Today in History (cont'd)

• Feb. 28 -- 1971: A.J. Foyt, driving a 1969 Mercury, wins the first Cup race at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway, finishing 8.5 seconds ahead of Buddy Baker in the Miller High Life 500. Richard Petty finishes third, the only other car on the lead lap. Foyt leads 118 of 200 laps.

• Feb. 27 -- 1964: Happy 45th birthday to Todd Bodine, the 2006 Camping World Truck Series champion. Bodine, who has finished in the top four in each of the past four seasons, is off to another good start with a win and a second-place finish in the first two races of the 2009 season.

• Feb. 26 -- 1967: Mario Andretti wins one NASCAR race but makes it a memorable one, winning the Daytona 500. Andretti leads a race-high 112 laps and wins under caution, which is a big break because his Ford is low on fuel. Fred Lorenzen finishes second, giving Holman-Moody a 1-2 finish. Andretti runs a total of 14 Cup races, with his last race at Riverside in 1969.

• Feb. 25 -- 1973: Richard Petty wins the Richmond 500 for his 150th NASCAR victory. He finishes 13.6 seconds ahead of Buddy Baker.

• Feb. 24 -- 1990: Brothers Ward and Jeff Burton appear in a NASCAR race together for the first time. Jeff finishes 11th in the Pontiac 200 Nationwide Series race at Richmond and Ward finishes 15th. All told, they compete against each other in 372 Cup and 136 Nationwide races.

• Feb. 23 -- 1997: Jeff Gordon wins at Rockingham to become the fourth driver to win the first two Cup races of a season. The previous week he won the Daytona 500 for the first time. The three drivers to win the first two before Gordon: Marvin Panch (1957), Bob Welborn (1959) and David Pearson (1976). Matt Kenseth became the fifth with a win at Fontana on Feb. 22, 2009.

• Feb. 22 -- 1963: Johnny Rutherford, who would go on to win three Indy 500s, wins his first Cup race ... and only Cup race in 35 tries. The victory comes in his first race, the second 100-mile qualifier for the Daytona 500. The qualifiers counted as points races through the 1971 season. Rutherford finishes three car lengths ahead of Rex White. In the 500, Rutherford finishes ninth. All five of his top-10s come at Daytona.

• Feb. 21 -- 2004: Jamie McMurray wins the Nationwide Series race at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham for the fourth consecutive time. It also is the last Nationwide race held at the track.

• Feb. 20 -- 1983: Cale Yarborough wins his third Daytona 500, beating Bill Elliott to the checkered flag by five car lengths. Yarborough wins again in 1984 for his final 500 win. Only Richard Petty, with seven, has more Daytona 500 victories.

• Feb. 19 -- 1989: Darrell Waltrip picks up his only Daytona 500 victory. It is his only victory in 55 Cup races at the track. Waltrip wins by a hefty 7.64 seconds in front of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Ken Schrader, who leads a race-high 114 laps.

• Feb. 18 -- 1989: Darrell Waltrip wins the Goody's 300 at Daytona for his 113th and final Nationwide Series victory. Rusty Wallace finishes second by half a car length and Rob Moroso is third. Moroso will go on to win the series championship by 55 points on Tommy Houston and 56 on Tommy Ellis.

• Feb. 17 -- 1991: Ernie Irvan wins his only Daytona 500, finishing ahead Sterling Marlin under caution. Joe Ruttman finishes third, Rick Mast fourth and Dale Earnhardt fifth.

• Feb. 16 -- 1997: Jeff Gordon wins his first Daytona 500, leading a 1-2-3 sweep for Hendrick Motorsports. Terry Labonte finishes second and Ricky Craven third.

• Feb. 15 -- 1976: David Pearson nurses his car to the finish line of the Daytona 500 ahead of Richard Petty after the two crash fighting for position exiting the final turn of the race. It is Pearson's only victory in the Great American Race. He wins Daytona's July race four times.

• Feb. 14 -- 1960: A record 68 cars comprise the field of the second Daytona 500. Junior Johnson, driving a 1959 Chevy, wins by 23 seconds over Bobby Johns. Richard Petty finishes third and Lee Petty fourth as four cars finish on the lead lap.

• Feb. 13 -- 1975: Country music star Marty Robbins finishes 13th in the second Daytona qualifying race to gain entry into his second, and final, Daytona 500. Three days later, Robbins finishes 39th of 40 cars when an accident on the fourth lap claims Robbins and eight other cars.

