2006 Nextel Cup All-Stars

Nextel All-Star Challenge | May 20 on FX | Charlotte

Greg Biffle
• Qualified by winning at California in February 2005
• Birthday: 12-23-69
• Hometown: Vancouver, Wash.
• Team: Roush Racing
• Car: No. 16 National Guard Ford
• Crew Chief: Doug Richert
• Team Owner: Geoff Smith
• All-Star Starts: 2
• Best Finish: 14th (2005)
• All-Star Winnings: $160,300
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 3rd, 2005 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Biffle in 2006 has become the bane of fantasy game players everywhere after suffering five finishes worse than 31st in his first nine starts. Despite leading the most laps in three races and leading at least one lap in all but one of his first nine starts, Biffle has struggled to find his footing a third of the way through 2006, his fourth full-time season in Cup. However, he again dominated at Darlington and tamed the Lady in Black for the second consecutive year.

Kurt Busch
• Qualified by winning at Phoenix in April 2005
• Birthday: 8-4-78
• Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev.
• Team: Penske Racing South
• Car: No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief McCauley
• Team Owner: Roger Penske
• All-Star Starts: 4
• Best Finish: 2nd (2003)
• All-Star Winnings: $479,329
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 2nd 2005 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Kurt Busch roared out of the box in 2006 with his new team, new car and new crew chief to win in his fifth start for Penske Racing South. Consistent finishes have eluded Busch (only two top-10s), but he's only qualified out of the top 10 twice in 11 races, and he's always competitive on high-speed 1.5-mile tracks.

Kyle Busch
• Qualified by winning at California in September 2005
• Birthday: 5-2-85
• Hometown: Las Vegas, Nev.
• Team: Hendrick Motorsports
• Car: No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet
• Crew Chief: Chief Gustafson
• Team Owner: Rick Hendrick
• All-Star Starts: 0
• Best Finish: N/A
• All-Star Winnings: $0
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 25th, 2005 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: To his competition's dismay, Kyle Busch has come out of the box in 2006 just as aggressive and just as competitive as he was in 2005, when he won two races and the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. Busch, who was a fixture in the top 10 in the season's first quarter, is a favorite to challenge for an All-Star Challenge victory in his debut.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Qualified by winning at Chicagoland in July 2005
• Birthday: 10-10-74
• Hometown: Kannapolis, N.C.
• Team: Dale Earnhardt Incorporated
• Car: No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet
• Crew Chief: Chief Eury Jr.
• Team Owner: Teresa Earnhardt
• All-Star Starts: 6
• Best Finish: 1st (2000)
• All-Star Winnings: $949,539
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 3rd, 2004 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Early in 2006 Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his cousin, crew chief Tony Eury Jr., have enjoyed a long-lost consistency that's made them a fixture in the top 10 in the standings heading to Lowe's, their beloved hometown racetrack. Earnhardt won the All-Star Challenge as a rookie in 2000 and is striving to return to his 2004 level of performance.

Carl Edwards
• Qualified by winning at Atlanta in March 2005
• Birthday: 8-15-79
• Hometown: Columbia, Mo.
• Team: Roush Racing
• Car: No. 99 Office Depot Ford
• Crew Chief: Chief Brown
• Team Owner: Jack Roush
• All-Star Starts: 1
• Best Finish: 15th (2005)
• All-Star Winnings: $78,800
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 3rd, 2005 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: Edwards staggered through the first third of the Cup schedule, where he failed to lead a lap until his seventh race, while also competing full-time in the Busch Series for the second consecutive season. New crew chief Wally Brown, who owner Jack Roush swapped into the role in mid-April, produced top-10 finishes in Edwards first three starts with Brown in charge.

Jeff Gordon
• Qualified by winning at Daytona in February 2005
• Birthday: 8-4-71
• Hometown: Vallejo, Calif.
• Team: Hendrick Motorsports
• Car: No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet
• Crew Chief: Chief Letarte
• Team Owner: Rick Hendrick
• All-Star Starts: 12
• Best Finish: 1st (1995, 1997, 2001)
• All-Star Winnings: $1,679,439
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 1994, 1997, 1998 Coca-Cola 600; 1999 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Five top-10 finishes in his first 11 starts of 2006 proves how easily Jeff Gordon has meshed with new crew chief Steve Letarte, after last year's debacle that broke a string of 11 consecutive years in the standing's top 10. Gordon is back on pace to begin a new streak of top 10 excellence, particularly at Lowe's, where he scored his first career victory.

Kevin Harvick
• Qualified by winning at Bristol in April 2005
• Birthday: 12-8-75
• Hometown: Bakersfield, Calif.
• Team: Richard Childress Racing
• Car: No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet
• Crew Chief: Chief Berrier
• Team Owner: Richard Childress
• All-Star Starts: 5
• Best Finish: 7th (2003)
• All-Star Winnings: $318,979
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 2nd, 2001 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: After a slow start, Kevin Harvick shook off speculation and has speared toward the front of the Cup standings on the strength of a run of top-10 finishes, punctuated by a victory at Phoenix. Harvick, who opted to extend his contract with Richard Childress Racing, is revisiting a two-division mode he exercised in 2001, handily leading the Busch Series standings.

