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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 are two of only 13 drivers who have started all nine races at Texas. Oddly, the two drivers have never finished in the top 10 in the same race.

Martin won the second race at the 1.5-mile track, the Texas 500 on April 5, 1998, by beating Roush teammate Chad Little by 0.573 seconds.

Wallace has three top-five finishes among four top-10s, with an average start of 15.3, an average finish of 12.1 and one DNF.

Martin also has three top-five finishes among four top-10s, with an average start of 13.4, an average finish of 15.3 and one DNF.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

Travis Kvapil

Travis Kvapil

Rookie of the year candidates Kyle Busch and Travis Kvapil are hoping for better results in their return to Fort Worth for Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch qualified 35th and managed a 21st-place finish -- the last car on the lead lap -- in the Samsung / Radio Shack 500 on April 17.

Kvapil also made his first Cup Series start at TMS in that race. He qualified 25th but finished 30th -- 37 laps down to race winner Greg Biffle.

Through 33 races, Busch continues to lead the rookie of the year standings by 77 points over Kvapil with three races remaining.

Also in 1998 ...

  • News
  • Oct. 29 -- Space Shuttle Discovery blasts-off with 77-year-old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. He became the first American to orbit Earth on Feb. 20, 1962.
  • Entertainment
  • May 14 -- After nine years on the air, the series finale of the television sitcom Seinfeld airs on NBC (1989-1998). Yada, yada, yada …
  • Sports
  • Sept. 8 -- St. Louis' Mark McGwire breaks the single-season HR record, formerly held by Roger Maris. Big Mac hits No. 62 at Busch Stadium in the fourth inning off of Chicago's Steve Trachsel.
  • Deaths
  • Broadcaster Harry Caray ... comedian Henny Youngman ... NFL Hall of Famer Ray Nitschke ... entertainer Frank Sinatra ... actor Phil Hartman

Also in 2005 ...

  • News
  • Oct. 31 -- Entries from Wikipedia, the popular free online encyclopedia written and edited by Internet users, soon may be available in print for readers, founder Jimmy Wales said. A first printed work could be ready for mid-2006.
  • Entertainment
  • Oct. 29 -- San Francisco "deadicated" a 600-seat amphitheater in memory of the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia.
  • Sports
  • Nov. 1 -- Bill Walsh will serve as Stanford's interim AD. Walsh served as Stanford's head football coach from 1977-78 and 1992-94. In between, he coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl titles.
  • Still to come in 2005 ...
  • TBA -- The BBC is expected to launch software for downloading and watching its television programs from the Internet.
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