Editor’s Note: NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary. SPEED SPORT was founded in 1934 and was already on its way to becoming America’s Motorsports Authority when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we will bring you Part 59 of a 75-part series on the history NASCAR.
The NASCAR Cup Series crowned a first-time champion in 2006 as Jimmie Johnson rose to the top of the mountain and guided his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 to the title.
Driving Chevrolet prepared by Chad Knaus, Johnson started the season by winning the Daytona 500 and kept rolling from there.
The California native won five races, including Daytona and Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He also collected 13-top five finishes and 24 top-10 results in 36 races, while earning $15,875,125.
Johnson finished ninth in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and earned the title by 56 points over Matt Kenseth, who won four races while driving the No. 17 Ford for Roush Racing. It was the fifth time in his five seasons that the 31-year-old Johnson finished in the top five in the standings.
Chevrolets won 23 of the 36 races en route to the manufacturer’s title.
Driving the No. 9 Dodge for Ray Evernham Motorsports, Kasey Kahne won a career-best six races, but a lack of consistency saw him end up eighth in the standings. All of Kahne’s victories came on tracks 1.5 miles in length or greater, including a sweep of both races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver Kevin Harvick won five times and wound up fourth in the final standings.
Defending series champion Tony Stewart won five races for Joe Gibbs Racing, but finished outside the top 10 in the standings.
The battle for rookie-of the-year honors went to Denny Hamlin, who won twice (both at Pocono Raceway) and finished third in the standings for Joe Gibbs Racing, after battling fellow rookies Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., J.J. Yeley, Reed Sorenson and David Stremme.
Thirteen different drivers won races, with Jeff Gordon (2), Greg Biffle (2), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1), Jeff Burton (1), Kyle Busch (1), Brian Vickers (1) and Kurt Busch (1) also visiting victory lane. Earnhardt was named most popular driver for the fourth consecutive season.
Following a six-year Cup Series relationship with Roush Racing, Kurt Busch replaced Rusty Wallace driving Penske Racing’s No. 2 Dodge. Busch finished 16th in the standings with a single victory. In addition to Denny Hamlin’s rookie campaign, Yeley the third driver to drive Gibbs’ No. 18 car since the team’s founding in 1992, replacing Bobby Labonte who moved to Petty Enterprises.
A midseason driver change occurred that saw Jeremy Mayfield depart Evernham Motorsports after five years, being replaced by Elliott Sadler.
Jamie McMurray replaced Kurt Busch in a No. 26 Ford for Roush Racing, rookies Reed Sorenson and David Stremme were promoted at Chip Ganassi Racing to replace McMurray and Sterling Marlin, while David Gilliland took over for Sadler with Robert Yates Racing.
It was the final season of television contracts with FOX, FX/Speed and NBC/TNT. A new contract was arranged for 2007 with FOX and TNT beginning new eight-year contracts, while ESPN/ABC replaced NBC.