Continuing a tradition of limited esteem, Spade Racing bought, unboxed, and unpacked a sealed box of 2020 Donruss (Panini) Nascar trading cards. Join us as we go through each eight-card pack to find the good, the bad, and the downright weird.
PACK 2—Ouch, Roush, and Kraus
So we’re just two packs in and we already have our first repeat offender with the Brad Keselowski throwback scheme. Just look at Justin Allgaier—he’s wondering what’s up too. We also get the awkward pairing of Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two guys who swapped rides in the 2019-20 offseason. Kind of like when you get promoted and wind up training the guy who trained YOU in your entry-level position.
FIRST THING’S FIRST: This is the first of quite a few Jimmie Johnson cards in this set, shown here sans-beard. It WOULD be a big deal to get the cards from his final season, except for the fact that Donruss/Panini makes cards for drivers who’ve been retired for years (I’m looking at YOU, Danica).
SECOND LOOK: Kyle Busch’s Race Kings card is a good chance to look at the Optic parallel series. Basically its a card with heavier gloss and, usually, a reflective/holographic finish. Only downside is that they don’t photograph well, although I can assure you that Kyle’s expression really IS that pissy on the card.
TO THE BACK: ERROR ALERT!!! Derek’s last name is spelled two different ways on the back of this card (Kraus & “Krause”). Not very rated, Donruss, and you guys are FAR from rookies.
FINAL SCORE: 3 loose lug nuts out of 10.