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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

Rusty Wallace has been successful at almost every track on which he's raced. Almost, because 'Dega has been a burr under his saddle.

In 44 starts at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, Wallace has one top-five finish -- a fifth-place showing on July 31, 1988, when it was still the Alabama International Motor Speedway. And Ronald Reagan was president.

Wallace also has 12 top-10s with an average finish of 20.5 -- his worst showing at any track -- and 14 DNFs.

For Mark Martin, that race was one of his 21 top-10 finishes at Talladega. He also has 10 top-fives, including two victories. Martin's average finish is 14.5 with four DNFs.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil

Rookie of the year contenders Kyle Busch and Travis Kvapil will be back at 'Dega hoping to improve on their showings from the May race.

Kvapil qualified ninth but finished 18th in the Aaron's 499 on May 1. It is one of only seven top-20 finishes in 28 races this season for Kvapil. His season-best is a seventh-place showing at Bristol in April.

Busch started 35th and finished 41st at Talladega in May. It is one of only six races in 28 starts that he has finished 38th or worse this season.

With only eight races remaining, Busch still leads the rookie of the year standings by 79 points over Kvapil entering Talladega.

Also in 1988 ...

  • News
  • March 16 -- Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States for their action in the Iran-Contra Affair.
  • Entertainment
  • Feb. 26 -- Tom Hardy marries Simone Ravelle on General Hospital. It is a milestone for the genre as it is the first interracial wedding on American daytime television.
  • Sports
  • Aug. 8 -- The first night game ever at Wrigley Field is scheduled -- Phillies vs. Cubs -- but is rained out after 3½ innings. The history-making game would be played the next night: Cubs 6, Mets 4.
  • Deaths
  • Actor Divine ... singer Andy Gibb ... U.S. Attorney General and Watergate criminal John Mitchell ... singer Roy Orbison

Also in 2005 ...

  • News
  • Sept. 28 -- A Texas grand jury charged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme. Complete story click here.
  • Entertainment
  • Sept. 26 -- Desperate Housewives (28.4 million viewers) and Lost (23.5M) led ABC to its best first-week showing since 1995 among 18-to-49-year-olds, according to Nielsen ratings.
  • Sports
  • Sept. 27 - On the heels of Philadelphia's 3-2 loss, Atlanta clinched its 14th consecutive division title by beating Colorado 12-3. The next longest streak: N.Y. Yankees (7, 1998-2004).
  • Still to come in 2005 ...
  • Oct. 13 -- The second Chinese human spaceflight -- Shenzhou 6 -- is scheduled to carry two astronauts for five days in orbit.
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