Dale Jarrett
• Qualified by winning at Talladega in October 2005
• Birthday: 11-26-56
• Hometown: Hickory, N.C.
• Team: Robert Yates Racing
• Car: No. 88 UPS Ford
• Crew Chief: Chief Labbe
• Team Owner: Robert Yates
• All-Star Starts: 14
• Best Finish: 2nd (2000, 2001)
• All-Star Winnings: $760,114
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 1994, 1997 UAW-GM Quality 500; 1996 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: With a veteran's caginess, Dale Jarrett has positioned himself for a possible Chase for the Nextel Cup run, as he never fell below 13th in the standings through the season's first 11 races. Even as he put a three-year timeframe to the winding down of his career in NASCAR's premier division, Jarrett has breathed new life into his Robert Yates Racing crew -- and then announced he will join Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007 to run Toyotas.

Jimmie Johnson
• Qualified by winning at Las Vegas in March 2005
• Birthday: 9-17-75
• Hometown: El Cajon, Calif.
• Team: Hendrick Motorsports
• Car: No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet
• Crew Chief: Chief Knaus
• Team Owner: Jeff Gordon
• All-Star Starts: 4
• Best Finish: 1st (2003)
• All-Star Winnings: $1,332,629
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 2003, 2004, 2005 Coca-Cola 600; 2004, 2005 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Jimmie Johnson's newfound patience ought to be an ominous sign to his competitors, as he and his Hendrick Motorsports crew have been out of the lead in the standings only twice in the season's first 11 races, bolstered by a league-leading three victories. Johnson's current skein in Lowe's Motor Speedway points races makes him a prohibitive All-Star Challenge favorite.

Kasey Kahne
• Qualified by winning at Richmond in May 2005
• Birthday: 4-10-80
• Hometown: Enumclaw, Wash.
• Team: Evernham Motorsports
• Car: No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Francis
• Team Owner: Ray Evernham
• All-Star Starts: 1
• Best Finish: 16th (2005)
• All-Star Winnings: $78,700
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 12th, 2004 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: With a remarkable run in the first five races of the season, followed by a comeback win in Texas after a DNF at Martinsville, Kahne is excelling in his first season with quiet, but masterful, crew chief Kenny Francis. Kahne has gotten his groove back on not only the 1.5-mile tracks on the Nextel Cup Series schedule, but also about every other venue.

Matt Kenseth
• Qualified by winning at Bristol in August 2005
• Birthday: 3-10-72
• Hometown: Cambridge, Wis.
• Team: Roush Racing
• Car: No. 17 Dewalt Ford
• Crew Chief: Chief Reiser
• Team Owner: Mark Martin
• All-Star Starts: 5
• Best Finish: 1st (2004)
• All-Star Winnings: $1,354,304
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 2000 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: Look out for Matt Kenseth, the quiet man who scored his first career victory at Lowe's in 2000 and who won NASCAR's premier division championship in 2003. Kenseth has displayed the same kind of consistency and competitiveness through the first third of 2006, winning at California, almost winning at Bristol and contending everywhere else.

Bobby Labonte
• Qualified by winning 2000 series championship
• Birthday: 5-8-64
• Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas
• Team: Petty Enterprises
• Car: No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Parrott
• Team Owner: Richard Petty
• All-Star Starts: 11
• Best Finish: 2nd (1997, 1998)
• All-Star Winnings: $816,739
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 1995 Coca-Cola 600, 2000 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Bobby Labonte has shown flashes of the performance level that prove Petty Enterprises is on the right track as the younger of the racing Labonte brothers in 2006 is deeply into a rebuilding process that has seen him consistently around the front of the pack. There would be no better place for Labonte to break through than Lowe's.

Mark Martin
• Qualified by winning at Kansas City in October 2005
• Birthday: 1-9-59
• Hometown: Batesville, Ark.
• Team: Roush Racing
• Car: No. 6 AAA Ford
• Crew Chief: Chief Tryson
• Team Owner: Jack Roush
• All-Star Starts: 16
• Best Finish: 1st (1998, 2005)
• All-Star Winnings: $1,963,739
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 1992, 1995, 1998 UAW-GM Quality 500; 2002 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: Don't bet against Mark Martin at Lowe's Motor Speedway, especially in a guts and glory spectacle such as the All-Star Challenge, of which he's the defending champion. It's been years since Martin has been as serious a contender for the Cup title, despite making the Chase for the Nextel Cup in its first two seasons.

