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Jeff Burton breaking a winless streak that lasted nearly five years was one of the highlights of the 2006 Nextel Cup season, writes Allen Bestwick of MSNBC.com.

Allen Bestwick

The 2006 Nextel Cup season is in the books and I’m sorting through mountains of paper and e-mails, trying to file away the memorable events for future reference.

The filing process always leads to reflection on the 36 races so here are my highs and lows of the year, in no particular order.

Highs

Jeff Burton: It was a wonderful moment when the veteran pulled into Victory Lane at Dover in September. It had been nearly five years without a win for Burton and there was plenty of emotion on display by both driver and his team at Richard Childress Racing.

There might have been more if it hadn’t started pouring before the celebration was even five minutes old!

RCR Rides Again: One of the best things of 2006 was seeing Richard Childress Racing back at the front of the pack. Childress, a six-time champion owner, endured some dark times, and other teams worked at getting better while Childress dealt with tragedy and its aftermath. 

So much effort has gone into restoring his organization’s place in the sport; it was great to see it happen this year. Bravo, RC.

Jimmie Johnson’s Rally Caps: From the season opener through the final event in Miami, no team was better at rallying from trouble than the eventual champions.

They started the year without their crew chief, who was suspended for the first four races due to a rules violation, yet they won the sport’s biggest race, the Daytona 500.

There was the early flat tire at Indy, but they still won.

A 29th-place starting spot at Phoenix?  No problem, they finished second.

Then the hole in the grill at Homestead-Miami that left them running 40th with a championship at stake. No problem, they finished a conservative ninth. 

Add to that the streak of five straight first or second place finishes in October and November and no one deserved the title more than Johnson and his “never give up” team.

Darlington Still Gets It Done: It may be considered a relic, but to me one of NASCAR’s best tracks is still old Darlington Raceway.

With its odd shape and tire-eating surface, the drivers are still wrestling cars around the old place all night, and great racing for the lead in this year’s event between Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and eventual winner Greg Biffle was some of the season's best action.

Super Rookie: Denny Hamlin sure showed he was the real deal this season, winning twice and finishing third in points. He was surely one of the highlights of 2006.

All the racing he’s done in his life prepared Hamlin to be a successful Nextel Cup driver. Now the challenge is to maintain that same level in racing while learning how to manage all that goes with being a celebrity as today’s drivers are. It’s not as easy as it sounds. 

Mr. Mile-and-a-half: Kasey Kahne was spectacular this year, leading the Cup series in victories with six. All of Kahne’s wins came on the so-called “intermediate” tracks, four on 1.5-mile tracks, and the others on 2-mile tracks. Add the performance to his marketing appeal and charm, and a new racing superstar was born.

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Petty Power: One of the real highs to me this year was seeing the famous Petty car No. 43 running up front several times during the year.

Bobby Labonte and Robbie Loomis have added a real energy to the storied operation, and leave us all wondering not if, but when we’ll see the No. 43 take the checkers again.

Good Finishes: Besides Talladega, I loved the Kevin Harvick-Tony Stewart dual at Watkins Glen, and the Harvick-Kyle Busch thriller at Richmond in September.

Every Race Counts: We saw this year through Tony Stewart’s failure to make the Chase that every race and every point during the regular season -- the opening 26 races -- are very important.

I really hope NASCAR does not to make changes to the Chase format.  Adding more teams to the title hunt would water down the championship.

They’ve got a good thing working, let’s not change it just to make a change, and none of the proposals I’ve heard floated are an improvement to me.

Lows

Martin/Roush split: I know life goes on, but Mark Martin’s announcement he would be racing for someone other than Jack Roush next season made me kind of sad. 

Martin and Roush became successful in NASCAR racing together, and it’s kind of a shame they couldn’t put something together to continue next year.

Mayfield/Evernham split: The deterioration of the Jeremy Mayfield/Ray Evernham relationship, and its ending I will consider one of the year’s low points. The line between what’s a legitimate story to report on in sports, and what’s “tabloid” material is a very fine one. I’m not much into the tabloids.

Tony Stewart’s Memorable Memorial Day Weekend: No driver endured a more miserable weekend this season than Tony Stewart did at Charlotte in May. He was involved in a vicious wreck during the NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday.

After strapping his already bruised and beaten up body into his Nextel Cup car for Sunday’s Coca Cola 600, Stewart was involved in another heavy wreck just 32 laps into the race, and suffered injuries that would force him to have Ricky Rudd relief drive for him the following week at Dover.