Today in History (cont'd)

• April 30 -- 1994: Hermie Sadler wins the Pantry Stores 300 Nationwide Series race in the final NASCAR race at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C. Sadler also won the penultimate race on the .375-mile track in 1993. All told, 27 Nationwide Series races were held at the track, beginning in 1983.

• April 29 -- 1990: After winning the first seven races of his Cup career driving for Rick Hendrick, Geoffrey Bodine gets his first of four wins driving for Junior Johnson. Bodine wins at Martinsville, site of his first victory six years earlier, by 4.5 seconds over Rusty Wallace.

• April 28 -- 1991: Dale Earnhardt wins at Martinsville for his 50th Cup victory. He leads 251 of 500 laps and beats second-place Kyle Petty by 3.34 seconds. Darrell Waltrip is third and Geoff Bodine is fourth, the last of the four cars on the lead lap.

• April 27 -- 1991: Jason Keller finishes 29th (of 30 cars) in his first Nationwide Series start. Keller completes 47 laps before crashing at the .375-mile Lanier Speedway in Gainesville, Ga. Two rookies finish 1-2. David Green gets his first victory, and a 19-year-old named Jeff Gordon gets his first top-five.

• April 26 -- 1987: Dale Earnhardt wins at Martinsville for his fourth consecutive victory. It is the only time in Earnhardt's 27 seasons of Cup racing he wins four races in a row. Earnhardt finishes the season with a personal-best 11 wins and his third Cup championship.

• April 25 -- 1971: Richard Petty wins the Virginia 500 for his fifth consecutive victory at Martinsville Speedway. Petty finishes his career with 15 wins at Martinsville, which is tied with North Wilkesboro Speedway as Petty's most successful track.

• April 24 -- 2004: Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishes second to Martin Truex Jr. in the at Talladega Speedway, snapping his five-race winning streak in the Nationwide Series. Competing part time, Earnhardt won at Richmond in 2002; twice at Daytona and once at Talladega in 2003; and the first race of the 2004 season at Daytona. Earnhardt, a two-time series champion, has 22 victories in 109 starts.

• April 23 -- 1999: Terry Labonte beats Joe Nemechek to the finish line by .002 seconds to win the Nationwide Series race at Talladega. It ties the 1996 race at Milwaukee as the closest margin of victory in series history.

• April 22 -- 1962: Lee Petty finishes fifth in his first start since his bad crash in the second Daytona 500 qualifying race the previous year. It is Petty's only start in 1962. He will make five more starts before retiring at age 50: three in 1963 and two in 1964.

• April 21 -- 1974: Harry Gant finishes ninth at North Wilkesboro Speedway, recording his first top-10 finish in his second Cup start. It will be another eight years, when Gant is 42, before he records his first Cup win.

• April 20 -- 1985: Jimmy Hensley wins the 100th Nationwide Series race, beating Jack Ingram to the finish line by 3 seconds at South Boston (Va.) Speedway.

• April 19 -- 1997: Steve Park wins his first Nationwide Series race, the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 320 at Nashville by 2.012 seconds over Jeff Green. This season would be Park's only full season in the Nationwide Series and he would record all three of his Nationwide wins and finish third in the final standings.

• April 18 -- 2004: Rusty Wallace wins at Bristol for the 55th and final victory of his Cup career. Bobby Labonte finishes second, .538 seconds back. Wallace is eighth all time in Cup wins.

• April 17 -- 1999: Jimmy Hensley wins the Truck Series race at Martinsville setting up the only weekend sweep for Petty Enterprises. The next day John Andretti wins the Cup Series race at Martinsville. Petty hasn't been back to Victory Lane since.

• April 16 -- 2000: Jeff Gordon wins the DieHard 500 at Talladega to become the quickest driver to 50 Cup Series victories. The win comes in Gordon's 232nd race, easily beating the previous best of 278 races by Darrell Waltrip.