Jeremy Mayfield
• Qualified by winning at Michigan in August 2005
• Birthday: 5-27-69
• Hometown: Owensboro, Ky.
• Team: Evernham Motorsports
• Car: No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Chris Andrews
• Team Owner: Ray Evernham
• All-Star Starts: 6
• Best Finish: 5th (1999)
• All-Star Winnings: $341,761
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 2nd, 2000 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Lowe's would be the perfect breakout point for Jeremy Mayfield's Ray Evernham Motorsports team, which has struggled early in 2006 after the owner shuffled the deck, taking the team and cars with which Mayfield made the first two editions of the Chase for the Nextel Cup and gave them to teammate Kasey Kahne.

Jamie McMurray
• Qualified by owner Jack Roush winning at Phoenix in April 2005
• Birthday: 6-3-76
• Hometown: Joplin, Mo.
• Team: Roush Racing
• Car: No. 26 Crown Royal/Sharpie/IRWIN Ford
• Crew Chief: Chief Osborne
• Team Owner: Georgetta Roush
• All-Star Starts: 1
• Best Finish: 22nd (2003)
• All-Star Winnings: $65,404
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Jamie McMurray's entry into the All-Star Challenge came courtesy of owner Jack Roush's 2005 victory, but McMurray, whose only career Cup victory came at Lowe's, struggled early in his first season with Roush Racing, before a major crew chief shakeup paired McMurray with former engineer Bob Osborne -- who backboned Carl Edwards' stunning first full season in 2005.

Ryan Newman
• Qualified by winning at New Hampshire in September 2005
• Birthday: 12-8-77
• Hometown: South Bend, Ind.
• Team: Penske Racing South
• Car: No. 12 Alltel Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Borland
• Team Owner: Roger Penske
• All-Star Starts: 4
• Best Finish: 1st (2002)
• All-Star Winnings: $1,372,230
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 2nd, 2003 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: Speed and guts are a couple of Ryan Newman's hallmarks, and he'll need every bit of his famed intestinal fortitude as his Penske Racing South organization has continued to struggle with its Dodge Charger in 2006, while battling equally ill luck. Don't expect Newman, one of only two rookies to win the Nextel All-Star Challenge, to stay down.

Tony Stewart
• Qualified by winning at Sonoma in June 2005
• Birthday: 5-20-71
• Hometown: Rushville, Ind.
• Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
• Car: No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet
• Crew Chief: Chief Zipadelli
• Team Owner: Joe Gibbs
• All-Star Starts: 7
• Best Finish: 2nd (1999)
• All-Star Winnings: $703,52
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 2003 UAW-GM Quality 500

Outlook: After winning his second championship in NASCAR's premier division in 2005, Stewart has shown no sign of slowing down in 2006 as he's been competitive everywhere, every bit as cantankerous as he was in his inaugural, 2002 championship year and every bit as difficult to beat. He was the only driver to lead at least a lap in the first nine races -- but hasn't led a lap in the past two.

Michael Waltrip
• Qualified by winning 1996 all-star event
• Birthday: 4-30-63
• Hometown: Owensboro, Ky.
• Team: Waltrip-Jasper Racing
• Car: No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Finley
• Team Owner: Doug Bawel
• All-Star Starts: 13
• Best Finish: 1st (1996)
• All-Star Winnings: $813,585
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 2nd, 2004 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: Waltrip has struggled through the first quarter of 2006 to adjust to running the Dodge Charger, fielded by a combination of his own personnel and those from Bill Davis Racing as Waltrip moves toward becoming a charter Toyota team in the Cup Series in 2007.

Nextel Open winner
Scott Riggs
• Qualified by winning Nextel Open
• Birthday: 1-1-71
• Hometown: Bahama, N.C.
• Team: Evernham Motorsports
• Car: No. 10 Valvoline Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Childers
• Team Owner: Ray Evernham
• All-Star Starts: 0
• Best Finish: N/A
• All-Star Winnings: $0
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 19th, 2005 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: After missing the Daytona 500, Riggs has rebounded to post three top-10s in 10 starts. He had only four top-10s all of last year. Riggs led all but one lap in the Nextel Open.

Nextel Fan Voting Wildcard
Kyle Petty
• Qualified by winning Wildcard with 101,966 votes
• Birthday: 6-2-60
• Hometown: Randleman, N.C.
• Team: Petty Enterprises
• Car: No. 45 Coca-Cola Dodge
• Crew Chief: Chief Paul Andrews
• Team Owner: Kyle Petty
• All-Star Starts: 10
• Best Finish: 2nd (1992)
• All-Star Winnings: $283,000
• Best Lowe's Points-Race Finish: 1st, 1987 Coca-Cola 600

Outlook: Petty's inclusion means $250,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp as a result of a campaign speared by sponsor Coca-Cola. Petty Enterprises feels good about the direction its taking, but he has only one top-10 finish in 11 races this season.