Mysterious Rookie Driver Lyle Karson Applies for Nascar License


Nascar officials in Daytona Beach received an application for a Nascar drivers’ license last week from a nearly completely-unknown driver named Lyle Karson.
The information was leaked to Spade Racing from an anonymous source at Nascar headquarters, who was able to snap a picture of the application with his Sony Mavica digital camera.

The application, shown below, lists a lone World of Outlaws victory as Karson’s biggest achievement.  No other information is available about the mustachioed driver, who appears to hail from Elk Grove, California.

Uncle Max vs. Last Year’s Winners: Bristol


Well, its nice to see that I got some notches in the win column after the “7 in 11” challenge.  Come to think of it, I didn’t hear anyone actually call it that outside of this here website. (EDITOR’S NOTE—creativity is often overlooked).
As some of you may know, I’m in retail management, and as most of you will likely understand, its been pretty damn stressful for me over the past few months.  I can only speak for myself, but if you find yourself out shopping in the next few days, do us all a huge favor and cut us some slack.  Wear the mask, accept that the coupon’s expired, let the oldsters shop the first hour we’re open.  Remember—its better to be like Kurt Busch NOW than it is to be like Kurt Busch THEN.

TRUCK SERIES (1 win)—OFF

XFINITY SERIES Cheddar’s 300: (2 wins) Harrison Burton—but if his mom can’t be there what will they show in the closing laps?


CUP SERIES Food City 500.  LAST YEAR’S WINNER (2 wins) Kyle Busch  FAVORITE: (1 win)—Kurt Busch—Chevy tries to keep its momentum.  NEXT FAVORITE: (1 win) Ryan Blaney—showing that Team Penske really is a three-car powerhouse.  DARK HORSE: (0 wins) Erik Jones—keeping the rest of the JRG crew on its toes.

2020 Donruss Panini Nascar Cards Unboxing PACK 7



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 7—Sam Mayer, a Retirer, and 90’s Fire
We range from the retired (Bill Elliott) to the retiring (Jimmie Johnson) to the young (Joey Logano) to the irritatingly young (Sam Mayer) here.  Also worth pointing out that on some of the Optic cards a thin outline is added to the driver’s body/face.  This, combined with Danica Patrick’s lime-green firesuit, makes it look like she’s radioactive.

FIRST THING’S FIRST: Always thought Jimmie’s 2019 throwback scheme was both appropriate and slick-looking—call it “approprislick”.

SECOND LOOK: Sam Mayer, a developmental driver in the GMS/Chevy system, gets the Rated Rookie treatment.  “Rated Rookie” is one of the most-enduring terms in modern card collecting, along with “gem-mint” and “why do I have all these Todd Van Poppel cards”.

TO THE BACK: Denny Hamlin (or, more accurately, Denny’s crew) is the focus of this “Aero Package” subset.  I have no earthly idea why they chose the early-90’s radically tubular color scheme.


FINAL SCORE: 4 spoilers out of 10

Tony Stewart: Nascar Hall of Famer Retirements—Who Hung On Too Long?


Unlike other sports, Nascar can see drivers compete well into their 50’s.  While this allows for some pretty cool stories and added fan memories, it also can lend itself to some drivers staying active well past their prime.
With Jimmie Johnson being just the latest driver to announce his retirement from Nascar (effective the end of the 2020 season), I wanted to take a look at drivers who voluntarily retired from the sport to see if they hung on too long or left at just the right time (or maybe even a little too soon).  By “voluntary retirement” that means I’m not including anyone who was killed or seriously injured while driving.
Instead of looking at EVERY driver (even though interest in an analysis of Paul Menard’s latter years could be quite high) I’m limiting it to Hall of Fame inductees—for now.

(Drivers listed in order of their Hall of Fame induction)

NOTE: Those inducted primarily or exclusively for achievements outside of driving (team ownership, crew chiefing, etc.) will not be considered.  Cup performance is all that’s considered for this piece.  Also, the more modern term “Cup Series” will be used instead of Grand National, Winston Cup, etc.

