There are so many great racing moments in the history of Bristol Motor Speedway that selecting a past event to review for this space has been challenging. This week we look at the 2006 Food City 500 and what was an unforgettable race weekend for many NASCAR fans.

The weekend started with rain, sleet and snow forcing the cancelation of Friday’s scheduled qualifying session and set the starting lineup according to 2005 NASCAR Owner Points. As a result Tony Stewart led Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson to the green flag.

Tire issues would become a major factor all race long and was mostly responsible for the 18 cautions that slowed the race. Kurt Busch was one of several drivers, including Jimmie Johnson, to suffer a flat tire early and get lapped. Busch kept digging and was able to get back on the lead lap on lap 109.

Matt Kenseth was in command of the race with just under 10 laps remaining with the car of Kurt Busch growing bigger in his rear-view mirror. Harvick and Gordon followed Busch as he pulled the classic bump & run, knocking Kenseth out of the way to take the lead and win his first NASCAR race with car owner Roger Penske.

Kenseth was also drop kicked by Jeff Gordon on the last lap with Kenseth coming back to Gordon’s bumper with a return favor. Kenseth finished third behind Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon wound up 21st in the finishing order. The Kenseth – Gordon incident caused a confrontation between the two drivers after the race as Kurt Busch celebrated by doing snow angels on the front stretch.

At the end of the day, some left angry and some went home happy but in the end, it was just another typical day at Bristol.

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