2006 Season in Review: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser Team

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2006 Season in Review: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser Team

Date Created: Nov 25, 2006, 02:10 PM

The raw numbers and facts following a successful 2006 season for the Budweiser team.

Did you know: Dale Jr. will surpass his father on the all-time NASCAR money winnings chart after receiving his bonus check at the Nextel Cup awards banquet. He surpassed the $40 million mark in career prize money earlier this season, and will move into eighth place on the all-time money chart after the banquet. (We will not know the exact amount of his post-season bonus until the check is presented to him on stage in New York.) He has earned more than $162,000 per Cup start in his career (that amount will grow with the seven-figure bonus check as well).

High Five: Dale Jr. and the Budweiser team finished in the top-five in points for the third time in four seasons. They improved 14 positions versus their 2005 points finish.

Streaking: With his victory at Richmond in May, Dale Jr. has now won a race in seven consecutive seasons. That is the 15th-best streak in Cup history. He holds the third longest on-going streak, behind only Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.

Movin' On Up: Dale Jr's 17 career wins is 23rd best in the modern era (1972-present) and 39th all-time (1949-present). He is tied in all-time wins with legends Marvin Panch and Curtis Turner. His next victory will tie him with Geoff Bodine, Neil Bonnett, Jeff Burton and Harry Gant.

Movin' On Up / Part Two: Dale Jr. topped all drivers in 2006 in improving his average finish versus average start (improved an average of 5.75 spots per race).

Speedways Only? NOT.: Among all drivers, Dale Jr. ranked third in total points scored on short tracks. He led the league in this category in 2002 and 2003.

Locked on the Lead Lap: Dale Jr. ranked first in laps run on the lead lap for the season. The Bud team was on the lead lap for a league-best 93.4 percent of the total laps run. They finished on the lead lap in 30 of the 36 races.

Leading the Way: Dale Jr. led 446 laps in 18 races. He led the most laps in the Daytona 500 and in the Talladega race in October. The team led 237 laps in six of the final eight races in the Chase.

Finish What You Started: The Bud team had only three DNFs (Did Not Finish) in 2006. This ties their best-ever finishing rate (matching 2002 and 2003). More impressively, those three DNFs were the only three races where they finished 30th-place or worse. By comparison, the nightmare season of 2005 included 13 finishes of 30th or worse.)

Getting Loopy: NASCAR implemented a new "loop" scoring system this year which recorded data at a number of points around each race track. Here are some of the highlights for the season-long loop stats for the Budweiser team:

Driver Rating (a complex mix of many of the loop stats): Dale Jr. ranked seventh overall (95.3 rating)

Quality Passes (passes made while running in the top-15): Ranked second (1890 quality passes in 36 races)

Average Running Position; Ranked fifth (12.477 average position during 2006)

Fastest Driver Late in a Run: (last 25% of laps since pit stop): ranked fourth

Fastest Laps Run: Ranked fifth (538 laps, 6.8 percent of total laps)

Fastest Driver on Restarts (average speed on first two laps after green): Ranked second

Total Laps on the Top-15 Positions: Ranked seventh (77.3 percent of total laps.)

The Chase Races: The Loop Stats: Here are some highlights for the team in the final 10 races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup - compared to the other drivers competing for the title. Despite finishing fifth in the final point standings, the Bud team was the most improved team statistically among the Chasers when compared to the 26-race "regular season."

Driver Rating: Dale Jr. ranked second to Jimmie Johnson with a rating of 104.6. This represented more than a 10-point improvement versus the 'regular season.' This was the largest improvement of any Chase driver.

Average Running Position: Ranked first among all Chase drivers (average position of 8.567 in final 10 races.)

Finishing on the Lead Lap: Dale Jr, finished on the lead lap in nine of the 10 Chase races. (A flat tire at Dover sent them three laps behind.)

What Bet?!: Remember the cheap bet proposed by another beverage company prior to the season? Not that we were keeping track, but the Bud team finished ahead of the blue car 25 times in 36 races and finished 11 positions ahead in the final point standings. Not that we were keeping track.

The Numbers, and Only The Numbers: You can link to our 2006 stats page for a detailed race-by-race breakdown of the season. Scroll to the bottom of the page for his entire Cup career stats.

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