- 19 November, 2006 -

The season ends and we are just 90 days away from the Daytona 500. The 2006 season finale had very little on the line for the championship but it was a career day for Martin Truex Jr. He started 20th but the late-season surge for the DEI driver continued with a strong second-place finish. He led 27 laps but ran out of time while catching Greg Biffle in the final laps. Truex ended the season in 19th place in the final point count. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a strong run and led 47 laps before brushing the wall late in the race. Earnhardt ended the season in fifth place after missing the Chase last year. Paul Menard got an early start for next year with a 17th-place finish in the season ender in his DEI Chevy. Kevin Harvick made a run late in the race to finish fifth. He struggled with the car early in the race but the car came on after sundown. He did win two races in the final 10 and finished in the fifth position in the points. Clint Bowyer finished 10th to close his season at Homestead. He finished in 17th in the points heading to Daytona for the 2007 season. Jeff Burton closed out his season in the seventh position in the points. He went from leading to seventh in the last half of the Chase with three bad races in a row. Richard Childress put his 2007 Busch Series driver in the No. 33 car for the final race. Scott Wimmer started 24th and finished 12th on the lead lap. Wimmer will compete for the Busch Series title in 2007 for RCR. David Stremme continued his late season charge to finish 11th in the final race of the year. He started 23rd and ran near the front all day capping off the night with another lead lap finish. Reed Sorenson scored a 16th-place finish in Homestead and finishing 24th in the points. Casey Mears ran his last race for Chip Ganassi before moving to Hendrick Motorsports for the 2007 season. He blew an engine seven laps short of the checker to finish 32nd. Juan Pablo Montoya crashed out late and finished 34th. He had run in the top 10 earlier in the race before the crash. Ryan Newman ended his season with a 23rd-place finish. He spun late in the race and recovered to finish one lap down. He ends the season in 18th position in the points. Kurt Busch had a day to remember. He was involved in two early crashes retiring his Penske Dodge after just nine laps. The finish dropped him to 16th in the final standings. Snap-on Nextel Cup Drivers - how they placed: Martin Truex Jr. (2nd, led 27 laps) Kevin Harvick (5th, led 0 laps) Clint Bowyer (10th, led 0 laps) David Stremme (11th, led 0 laps) Scott Wimmer (12th, led 0 laps) Jeff Burton (14th, led 0 laps) Reed Sorenson (16th, led 0 laps) Paul Menard (17th, led 1 laps) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (19th, led 47 laps) Ryan Newman (23rd, led 0 laps) Ken Schrader (29th, led 0 laps) Casey Mears (32nd, led 0 laps) Juan Pablo Montoya (34th, led 0 laps) Kurt Busch (43rd, led 0 laps) More Snap-on Driver Results Paul Menard: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Paul Menard ended the 2006 season with a strong third-place finish in Homestead. He started 14th and had a shot a second-place finish in the closing laps. He finished the season in sixth place with seven top-five finishes including a victory at Milwaukee last June. Menard will move to a full-time ride in the Cup series for the 2007 season. Kevin Harvick: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick ended the 2006 season with another top-10 finish. He started on the pole but was in sixth at the checker. The NASCAR Busch Series points title was in his hands several weeks ago along with nine wins for the year. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his fifth start in the Busch Series for the season finale at Homestead. He started the DEI Chevy in 16th place and finished seventh for his third top 10 in just five starts. He finished on the lead lap in his tune up for the Cup race on Sunday. Clint Bowyer: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Clint Bowyer came up short in his championship run, ending the season in third place in the standings with 17 top 10s including one win. He started eighth in Homestead and finished 11th in his Richard Childress Chevy. He fought with an aero push for most of the race to end his season in the Busch Series. Stacy Compton: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Stacy Compton will move to the truck series next year but finished the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series season with a 17th-place finish. He started the day in 27th and worked his way to a top-20 finish in the Ford prepared out of the Wood Brothers shop. He ends the season in 16th place with two top-10 finishes. Jon Wood: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Jon Wood ended his season with finish of 18th at Homestead. He started the race with a provisional and had to fight all night to get to the top 20. He ended the night two laps down. Wood will run a limited schedule in the Nextel Cup Series for the Wood Brothers in 2007. Bobby Labonte: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Bobby Labonte drove Kevin Harvick's Chevy in the season finale at Homestead. Labonte started in the top 10 but found nothing but trouble in the race. On lap 54, Labonte was involved in a crash that sent the car to the pits for repairs. He finished 29th, three laps off the pace. Shane Huffman: Nov., 18, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- After qualifying fourth Shane Huffman wanted to end the season on a positive note. That plan ended on lap 68 with a crash in turn 2. He limped home 35 laps down in 37th place. Ron Hornaday Jr.: Nov., 17, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Ron Hornaday ended the 25th and final race of the season in 14th position. He started 27th and made his way forward, settling in around the top 15. He lost one spot in the points and ends the season in seventh place in the final points count. Todd Bodine: Nov., 17, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Todd Bodine wanted to win the race but had his eyes on the big picture, the 2006 Craftsman Truck Series Championship. He entered the race with a solid lead but needed to score a decent finish to wrap up the title. He started in 12th and finished 21st to take the trophy. He won the championship by 127 points with three wins. Ted Musgrave: Nov., 17, 2006 | Homestead, Fla. -- Ted Musgrave has to be glad that the season is over. He struggled through 25 races without a win and added insult to injury with a blown motor on lap 58. He finished 33rd, completing only 58 laps in the last race of the season.

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