After clinching the title four races before the season was over, Kevin Harvick and team owner Richard Childress finally celebrated at Homestead. Credit: Autostock

2006 Busch Honors

Driver of the Year: Kevin Harvick

It would be naïve to think Kevin Harvick shouldn't be considered for every recognition in the book for 2006 with the clinic he put on in the Busch Series.

	Kevin Harvick is the only Busch champion to also run the Cup Series schedule the same season, and he's done it twice. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Harvick's 2006 statistics Wins 9 Top-5s 23 Top-10s 32 Avg. Start 11.5 Avg. Finish 4.6 Rank 1 Poles 1 DNFs 0 Laps Led 1,197 Earnings $1,346,230 • Complete stats, click here PHOTO GALLERY • 2006 Year in Review Series champKevin Harvick celebrates his Busch Series championship Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

By now the statistics are old news.

With nine wins, he was one victory shy of tying the record.

He set a new record margin of victory in the points (824).

His average finish (4.6) was nearly six spots better than anybody who ran the whole season (11.4, Carl Edwards).

He had more top-10s (32) than anybody in the series' history, including 18 in a row to finish the season

But enough, already.

The only thing that needs to be remembered from Kevin Harvick's season was that he had three bad races. Three. And that's counting an 11th-place finish at Atlanta and a 13th at Dover, where he started from the pole.

Harvick's worst race -- at least his worst finish -- came at Milwaukee, when he wound up 19th after a late spin while battling for the lead. He pushed leader Paul Menard to the limit, and Menard held strong. Harvick's car got loose below Menard's and turned around, forcing the champ to watch the entire grid drive by. For some drivers, it was the only time they finished higher than Harvick all season.

"We enjoyed every minute this year," said Harvick, who also won the 2001 title. "I think the second time around, we're a lot more aware of how hard things are to come by in this sport."

Harvick, who wound up fourth in Nextel Cup points, is the only Busch Series champion to win the title while also competing full time in the Cup Series, having done so in both 2001 and 2006.

Honorable Mention: Paul Menard
• Finished sixth in the standings
• Highest-finishing Busch regular in eight races
• Finished 281 points ahead of next-closest Busch regular
• Milwaukee victory was one of two races won by non-Cup drivers

Comeback Driver of the Year: John Andretti

	John Andretti's best finish was a fifth-place at Watkins Glen. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Andretti's 2006 statistics Wins 0 Top-5s 1 Top-10s 4 Avg. Start 22.5 Avg. Finish 20.7 Rank 12 Poles 0 DNFs 1 Laps Led 3 Earnings $913,519 • Complete stats, click here

What do you say about a driver who was virtually out of NASCAR for two years and then comes back to be the top-finishing rookie in the Busch Series?

First of all, you say rookie?

Yes, John Andretti competed for 10 full Cup Series seasons and won two races while driving for, of all owners, Cale Yarborough and Petty Enterprises. But prior to 1998, he'd only competed in one Busch Series race in his whole career, and that was 1998, a 13th-place finish in the season opener at Daytona.

So when Andretti fired his engine for ppc Racing's No. 10 Ford at the 2006 season opener, he was indeed a rookie in the Busch Series. But the yellow stripe on his bumper might as well have been purely decoration.

Andretti collected four top-10 finishes with his best showing coming at Watkins Glen, where he wound up fifth. His other top-10 showings came at tracks where he has a history. He was seventh at Martinsville, site of his last Cup victory. He was ninth at Bristol, a place where he has two top-fives in a Cup car. And he was 10th at Daytona, where he won his only other Cup race.

With an average finish of 20.7 and only one DNF, Andretti's statistics might appear average to the naked eye. However, considering that Andretti wound up 12th in the standings at year's end and was the fourth-best driver who was not a Cup regular, it makes his stock-car comeback all the more impressive, particularly if he can sustain the uphill climb.

Honorable Mention: Jason Leffler
• Finished 13th in the standings
• Led 199 laps, most by a Busch regular
• Made just 15 starts in 2005 season, finishing 30th in standings
• Made 19 Cup starts last year for Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 11

Rookie of the Year: Danny O'Quinn Jr.

