 Before the race Jeff Burton led the Drivers ' Championship with 5 @,@ 598 points , with Matt Kenseth second , and Mark Martin third . Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin were fourth and fifth . Dale Earnhardt , Jr . , Jeff Gordon , Jimmie Johnson , Kasey Kahne , and Kyle Busch rounded out the top ten drivers competing in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup . Chevrolet was leading the Manufacturers ' Championship with 231 points ; Dodge was second with 180 , and Ford was a close third on 179 . Johnson was the race 's defending champion . NASCAR mandated that teams use a 13 @.@ 8 @-@ US @-@ gallon ( 52 l ; 11 @.@ 5 imp gal ) fuel cell which would allow fewer laps between pit stops and increase the occurrence of tire changes . Tire supplier Goodyear brought a new right @-@ hand tire compound in hopes that racing would be improved . Testing of the tires took place at the track on August 29 with drivers Joe Nemechek and Kurt Busch who believed Goodyear had rectified problems with harder @-@ compound tires that were raised at the previous round at Charlotte ( the Coca @-@ Cola 600 ) . 