• Feb. 12 -- 1984: Brad Keselowski is born on this day. Keselowski finishes third in the Nationwide Series standings in 2008, posting two wins, 11 top-fives and 20 top-10s.

• Feb. 11 -- 1951: Marshall Teague opens the 1951 season with a victory in the Beach & Road Course race at Daytona Beach for his first Cup Series victory. He leads 12 of 39 laps in the 160-mile race and beats Tim Flock by 1 minute, 14 seconds. The victory comes in Teague's fifth start.

• Feb. 10 -- 1925: Perk Brown is born on this day. Brown starts 28 Cup races (1952-55, 1963), including 19 in 1952 when he finishes 13th in the standings. Brown, who is winless in his career, records all three of his top-fives in '52 along with six of his eight top-10s and his only pole.

• Feb. 9 -- 1920, 1937, 1939: Guy Waller, Tom Usry and Jan Opperman are born on this day. Each share more than a birthday. Each has a career that consists of one Cup start. Waller finishes 27th in the second race of the 1951 season, a 150-lap race on the three-quarter mile dirt track of Charlotte Speedway. Usry finishes 11th in the Albany-Saratoga 250 in Malta, N.Y. It is one of two Cup races run on the .362-mile Albany-Saratoga Speedway, both won by Richard Petty. Opperman's cup of coffee comes in the Purolator 500 at Pocono in August 1974. Opperman makes his one start memorable, finishing eighth.

• Feb. 8 -- 1969: Road-course standout, Butch Leitzinger, is born on this day. Leitzinger, a three-time winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, has made nine NASCAR starts since 1994, all on road courses. In the Cup Series, he has three starts at Watkins Glen and one at Infineon. His best finish is 12th at the Glen in 1995. All five of his Nationwide starts are at Watkins Glen, with his best finish a second by .901 seconds to Ron Fellows in 2000.

• Feb. 7 -- 1983: Josh Wise is born on this day. Wise, a successful Midget racer, starts 17 Nationwide Series races in 2008, 13 for Armando Fitz and four for Michael Waltrip Racing, including the last three of the season. His best finish, and only top-10, is fifth at O'Reilly Raceway Park in July. In 2007, his first year in NASCAR, he starts nine Truck races (with two top-10s) and one Nationwide race.

• Feb. 6 -- 1961: Bill Lester is born on this day. Lester drives full time driver in the truck series from 2002 to 2006, finishing as high as 14th in the standings (2003). In 142 races during eight years (2000-07), Lester posts two top-five finishes and seven top-10s. He also starts one race in the Nationwide Series (1999) and two Cup races (2006).

• Feb. 5 -- 1950: Harold Kite makes a splashy NASCAR debut, winning the opening race of the season on the Beach & Road Course at Daytona Beach. Kite leads the first 14 laps and the final 24 of the 200-mile, 48-lap race, beating Red Byron by .53 seconds. It is Kite's only victory. From 1950 to 1965, he makes nine starts during five seasons.

• Feb. 4 -- 1943: Jimmy Insolo, a member of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, is born on this day. Insolo starts 29 Cup races from 1970 to 1983, at least one every year except for 1980. All but one comes in California; he finishes 39th in the 1975 National 500 at Charlotte. He starts 22 races at Riverside, recording four top-five finishes and six top-10s. His other six starts come at Ontario (two top-10s).

• Feb. 3 -- 1944: Marv Acton is born on this day. Acton starts 14 Cup races in three seasons (1971, '74, '77). His final two starts come in 1977 for Rod Osterlund in Osterlund's first year as an owner. Acton's best finish, 11th, comes in June 1971 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C.

• Feb. 2 -- 1982: Bubba Nissen finishes second in the Eastern 150 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, the second Nationwide Series race, to become the best-finishing driver named Bubba in NASCAR's top three national series. Bubba Adams finishes second in the Hampton 200 Nationwide Series race at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., in 1985 to become the only other Bubba to finish as high.

• Feb. 1 -- 2006: Dick Brooks dies on this day. Brooks, a popular driver and broadcaster, wins one Cup race in 358 starts, but it is a big one -- the 1973 Talladega 500. He races from 1969 to 1985 and finishes his career with 57 top-fives and 150 top-10s. He finishes in the top 10 in points four times -- 1975 to 1978 -- topping out at sixth in 1977. (Continued)