Brian Vickers of Hendrick Motorsports won the race; Kasey Kahne finished second, and Kurt Busch came in third.

David Gilliland, who had the pole position, was passed immediately by teammate Dale Jarrett.

[8][9] Before the race Jeff Burton led the Drivers' Championship with 5,511 points, with Denny Hamlin second and Mark Martin third.

Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five and Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top ten drivers competing in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup.

[13] The entire track, including the skid pad and pit road, was resurfaced,[14] with the work completed shortly before the 2006 UAW-Ford 500 began.

[16] Blaney duplicated his first-session result in fifth, followed by Yeley, Harvick, Scott Riggs, Ryan Newman and Tony Raines.

Gilliland clinched his first career pole position with a time of 49.950 seconds and was joined on the grid's front row by Jarrett, his Robert Yates Racing teammate.

[18] Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five positions,[18] with Travis Kvapil, Chad Chaffin, Todd Bodine, Hermie Sadler, Kirk Shelmerdine and Kevin Lepage failing to qualify.

NASCAR had mandated before the qualifier that the holes in the cars' restrictor plates be reduced by 1⁄64 inch (0.4 mm), later conceding that the rule may have affected some teams more than others.

[2] According to Gilliland, "They threw a curveball at us this morning with the restrictor plate and (engine builder) Doug Yates wasn't worried at all.

[19] Live television coverage of the race, the 30th of 36 in the 2006 season, began in the United States at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on NBC.

Jamie McMurray passed Gordon for the lead on lap 4; by this time, Gilliland had fallen back to 30th after losing the draft.

On lap 24, McMurray reclaimed the lead, and Kenny Wallace made a pit stop with his car smoking.

Lap 72 saw the first caution, as Blaney's left rear tire shredded and he made a pit stop.

[20] Biffle led the field back up to speed at the restart, and was passed on lap 77 by Jeff Gordon.

Within a lap Gordon lost the draft and fell back to 27th, allowing Kenseth to regain the lead.

Hamlin and Michael Waltrip staggered their pit stops, enabling each of them to lead a lap under the caution.

[20] In a multi-car accident on the first turn on lap 137 Edwards and Mears collided, involving Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Harvick, Marlin, McMurray, Kyle Petty, and Martin Truex Jr. Gordon drove straight to the garage and others made pit stops, giving the lead to Burton.

The yellow flag went out and the field was frozen in place, with the order of finish determined by where the drivers were when the caution began.

"[21] Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, was annoyed: "I just don't think [Vickers] has the talent to understand what he has underneath him.

"[21] Vickers, who would leave Hendrick Motorsports in 2007 for Red Bull Racing Team, said: "I would expect them to be a little upset.

"[21] In the Manufacturers' Championship Chevrolet increased its point total to 231; Dodge moved into second place with 180 and Ford was a close third with 179.

[11] The race took three hours, ten minutes and twenty-three seconds to complete; because it ended under caution, no margin of victory was recorded.