Tony Stewart

DRIVING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Three-time Nascar Cup champion.  49 Cup Series wins.  Two-time Brickyard 400 winner.

LAST HURRAH: After winning the 2011 Cup championship in dramatic fashion, “Smoke” defended his title in 2012 with a ninth-place finish in points and multiple wins.

FINAL YEAR(S): Stewart’s last four seasons were marred by injuries and legal issues, resulting in two race wins over that period.  However, did show flashes of brilliance, including a seven-race run in his final season of 2016 that saw him post his final race win and four other top-fives in just seven races.  Stewart then retired from Nascar to re-focus his energies on sprint car racing and running his Nascar team.

DID HE HANG ON TOO LONG?: Possibly.  Its impossible to plan for injuries and outside interference, so it remains a mystery how many races Stewart could have won had he remained healthy for his final few years.

Kyle Busch Dealing with Being Only Kyle in Nascar Cup


As the 2020 Nascar Cup season has restarted there has been much focus on the ouster of Kyle Larson and his subsequent replacement by Matt Kenseth. However, less talked about is Kyle Busch’s new status as the only Kyle racing in the series. 
His next license place should be
"ONLYKYLE" or "PURPLE1"
“It’s been a lot of pressure, I’m not gonna lie”, Busch said in an exclusive interview conducted—due to social distancing regulations—over AOL Instant Messenger.  “For years I wasn’t the only one carrying the Kyle name, but now, it’s all on my relatively narrow shoulders.”
Busch has spent the bulk of his Cup career sharing his first name with Larson and, before that, country music singer Kyle Petty. Now, however, he is a singular Kyle amongst the 40-something Cup Series racers. 
“I know Kyle Benjamin and Kyle Weatherman are out there, but until they get a regular Cup ride—and no, not something with Rick Ware—it’s all on me. At least I have my brother (Kurt) taking the pressure off sharing my last name with a watery beer.”
Busch has felt the pressure of handing the Kyle namesake since Nascar returned to the track last weekend. 
“Thinking about all the responsibilities of being the only Kyle—I’m not proud of this, but it creeps up on me”, Busch said. “It caused a momentary lapse of concentration at Darlington and I wound up tapping Chase Elliott.
“At least Chase knew what I was going through, though”, Busch concluded, “he held up one finger to acknowledge my struggle as the only Kyle left.”

2020 Donruss Panini Nascar Cards Unboxing PACK 6



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 6—Glossy, an Aussie, and Lookin’ Cross-y
Other than the entire middle row looking to the right (or their left, I guess) this is a pretty standard pack.  It seems like Paul Menard might be the winner of the “random driver I get a ton of in this box” award this time, while Tyler Reddick’s Optic card again shows the difficultly of photographing high-gloss collectables.  Still, its better than the old school waxy-cards where if you touched them with your fingernail they were ruined forever—ah, memories.
FIRST THING’S FIRST: Chase Elliott gets the “portrait look” here, posing in front of what looks like an old Fiesta Bowl logo.

SECOND LOOK: Bobby Labonte shows two no-no’s here—posing with crossed-arms when your firesuit’s logos aren’t applied properly, and looking royally pissed.  I’m sure Bobby was fine here, however—unless he was tired of dealing with weirdos from Delaware at MBNA.

TO THE BACK: My main man Marcos Ambrose gets some love here for…reasons.  Well, I guess its because they have the rights to produce his cards for a number of years.  Surprised they didn’t list his REAL highlight in Nascar—knocking out Casey Mears.


FINAL SCORE: 3 contingency decals out of 10

Bobby Labonte: Nascar Hall of Famer Retirements—Who Hung On Too Long?


