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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's last Cup victory came at Martinsville on April 18, 2004 -- a win that snapped a 105-race drought.

Mark Martin's last win at Martinsville came April 9, 2000, a race in which Wallace started from the pole, led a race-high 343 laps but finished 10th.

Wallace has 43 starts on the .526-mile track, with seven wins, 17 top-five finishes and 25 top-10s. His average finish is 11.8 with seven DNFs.

Martin will be making his 40th start at Martinsville. He has two wins, 11 top-fives and 21 top-10s, with an average finish of 12.6 and six DNFs.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil

Rookie of the year contender Kyle Busch returns to Martinsville with an eye toward improving on his 39th-place finish in the spring race.

Travis Kvapil will be making his third start at the track. He finished 27th at Martinsville in April, and had two top-10s in six Truck starts between 2001-04.

Busch was felled by an overheating engine in the spring race and completed 304 of 500 laps. His 39th-place finish is tied for his fourth-worst showing this season.

With only five races remaining, Busch still leads the rookie of the year standings by 77 points over Kvapil.

Also in 2001 ...

  • News
  • Feb. 3 -- The CIA admitted there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
  • Entertainment
  • Nov. 30 -- After 74 consecutive wins, Ken Jennings finally loses on Jeopardy!, to competitor Nancy Zerg.
  • Sports
  • Sept. 17 -- Barry Bonds became the third player in MLB history to hit 700 home runs. Bonds joined Hall of Famers Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).
  • Deaths
  • Actor Tony Randall ... musician Ray Charles ... actor Marlon Brando ... chef Julia Child ... astronaut Gordon Cooper ... comedian Rodney Dangerfield ... PLO leader Yasser Arafat

Also in 2005 ...

  • News
  • Oct. 19 -- Saddam Hussein's trial adjourned until Nov. 28. He is charged with ordering the murder of more than 140 Iraqis in Dujail in 1982.
  • Entertainment
  • Oct. 18 -- Ashton Kutcher, whose romance with Demi Moore has riveted the tabloids, is producing a sitcom pilot inspired by their recent marriage.
  • Sports
  • Oct. 18 -- Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds' trainer, was sentenced to three months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering and steroid distribution.
  • Still to come in 2005 ...
  • Oct. 21 -- 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar where the United Kingdom defeated France and Spain and Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson died.
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