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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

It's been 12 years since Mark Martin escaped Bristol with a victory in the Bud 500 on Aug. 28, 1993. Martin went two laps down early because of a loose lug nut, but battled back and with 12 laps to go overtook Rusty Wallace, who left with the consolation prize of having led the most laps -- 409 of 500.

It was the 10th career victory for Martin, who started on the pole after a record-setting qualifying run at the .533-mile, high-banked oval.

In 37 starts at Bristol, Martin has two wins, 15 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s with an average finish of 12.5 and four DNFs.

Wallace has nine wins, 21 top-fives and 28 top-10s with an average finish of 9.7 and three DNFs in 43 starts at BMS.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil

Kyle Busch and Travis Kvapil return to Bristol for Saturday night's Sharpie 500.

Busch started 39th and finished 28th in the Food City 500 on April 3.

Kvapil qualified fifth and finished seventh -- his only top-10 through 23 starts -- in that race, which was won by Kevin Harvick.

Through 23 races, Busch has five top-five finishes and eight top-10s and leads Kvapil by 51 points in the rookie of the year standings with 13 races remaining.

Busch would be well-served to pick the brain of brother Kurt -- six top-10s in the past seven races at Bristol, including four wins -- while Kvapil has Penske teammate Rusty Wallace to lean on for expertise.

Also in 1993 ...

  • News
  • Feb. 26 -- In New York, a bomb explodes in a van parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000.
  • Entertainment
  • May 26 -- Actress Kim Basinger files for bankruptcy after a judge orders her to pay $7.4M for refusing to honor a verbal contract to star in Boxing Helena. As a result, Basinger loses the town that she purchased in 1989, Braselton, Ga.
  • Sports
  • April 1 -- Alan Kulwicki, the 1992 Cup Series champion dies in a plane crash near Bristol. On April 1, 2005, Dare to Dream: The Alan Kulwicki Story -- a feature film created by his Wisconsin fans -- was released.
  • Deaths
  • Tennis player Arthur Ashe ... actor George "Spanky" McFarland ... WW II general Jimmy Doolittle ... musician Frank Zappa

Also in 2005 ...

  • News
  • Aug. 22 -- Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson calls for the U.S. to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him "a terrific danger" bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.
  • Entertainment
  • Aug. 8 -- In North Platte, Neb., former mobster-turned-chef Henry Hill, whose experiences inspired the 1990 gangland movie GoodFellas, pleads no contest to the charge of attempted possession of methamphetamine, a misdemeanor.
  • Sports
  • Aug. 22 -- Former baseball star Dwight Gooden is sought by Tampa, Fla., police on a felony warrant after he allegedly drove away from an officer who stopped him on suspicion of drunken driving.
  • Still to come in 2005 ...
  • November -- Microsoft expected to launch the Xbox 360, which was unveiled May 12 on MTV.
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