The 2006 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The 48th Daytona 500 was held on February 19, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before 200,000 spectators. Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson, won the 203-lap race after starting ninth. Chip Ganassi Racing's Casey Mears and Penske Racing South's Ryan Newman finished second and third, respectively.

The Daytona 500 is a 500-mile-long (805 km) NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three held in Florida, with the annual fall showdown Dixie Vodka 400 being held at Homestead south of Miami. From 1988 to 2019, it was one of the four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule. The inaugural Daytona 500 was held in 1959 coinciding with the opening of the speedway and since 1982, it has been the season-opening race of the Cup series.