2006… the Year in Review 

Eric "Champ" Brundies scored his 2nd consecutive IRC Championship with 5 wins, and a record setting 10 poles (the most in any single season).  He was the series leader in laps led at 932, and fell only 4 laps short of overtaking Del Oliver's record of all-time laps led.  Brundies also won the prestigious Race of Champions for the second straight season. 

Darrell "The Rocket" Hudlemeyer was the 2006 IRC Rookie of the Year.  He led the series in top 5's and top 10's, and had the best average finishing position at 5.00.  This season Darrell also broke Del Oliver's series record of consecutive top 10's with 16. 

Bill "Ironman" Fuller finished 3rd in points.  He put an end to the record of "races without a win" at 79 when he won the season opener at Kentucky.  A week later he set the qualifying track record at Daytona to get his first pole.  Fuller's streak of consecutive races started continues at 103 at the end of the 2006 season, and he leads the series in all-time laps run at 13,939.

Nick "ShortTrack" Hansen finished 4th in points.  He tied Eric Brundies and Jeff Russell with most wins this season with 5, while winning back-to-back races at Bristol and Martinsville.  His most impressive race was at Dover where he had the season’s biggest margin of victory at 17.14 seconds.  Hansen also claimed the 2006 Late Model Stock Series Championship after a very close battle with Gene Patient. 

Chris "Mr. Consistency" Blalock finished 5th in season points making him the only driver in IRC Cup to have finished in the top 5 in points for the past three consecutive seasons. 

Rick "SuperSpeedway" Everett finish 6th in points and had a year of tremendous up and downs, but ended his season on a high note by winning the season finale' at Talladega.  The 2003 Champ also won the Racers Cup Shootout at Daytona, and scored the season’s fastest pole with a lap of 200.91 mph at Michigan. 

Pat "No More Warp" Veillette finished 7th in points this season, and picked up a very popular win at Daytona... the 4th of his career.  He also set the best all-time race lap time at Pocono with a lap of 51.539. 

Jim "Right Turn" Helie finished 8th in points, and won his second career race at Watkins Glen.  Helie also captured the Trans-Am Tour Road Course Championship by winning 3 of the 7 races of that series! 

Greg "Tri-Oval" Bartlett finished 9th in the points, and was runner-up for the Rookie of the Year honors.  He scored 2 impressive poles in a row at Atlanta and Texas… while also setting the track record at Texas. 

Gene "It Pays Off to Be" Patient finished 10th in points, and was the runner-up in the Late Model Stock Series Championship.  Patient also set the qualifying record at Darlington under the lights.   

Jeff “Smoke” Russell finished 11^th in points after narrowly missing the Chase for the Championship.  Russell went on to win five races during the season, three of which were Chase races.  This gave him the top spot out of all non-chase drivers in the “Non-Chase Challenge”  Russell also won the IRC’s landmark 100^th IRC race at Texas. 

Redfire Racing won the Team Championship with Brundies, Hansen, and Patterson.  Excalibur Racing was second with drivers Barnes, Blalock, Everett, and Russell. 

Dodge won the manufacturers championship, with Ford in second, and Chevrolet in third. 

The American Cancer Society Challenge at Richmond earned a record setting $260 for charity.  Bill Fuller won the team challenge after a 5^th place run. 

The IRC Cup Series averaged 6 cautions per race in 2006. 

In 2006 there were 10 different race winners in the 24 events. 

IRC Cup turned it’s 15,000^th lap, and had it’s 100^th race in 2006.  

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