2006 Hershey's Kissables 300

The 2006 Hershey's Kissables 300 was a NASCAR Busch Series race held on February 18, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. This was the first race of the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series and was also the 25th season of the Busch Series. The race was the 25th running of the event. Out of the 49 cars that attempted the race, 18 of those drivers were currently running full time in the Nextel Cup Series. Nextel Cup Series rookie J. J. Yeley won the pole but in the race's end, Tony Stewart would win the Busch Series opener for the second season in a row after a spectacular last lap crash as this race became known as a wreckfest.

Entry List

 * (R) denotes rookie driver

Qualifying
J. J. Yeley won the pole with a time of 49.155 seconds and a speed of 183.094 miles per hour

* – Steve Grissom made the field by owners points.

** – Carl Edwards had to go to the rear of the field for unapproved impound adjustments.

Race
Pole sitter J. J. Yeley lead the first lap of the race. The first caution did not take long as it came out on lap 3 of the race while the moment of silence was happening for Dale Earnhardt when Ken Schrader crashed in turn 2 after he blew a left rear tire. The race would restart on lap 7. On lap 14, Clint Bowyer took the lead. On lap 15, Jeff Burton took the lead from his teammate. Bowyer and Burton swapped the lead on lap 16 and 17 before Kasey Kahne took it on lap 18. On lap 19, Greg Biffle took the lead. Jeff Burton took the lead on lap 26. On lap 29, Elliott Sadler's tire went flat but that did not bring out the caution. The second caution flew for the three car crash on the same lap in turn 4 involving Johnny Sauter, Reed Sorenson, and Aaron Fike. During the wreck, Joe Nemechek flew by Sorenson who was stopped at over 100 miles an hour and almost hit Sorenson and a lot of other cars who were slowing down. NASCAR black flagged Nemechek and held him for one lap for aggressive driving. Kasey Kahne won the race off of pit road and he was the new race leader on the restart on lap 35. On lap 37, Brian Vickers attempted to take the lead from Kahne and lead that lap but could not make the pass. On lap 39, the third caution flew for another 3 car crash on the front stretch involving Paul Menard and Carl Edwards when Edwards spun down and collected A. J. Foyt IV. The wreck would produce a short red flag. The race would restart on lap 45. On lap 47, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead. On lap 50, another 3 car crash occurred in turn 4 when Paul Tracy got turned by John Andretti while Joe Nemechek and Steadman Marlin crashed behind Tracy. The race would restart on lap 54. On lap 62, Greg Biffle took the lead. On lap 70, Jamie McMurray took the lead. On lap 74, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead.

Final laps
With 45 laps to go, the 5th caution flew for debris when John Andretti's right front tire blew. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race off of pit road and lead the field to the restart with 40 laps to go. With 31 to go, the 6th caution flew for debris. The race would restart with 27 to go. But on that restart, Brian Vickers got hit from behind by Greg Biffle, Vickers went up into Biffle sending Biffle into the wall, and Vickers spun down into Kasey Kahne turning Kasey into the outside wall. Kahne came down and collected Regan Smith. The race restarted with 22 laps to go. But with 21 to go, the 8th caution flew for debris. The race got back underway with 18 to go. With 17 to go, David Green spun on the front stretch but no caution was thrown. With 13 to go, Tony Stewart took the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. On the same lap, Kyle Busch got hit from behind by Denny Hamlin and Busch's car came down into Jamie McMurray turning McMurray around and bringing out a caution, the 9th caution of the race. The race restarted with 10 to go. With 9 to go, the 10th caution would fly when David Reutimann blew a right front tire and hit the wall in turn 2. With 5 laps to go, the race would restart for the last time. On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. attempted to pass Stewart for the lead. Michael Waltrip pulled to the outside of the two and made it three wide for the lead down the backstretch. After racing side by side for two laps, Waltrip passed Stewart for the lead with 3 to go but Stewart immeadeatly took it back on the same lap. With 2 to go, Burney Lamar made a big charge from 9th to 2nd and was looking to win his first race in his 4th Busch Series start. On the last lap, Clint Bowyer pulled to the inside of Lamar in turn 3 and Stewart pulled away. Off of turn 4, Lamar made contact with Stacy Compton and Compton spun around right in front of the field triggering a 11 car crash and bringing out the 11th and last caution of the race. During the wreck, some drivers like Denny Hamlin, Mark Green, and Tracy Hines plowed through and crashed hard into other cars. The wreck collected Jason Keller, Mark Green, Tracy Hines, Denny Hamlin, Kenny Wallace, Ashton Lewis, Tim Sauter, Reed Sorenson, Stacy Compton, Elliott Sadler, and Michael Waltrip. In the end, Tony Stewart won the Busch Series season opener at Daytona for the second year in a row. Despite finishing in second, Burney Lamar was not granted a post race interview by TNT. Clint Bowyer, Jon Wood, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 5 while Jason Leffler, Todd Kluever, J. J. Yeley, Reed Sorenson, and Mark Green rounded out the top 10.