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Features

Then & Now

NASCAR.COM pays tribute to two outgoing vets
and welcomes two rookies to the Cup fold.

Each week will preview one year in the career of the retiring drivers,
as well as a pop-culture look at what's going on in the world today.
Mark Martin

Mark Martin

Rusty Wallace

Rusty Wallace

Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace were in the field for the inaugural race at Phoenix, the Checker 500 on Nov. 6, 1988. Alan Kulwicki was the winner, while Wallace finished fifth and Martin was 36th.

Saturday night will be Martin's 18th race at PIR. He has a win (1993), eight top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes. Martin's average finish is 8.6, and he has one DNF.

The Subway Fresh 500 will be Rusty Wallace's 18th start at Phoenix. He has one win (1998), seven top-fives and eight top-10 finishes. Wallace's average finish is 15.8, and he has two DNFs.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil

Kyle Busch and Travis Kvapil will make their first Nextel Cup starts at Phoenix, but both have had success on the 1-mile track -- albeit in vastly different arenas.

Busch started from the pole in last year's Busch series race at PIR. One of four race leaders, he led a race-high 151 laps before eventually finishing second to Buschwhacker Jamie McMurray.

Kvapil competed in four Truck series races at Phoenix. He posted top-10 finishes in 2001-03 and was 15th last year. He's finished all 611 laps he has raced at PIR, but has led only six laps in those four races.

Also in 1993 ...

  • News
  • Jan. 18 -- For the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is officially observed in all 50 states.
  • Entertainment
  • Aug. 19 -- The TV sitcom Cheers ends an 11-year run on NBC (the show debuted Sept. 30, 1982).
  • Sports
  • March 5 -- Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson is banned from international competition for life after testing positive for banned substances for the second time.
  • Deaths
  • Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie ... U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall ... professional wrestler André the Giant ... 1992 Cup champion Alan Kulwicki and Cup driver Davey Allison ... actor River Phoenix ... drug lord Pablo Escobar

Also in 2005 ...

  • News
  • April 20 -- Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his first Mass as pontiff at the Vatican.
  • Entertainment
  • April 19 -- Laura Canales, the "grand dame of Tejano music," died at 50.
  • Sports
  • April 18 -- Six-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong announced he will retire after this year's event, a grueling three-week race that will end July 24.
  • Still to come in 2005 ...
  • May 23-25 -- Finals for the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions. The tournament started Feb. 9 to see if any past Jeopardy! champions can beat Ken Jennings in a final three-day showdown for a prize of $2 million.
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