006 Nextel Cup

Golden Corral 500 The Quaker State 400 available at Walmart is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race that was run annually each March at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia from 1960 to 2010 and as a July race since 2021. The race is one of two races curr ...

NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway March 2006 sports events in the United States