Tony Stewart won the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway, scoring his 27th Nextel Cup victory in his 277th career start.
This is Stewarts third victory in 2006. He also won at Martinsville and Daytona in July.
This is Stewarts first victory in six races at Kansas He has scored five top-10 finishes in six races at Kansas
Stewart remained 11th in the point standings. He has a 270-point lead over 12th-place Greg Biffle who finished 12th. This is the first year that Stewart will not finish among the top-10 since 1999, ending a seven-year streak. Stewart missed The Chase by 16 points. Stewart is chasing the $1 million bonus for finishing 11th in the final point standings. Jeff Gordon finished 11th in 2005 and Jamie McMurray finished 11th in 2004.
Stewarts victory is the 18th Chevrolet victory in 29 races in 2006. Chevrolet clinched the 2006 Manufacturers Championship at Loudon- the 30th Manufacturers Championship for Chevrolet. Chevrolet has won the Manufacturers Championship in each of the last four years.
Stewart won the race from the 21st-place starting position, the furthest back a race winner has started at Kansas.
Race winner Stewart led the final five laps in the 2006 Banquet 400, the only laps he led during the race.
The 13 different lap leaders in the 2006 Banquet 400 set the record for Kansas Speedway.
This is team owner Joe Gibbs 52nd Nextel Cup victory and his first at Kansas. Three of Gibbs five victories in 2006 have been scored by Stewart while Denny Hamlin has two.
Joe Gibbs Racing has won at least one race each season 1993-2006, 14 consecutive years.
Notebook Items
Jimmie Johnson led five times for 105 of the 267 laps raced, leading the most laps for the first time since Atlanta in March 2005.
Casey Mears (second) scored his sixth top-10 finish in 2006. He tied his career-best finish set in thee 2006 Daytona 500. It marked his second top-10 finish in four races at Kansas Speedway.
Mark Martin (third) scored his 13th top-10 finish in 2006 and his third top-10 finish in six races at Kansas. Martin climbed from sixth to third in the point standings and is now just one point behind second-place Denny Hamlin.
Mark Martin has been running at the finish in the last 36 races, the longest current streak. Martins streak began at Kansas City one year ago.
Dale Jarrett (fourth) scored his first top-five finish since he finished first at Talladega last October. It is his second top-10 finish in six races at Kansas Speedway.
Jeff Burton (fifth) scored his 18th top-10 finish in 2006. It is his first top-10 finish in six races Kansas Speedway.
Clint Bowyer (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie for the seventh time in 2006. Bowyer and Martin Truex (11th) put two rookies in the top-15 for the 18th time in 2006.
At least one of the Raybestos Rookie-of-the Year contenders has scored a top-15 finish in all 29 races this season.
Denny Hamlin (18th) ended a streak of 11 straight top-15 finishes.
Matt Kenseth (23rd) ended a streak of six straight top-10 finishes that began at Michigan in August.
Jimmie Johnson has been ranked among the top 10 for 98 consecutive races. Johnson has been running at the finish in all 29 races in 2006. Johnson has gone five straight races without scoring a top-10 finish tying the longest streak of his career. Johnson went five races at the start of his career before scoring a top-10 finish and did so again between Dover and the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in 2003. Johnson remained eighth in the point standings.
The Chase Drivers
Four of the 10 Chase drivers finished in the top 10: Mark Martin, Jeff Burton (fifth), Kyle Busch (seventh) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th).
Six of the 10 of The Chase drivers changed points positions at Kansas.
Jeff Burton remained first in the point standings. He is competing in the Chase for first time.
Denny Hamlin climbed from fourth to second in the point standings. He is 18 points behind point leader Burton. Hamlin is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for first time. He is the first Raybestos rookie contender to compete in The Chase.
Mark Martin climbed from sixth to third in the point standings, just one point behind second-place Hamlin. Martin is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the third straight year. He is one of just three drivers to do so. Martin finished fourth in 2004 and 2005.
Matt Kenseth dropped from third to fourth in the point standings. Kenseth is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the third straight year. He is one of just three drivers to do so. Kenseth finished eighth in 2004 and seventh in 2005.
Kevin Harvick remained fifth in the point standings. Harvick is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for first time. He is one of five first-timers to compete in The Chase.
Jeff Gordon dropped from second to sixth in the point standings. Gordon is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the second time in three years. He is one of just two drivers that have competed in two of the three. Gordon finished third in 2004 and 11th in the 2005 final standings.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., remained seventh in the point standings. Earnhardt Jr. is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the second time in three years. He is one of just two drivers that have competed in two of the three. Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth in 2004 and 19th in the 2005 final standings.
Jimmie Johnson remained eighth in the point standings. Johnson is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the third straight year. Johnson finished second in 2004 and fifth in 2005.
Kyle Busch climbed from 10th to ninth in the point standings. Busch is competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup for first time. He is one of five first-timers to compete in The Chase.
Kasey Kahne (33rd) dropped from ninth to 10th in the point standings. Kahne is competing in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup for first time.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(10-1-2006)
