Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship. He finished the season with a 56-point margin over second-place Matt Kenseth. It was Johnsonʼs first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title after finishing second twice. He has posted top-10 final point standings in all five of his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup seasons, never finishing below fifth.

The Lowes Chevrolet driver entered the Chase second in the point standings, finishing the Race to the Chase 57 points behind Kenseth. That margin was adjusted to five points by the Chase format. A 39th-place finish at New Hampshire in the first race of the Chase dropped him to ninth place, 139 points behind Kevin Harvick – his lowest points position of the season. He did not post a top-10 finish in the Chase until he finished second at Charlotte. He posted his only Chase victory the next week at Atlanta then finished second three straight times. Johnson finished ninth in the final Chase race to secure his first championship. Johnson posted one Bud Pole and 23 top-10 starts in 2006. He opened the season with victories in two of the first three races – including his first Daytona 500 win. He also won the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, joining Dale Jarrett (1996) as the only driver to win both in the same season. Johnson ended the season with five victories and 13 top-five finishes. He also posted 24 top-10 finishes in 2006 – more than any other driver and failed to finish only once. Johnson posted five consecutive finishes of first or second between second Charlotte and Phoenix to come back from a 165-point deficit.

Consistency was the key for the Lowes team, as Johnson won four superspeedway races and one short track and finished in the top 10 in one of the road-course events. Johnson also led 854 laps, leading in 18 races and leading the most laps twice.

Johnson has competed in five full-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup seasons – all with Hendrick Motorsports.

CREDIT: NASCAR PR 

Terry Labonte made his final Cup Series start at his home track of Texas Motor Speedway this year. Let's rundown his incredible career:

THE STATS: Going into Texas, Labonte has 847 starts, 22 wins, 27 pole positions, 182 top-five finishes and 361 top-10s and is a 2 time Cup Champion. He's completed 246,776 laps in Cup competition, leading 7,035 of them, and driven more than 303,000 miles. Labonte has won more than $40 million since his first career start in 1978.

DRIVER QUOTES 

KYLE BUSCH, LABONTE'S HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TEAMMATE: (ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH TERRY LABONTE.) "Terry's been awesome. He's been a great mentor and offered a lot of support to me. When I first came to Hendrick Motorsports and had the opportunity to drive for his No. 5 Kellogg's team, he was there for me and helped with the transition -- telling me about the team, the guys and getting started in Cup. After one race recently, he told me about his championship (in 1996) and how he and Jeff (Gordon) battled it out as teammates. Terry has great stories -- his career has been amazing. He's given me great feedback on a lot of things, especially when it comes to bonding with the team. It's just good advice only a veteran can give a new kid like me."

JEFF GORDON, FOUR-TIME NASCAR CHAMPION AND LABONTE'S HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS TEAMMATE: (ON TERRY LABONTE.) "Terry has always been a great champion and teammate. He's a man of few words, but his actions on the race track have always spoken volumes about the type of person he is. I've always admired his ability and the commitment he's shown in his many years of racing. You can't help but be amazed by someone who has the talent to win two championships more than a decade apart, especially when so much has changed in our sport."

RICK HENDRICK, OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS: (ON TERRY LABONTE.) "Terry is one of the most unselfish people I've ever met. He'll always do what's best for the team, even if it puts him in an awkward spot. I've seen him do it with other organizations before he joined us. I looked at his statistics early in his career and I couldn't believe how well he'd run with the equipment he was in. He's always been a team player and a great friend. Terry could've accomplished even more in his career had he been a little more selfish, but there's not a selfish bone in his body. He's never been one of those guys with his hand up for anything. He's a great talent, but he's just a great human being. When you talk about the total package, that's what you get with Terry Labonte."

BOBBY LABONTE, 2000 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES CHAMPION AND BROTHER OF TERRY LABONTE: (ON HIS BROTHER.) "I've always admired Terry as a brother and a person. I still do. I think he's just as much a champion off the track as he is on it. One of my first jobs in racing was working on my brother's car at Hagan Enterprises. I learned a lot about the sport by watching him and I know that has helped me with my career. He always helped me when I needed it. It didn't matter what it was."

Matt Kenseth finished second in the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 56 points behind Champion Jimmie Johnson. It was the fifth time the 2003 Champion finished in top 10 of the final point standings – all in the past five seasons.

The DeWalt Ford driver began the Chase in the lead in the point standings but dropped to third after a 10th-place finish at New Hampshire. His lowest position during the Chase was fourth following Kansas City. Kenseth did not win a Chase race but finished in the top 10 five times. He avoided the disastrous finish that plagued most of the other Chase drivers. He took the lead following Chase Race No. 6 (Martinsville) but could not hold off Johnson's late-Chase surge and dropped to second two races later after Texas and remained there the final three races.

Kenseth posted 15 top-10 starts in 2006, including one from the pole when qualifying was canceled at Bristol. He scored 21 top-10 finishes, including four victories and had only one DNF. Kenseth posted four consecutive top-fives between Darlington and first Pocono and also had back-to-back victories at second Michigan and Bristol. He completed 10,600 laps - all but 60 laps this season, leading all other drivers.

The DeWalt Ford driver scored more point on superspeedways than any other driver. He was in the top-10 in points earned in all categories except road courses.

Kenseth has competed in seven full-time seasons – all with Jack Roush Racing.

CREDIT: NASCAR PR