• April 15 -- 1951: Fonty Flock wins the first Cup Series race shortened by rain. The scheduled 150-lap race on the mile dirt track of Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsboro, N.C., ends after 95 laps. Flock, who starts from the pole, leads every lap. Frank Mundy is second and Bill Blair third.

• April 14 -- 2001: Greg Biffle, a 31-year-old rookie, wins the Pepsi 300 at Nashville for his first Nationwide Series victory. Biffle wins five races in 2001 and finishes fourth in the standings. He wins the Nationwide Series championship in 2002.

• April 13 -- 1997: Jeff Gordon uses the bump and run on the last lap to beat Rusty Wallace by .499 seconds in the Food City 500 at Bristol. Wallace, making his 400th start, leads a race-high 240 laps, including 85 of the final 86.

• April 12 -- 1952: Driving a 1952 Hudson, Buck Baker wins his first Cup race, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Lee Petty in a 200-lap race on the half-mile dirt track of Columbia (S.C.) Speedway. Dick Rathmann is third.

• April 11 -- 1998: Ed Berrier leads 187 of 300 laps of the Galaxy Food Centers 300 at .363-mile Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway for his only Nationwide Series victory in 250 starts. Hermie Sadler is second by 1.645 seconds, and Tim Fedewa is third.

• April 10 -- 1988: Bill Elliott wins the Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol for his first of six wins en route to his only Cup championship. Mark Martin is second by two car-lengths, and Geoffrey Bodine is third, the only other car on the lead lap.

• April 9 -- 1989: Rusty Wallace wins the Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol for his second of six wins en route to his only Cup championship. Darrell Waltrip is second by 0.26 seconds, and Geoffrey Bodine is third.

• April 8 -- 1979: David Pearson finishes 22nd in the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 at Darlington in his last race for the Wood Brothers. The end comes when Pearson, thinking he is making a two-tire pit stop, leaves his pit box without lug nuts on his left-side tires and he loses both as he exits pit road. A few days later, Pearson and the Wood Brothers go their separate ways.

• April 7 -- 2001: Scott Riggs gets his first NASCAR victory, winning the Truck Series' Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville. Riggs completes the season with five wins and finishes fifth in the point standings. He has not raced in the Truck Series since. After running two full seasons in what is now the Nationwide Series (2002-03) and winning four races, Riggs moved up to the Cup Series in 2004.

• April 6 -- 1952: Dick Rathmann wins his first Cup race, a 200-miler on the half-mile dirt track at Martinsville. Rathmann leads 20 laps and wins by 5 seconds over Bill Blair, the only other driver on the lead lap. They have a lot of room to race in the latter part of the race: Only eight of the 22 cars are running at the end.

• April 5 -- 1970: Donnie Allison wins the Southeastern 500 at Bristol to give the Allison brothers, Donnie and Bobby, back-to-back wins for the first time. Bobby won the previous week at Atlanta.

• April 4 -- 1982: Dale Earnhardt wins the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500 at Darlington for his first Cup victory in a Ford. Earnhardt beats Cale Yarborough to the line by three feet. Of Earnhardt's 76 wins, three are in Fords; the rest are in Chevrolets.

• April 3 -- 1977: G.C. Spencer finishes eighth in the Rebel 500 at Darlington for the 138th and final top-10 finish of his 20-year career. Spencer is winless in 415 starts from 1958 to 1977.

• April 2 -- 1950: Driving a 1949 Lincoln, Tim Flock wins a 200-lap race on the three-quarter-mile dirt track of Charlotte Speedway for his first Cup win. His brother, Bob, is second, a half-lap back, and Clyde Minter is third.

• April 1 -- 1984: Darrell Waltrip wins the Valleydale 500 for his seventh consecutive Cup victory at Bristol. Terry Labonte is second, 2 seconds back, and Ron Bouchard is third. Waltrip finishes his career with a record 12 Cup wins at the half-mile track. (Continued)