Unlike other sports, Nascar can see drivers compete well into their 50’s.  While this allows for some pretty cool stories and added fan memories, it also can lend itself to some drivers staying active well past their prime.
With Jimmie Johnson being just the latest driver to announce his retirement from Nascar (effective the end of the 2020 season), I wanted to take a look at drivers who voluntarily retired from the sport to see if they hung on too long or left at just the right time (or maybe even a little too soon).  By “voluntary retirement” that means I’m not including anyone who was killed or seriously injured while driving.
Instead of looking at EVERY driver (even though interest in an analysis of Hut Stricklin’s latter years could be quite high) I’m limiting it to Hall of Fame inductees—for now.

(Drivers listed in order of their Hall of Fame induction)

NOTE: Those inducted primarily or exclusively for achievements outside of driving (team ownership, crew chiefing, etc.) will not be considered.  Cup performance is all that’s considered for this piece.  Also, the more modern term “Cup Series” will be used instead of Grand National, Winston Cup, etc.

Bobby Labonte

DRIVING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 2000 Cup Series champion.  21 Cup Series wins.  2000 Southern 500 winner.  2000 Brickyard 400 winner.

LAST HURRAH: Labonte’s last year with Joe Gibbs Racing (2005) was arguably his last year contending for wins, as despite a 24th-place finish in points he posted a number of top-fives including a heartbreaking last-second runner-up finish at Charlotte.  His declining performance would see him depart for Petty Enterprises for 2006.

FINAL YEAR(S): The move to Petty Enterprises did not revitalize his career as Labonte had hoped, and he would spend the last eleven years of his Cup career driving for middling-to-low-level teams, most notably JTG-Daugherty Racing.

DID HE HANG ON TOO LONG?: Yes.  A model of consistency with JGR, Labonte did little to nothing of note upon leaving the team.

Nascar, The Return: The Drinking Game




A special doubleshot of Lap Zero for Nascar’s real return to real racing!  Here’s a fun drinking game you can play at home or…in a field near your house practicing social distancing.
(Please drink and watch Nascar responsibly)

SIP whenever:
—a phrase ending with “…is back” is uttered by anyone

—the empty stands are shown

—someone at the track is shown adjusting their mask

—Mike Joy references something from iRacing besides Kyle Larson


DRINK whenever:
—Mike Joy references why Kyle Larson is gone

—someone blows an engine

—there’s an on-track incident involving Bubba Wallace and/or Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

—William Byron’s iRacing prowess is mentioned


GULP whenever:
—someone makes a bad 19 car COVID-19 joke about Martin Truex Jr.

—Mike Joy brings up mid-week racing from before 1972

—someone is seen sitting in the stands

—there’s a post-race shouting match that can’t turn physical because of social distancing


FINISH THE BOTTLE/CAN whenever:
—someone tries to take a drink with their mask on (and yes, this counts for YOU too)

—Clint Bowyer takes responsibility for a spin

—a team runs out of something (tires, drinks, etc.) and blames the Coronavirus


—anyone is heard cursing (the “seven dirty words”)

Nascar, The Return: Q&A


Today Nascar is the first of the major North American sports to return to action since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the cars, drivers, and tracks are the same, there’s plenty of changes made for safety’s sake.  You (probably) have questions, and I (in theory) have answers:
What’s this “7 in 11 Gauntlet”?  In order to try and complete as close to a full-schedule as possible, Nascar is cramming seven different races into an eleven day period—four Cup races, two Xfinity races, and one Truck race.
How are they doing it?  For the first time in the modern era, Nascar is scheduling mid-week races in order to maximize the remaining time in 2020.

OK, WHERE are they doing it?  Darlington and Charlotte.

Why there?  Two big reasons—both Carolinas have relaxed restrictions enough to allow for racing, and both are within driving distance of most teams’ headquarters in the Charlotte/Mooresville region.

So can I go?  No.  There’ll be no fans in the stands for these races.

