It was held on October 22, 2006, before a crowd of 65,000, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, a short track that holds NASCAR races.

[2] On October 22, 2006, it was held at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia,[4] a short track that holds NASCAR races,[7] and ran for a total of 500 laps over a distance of 263 mi (423 km).

Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were fourth and fifth, and Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top ten drivers competing for the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup.

[16] In preparation for the race, NASCAR held the last of its test days for Nextel Cup entrants on October 16–18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports driver Todd Bodine decided to concentrate on the Craftsman Truck Series title and was replaced by Ward Burton, the 2002 Daytona 500 champion.

Kurt Busch, Sterling Marlin, Green, Sorenson, and Kahne rounded out the session's top ten drivers.

[2] Kurt Busch clinched his sixth pole position of the season, the ninth of his career and his first at Martinsville,[2] with a time of 19.408 seconds.

He was joined on the grid's front row by Gordon, who was 0.038 seconds slower and had the pole position until Kurt Busch's lap.

The seven drivers who failed to qualify were Mike Bliss, Hermie Sadler, Chad Chaffin, Morgan Shepherd, Ted Christopher, Derrike Cope, and Stanton Barrett.

Positions two through ten were occupied by Kahne, Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Mears, Johnson, Hamlin, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Burton.

[26][27] Later that day, Johnson led the final practice session with a 19.722 lap; Harvick, Biffle, Marlin, David Stremme, Hamlin.

Eldrid Davis of Raceway Ministries began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation, the Martinsville High School marching band performed the national anthem, and Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle commanded the drivers to start their engines.

[29] The first caution was given three laps later when Kyle Petty spun in turn four,[2] and Martin Truex Jr. made contact with the rear of the slowing Sorenson's car.

[30] Jeff Burton had front-end damage to his vehicle when he contacted the rear of Joe Nemechek's car,[29] who hit Marlin.

Newman was sent to the rear of the longest line by NASCAR two laps later for his role in the incident with Mears,[29] and Gordon maintained the top position at the lap-73 restart.

On lap 106, Burton (whose car was hot because of the tape on his hood) made contact with Gordon and escaped with minor damage after a three-lap battle.

[29] Two laps later,[29] Stremme spun sideways in turn four following contact with McMurray, prompting the third caution,[2] and all the leaders made pit stops.

[31] The sixth caution was given on lap 231 when Sorenson spun after colliding with Riggs, causing Mike Skinner to strike the left front quarter of Harvick's car and Travis Kvapil to spin sideways.

[29] Twenty-four laps later,[31] Bowyer made contact with Kenseth, spinning him in turn four (although he kept his car off the wall) and prompting the race's eighth caution.

Hamlin had tape added to the front of his car to fix a handling problem, and Sadler narrowly avoided a collision with Kahne.

[31] On lap 356, Ragan spun in the second turn after contact with Elliott Sadler,[2][31] while having Stewart on the inside and Ward Burton on the outside,[30] prompting the 11th caution; none of the leaders made pit stops.

Kurt Busch was spun while crossing the start-finish line and hit the inside wall, requiring a pit stop for repairs.

[29][30] Johnson maintained his lead at the lap-372 restart and was followed by Earnhardt,[30] Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Gordon (who made a pit stop for an air-pressure adjustment during the caution).

The 13th caution was prompted on lap 400 when Bobby Labonte made contact with the rear of Jamie McMurray's car in turn two,[30][31] sending him spinning sideways but avoiding the wall.

[31] Lap 448 saw the 14th caution;[31] Ragan spun sideways at on the inside at turn four, and Kyle Busch collided with the outside wall to avoid him,[30] sustaining minor damage to his car's right side.

[29] The race restarted on lap 477,[3] when a seventeenth caution was issued because Earnhardt made contact with Kahne after trying to pass him on the inside at turn three and spun.

Five laps later, Wallace spun coming out of turn two after being hit by McMurray, prompting the race's final caution; he was able to continue.

"[33] Hamlin was disappointed with his finish as he felt he had a faster car after the race's final restart and admitted Johnson would not be beaten: "It was my only shot to get around him.

"[34] Kenseth, who finished eleventh, was optimistic about his chances of winning the Drivers' Championship: "It's great to be the leader, but we've got to start running good, It's still pretty wide open.

[38] Kahne thought Earnhardt was driving too hard in turn three: "I guess I need to get somebody on [the radio] to preach to me to have more patience because I definitely can't take control of myself.