John Andretti entered the final race at Homestead in a tie with Danny O'Quinn Jr. for Busch Series rookie of the year. And although Andretti left Homestead with a 16th-place finish to O'Quinn's 35th-place showing, O'Quinn still won the rookie award from NASCAR.

	Danny O'Quinn Jr.'s first NASCAR race was the season opener at Daytona. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers O'Quinn's 2006 statistics Wins 0 Top-5s 1 Top-10s 5 Avg. Start 24.4 Avg. Finish 22.6 Rank 19 Poles 0 DNFs 3 Laps Led 0 Earnings $830,855 • Complete stats, click here

Confusing? Yes.

Wrong? No.

While Andretti was working on his 11th season of full-time stock-car racing and was accurately considered a rookie in the Busch Series, 2006 was O'Quinn's first year in NASCAR. Period.

With his roots in go-karts and Late Models, the 6-foot-5 O'Quinn finished in the top three of Jack Roush's widely known driver competition in 2005. A year later, O'Quinn was on a driver reality show featuring Roush, and won his way into the 2006 Busch Series driver's seat.

"Coming in, I had only run three or four speedway races heading into Daytona," O'Quinn said. "I don't know that there was a single employee on the team on Jan. 1."

When the season began, it wasn't a game any longer.

O'Quinn finished with five top-10s and earned a fifth-place finish at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October.

He sat out two races late in the season in favor of Roush teammate David Ragan, who was selected to fill Mark Martin's Cup ride. The owner wanted Ragan to gain more seat time, so O'Quinn stepped aside. Still, O'Quinn managed to hang on to 19th in the standings.

"That was our main goal at the beginning of the year, to go out and win the rookie of the year. And we were able to achieve that," O'Quinn said.

The ironic thing is that O'Quinn may not have a ride for 2007. At the end of the year, Roush had reportedly committed to three Busch Series teams -- Ragan, Carl Edwards and a shared ride between Greg Biffle and Todd Kluever.

And all that leaves the 2006 rookie of the year out of the Busch Series picture -- at least with Roush Racing.

Team of the Year: Richard Childress Racing

	Kevin Harvick clinched the title driving for his own team, but it didn't disrupt the early celebration at Charlotte. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Races an RCR car did not finish in the top five Race Top Driver Finish Texas J. Burton 6 Darlington K. Harvick 7 Charlotte J. Burton 6 Kentucky K. Harvick 6 Milwaukee C. Bowyer 18 Watkins Glen K. Harvick 7 Michigan K. Harvick 8 Charlotte C. Bowyer 7 Homestead K. Harvick 6 Title timeKevin Harvick clinches the Busch title at LMS Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

As good as Kevin Harvick was from a driver's standpoint, Richard Childress Racing was even better as a team.

Aside from Harvick's obvious Busch Series domination in 2006, RCR's backup plan wasn't too shabby, with Clint Bowyer finishing third in the standings, albeit 965 points behind the champion.

Bowyer finished second five times in the season and went to Victory Lane at Dover. He had 17 top-10s with an average finish of 12.1 and more than $1 million in winnings.

Nine races had Bowyer and Harvick in the top five when the checkered flag flew, and they combined to lead 1,776 laps during the season.

Not to be overlooked in the RCR equation is Jeff Burton, who had 10 top-10 finishes and two victories (Atlanta and Dover) in his 15 races for the team in 2006.

"We have made some really big strides at RCR this year and I think we are all just head over heels about our accomplishments this year," Harvick said.

RCR cars won 12 races, including a late-season stretch when its drivers won five of six races. The other was at Lowe's Motor Speedway, where Harvick clinched the driver's championship, although driving his own No. 33 Chevrolet.

But what's most impressive about the team's resurgence is that it had at least one car finish in the top 10 in 34 of 35 races. Only nine times did an RCR car fail to finish in the top five.

"Our Busch teams have always been good at RCR year after year," Harvick said. "Obviously, this year they are exceptional."