2006 Goody's 250

The Goody's 250 was a NASCAR Busch Series stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Virginia. The race was only held once, on July 22, 2006, as a standalone event during the summer. It had been planned the race would be held at night, under a temporary lighting system to be installed at the track, instead it was held in the afternoon instead. The Goody's 250 replaced the ITT Industries & Goulds Pumps Salute to the Troops 250 on the Busch Series schedule. After a Busch Series Martinsville record high 19 cautions for 87 laps, the Goody's 250 was replaced in 2007 by the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; second division NASCAR racing would not return to the track until 2020. The race was the final start in NASCAR for Darrell Waltrip and Ricky Craven.

The Goody's 250 was the 21st out of 35 scheduled stock car races of the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series. It was held on July 22, 2006 at Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Virginia, The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four turn, 0.526 mile (1 km) oval. Its turns are banked at eleven degrees, and neither the front stretch (the location of the finish line) nor the back stretch is banked. Before the race, Kevin Harvick led the Drivers' Championship with 3,092 points, with Carl Edwards in second and Clint Bowyer third. Denny Hamlin and J. J. Yeley were fourth and fifth, and Greg Biffle, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch, Johnny Sauter and Kenny Wallace rounded out the top ten. This was the first Busch Series race to be held at Martinsville since October 1994, and it had been planned the race would be held under night conditions with a temporary lighting system installed at the track, but it was held in the afternoon instead. Two drivers chose to make a one off return to NASCAR at the race. Three time Winston Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip drove the No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing car by gaining his wife Stevie's permission after his younger brother Michael Waltrip asked if he wanted to race. Since his car was 16th in the Owner's Championship, Waltrip earned an automatic qualifying berth for the event. Despite winning eleven times at Martinsville in the Nextel Cup Series, the Goody's 250 marked Waltrip's first appearance at the track in the Busch Series. Other drivers returning to compete in the Busch Series included Burney Lamar and Boris Said.

Three practice sessions were held before the Saturday race: all three took place on Friday. A one hour test session was scheduled beforehand and it saw Jason Leffler set the only lap time to go under the twenty seconds mark at 19.888 seconds, ahead of the No. 64 car shared by Steve Wallace and his father Rusty Wallace. Sauter was third, Mark McFarland placed fourth, and Menard rounded out the top five. Mike Bliss, Caleb Holman and Eric McClure crashed during the session and the damage to their cars necessitated their withdrawal from the race. Sauter paced the final practice session with a time of 19.877 seconds; Leffler was 0.026 seconds in arrears in second and Casey Atwood came third. Menard was fourth quickest, ahead of Green and Aric Almirola. McFarland was seventh fastest, Lamar placed eighth, Ron Hornaday Jr. ninth and Jason Keller completed the top ten heading into qualifying.

2006 Goody's 250 Top Ten Finishers Pos. Car # Driver Make Team 1 21 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 2 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 3 20 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 4 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 5 00 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Haas CNC Racing 6 60 Carl Edwards Ford Roush Racing 7 10 John Andretti Ford ppc Racing 8 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet Braun Racing 9 18 J. J. Yeley Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 10 01 Jay Sauter Chevrolet Duesenberg & Leik MotorsportsAverage race speed: Lead changes: 7 among 4 driversCautions: 19 for 87 lapsWinner's Prize (USD): $74,925