(lame joke about there being so few fans they could all sit six feet apart)?  Yeah, yeah, but the bigger issue is that with fans—even well below capacity, you’d need increased staffing for things like security, maintenance, and concessions.  Nascar doesn’t want to put additional lives in danger, nor do they want to take away from people who could be doing essential work elsewhere.

Racing without fans?  Why are they doing that?  Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Sideshow Bob forces all TV off the air, and Krusty decides to go on via the Emergency Broadcast System, saying “Think of the ratings…”.  Yeah, that’s why.

But how will crews practice social distancing?  Long answer—Nascar is limiting road crews to 16 people, work being done will be spaced-out, drivers will avoid contact with other crew members, and everyone working at the track will be subject to regular temperature checks while wearing enhanced personal protective equipment.  Short answer—very carefully.

What’s this I hear about “no practice or qualifying”?  Yep.  No practice will be held for any of these races.  Qualifying will only be held for the upcoming Coke 600—for the rest of the races starting lineups will be determined by a semi-random draw (spots 1-12 selected amongst the top-12 in points, etc.).

What will media coverage be like?  Fox and MRN will have “skeleton crews” at the track with a majority of the production staff working from their permanent studios.  However, since Nascar is quite literally The Only Game in Town, be prepared to have everything explained to you like you’re an eight year old (i.e. “Loose vs. Tight”).

What’s the best outcome for Nascar?  Well, obviously that would be for an exciting, competitive race that can help bring back any new fans the next time they run.  Also, Nascar is walking on eggshells as the first sports organization to return, so no diagnoses of Coronavirus in anyone at the track is a definite goal.

Uncle Max vs. Last Year’s Winners: “7 in 11 Gauntlet” Omnibus of Picks


I’m Back.
Click to Enlarge (courtesy Nascar & NBC)

For Michael Jordan that was enough to signal a triumphant return, but for me, there’s probably some more explanation required.
It’s been crazy, to put it mildly, at work.  I’m deemed “essential” (probably the best compliment I’ve ever received) so that’s meant even more hours than usual at the office…well, store.  Since I’m basically being called in whenever anyone calls out, I can’t predict when my next block of free time will be.  So I’m making my picks for the next two weeks right here, right now.
So there’s the little problem of what to do about “Last Year’s Winners” for the Cup Series.  Well, to keep it going, I’ll be doubling up last year’s winner at Darlington.  For Charlotte, I’ll use last year’s 600 winner for the 600 and the 500k race (since I’m assuming they’ll be back at Charlotte again later this year for the Roval race.

Current stats:
CUP SERIES Last Year’s Winners (2 WINS), No wins for me (grrr)
XFINITY SERIES (2 WINS)
TRUCK SERIES (1 WIN)

And now, finally, the return to picks!

May 17 (Sunday): Cup (400 miles) Darlington.  3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.  LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Erik Jones  FAVORITE: Kevin Harvick—Happy is able to adapt and overcome.  NEXT FAVORITE: Kyle Busch—or things keep rolling along as per usual.  DARK HORSE: Matt DiBenedetto—a feel-good win everyone will automatically say was rigged.

May 19 (Tuesday): Xfinity (200 miles) Darlington.  8 p.m. ET on FS1: Austin Cindric—a Penske sweep would show that The Captain really IS always going to find a way to win.

May 20 (Wednesday): Cup (500 kilometers) Darlington.  7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.  LAST YEAR’S WINNER (well, sorta): Erik Jones  FAVORITE: Martin Truex Jr.—JGR is likely to remain an unstoppable force.  NEXT FAVORITE: Denny Hamlin—second-most impressive FedEx run lately (all FedEx delivery drivers tied for first).  DARK HORSE: Kurt Busch—would be a nice break from controversy at Ganassi.  

May 24 (Sunday): Cup (600 miles) Charlotte. 6 p.m. ET on FOX.  LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Martin Truex Jr.  FAVORITE: Kyle Busch—Candyman keeps it comin’.  NEXT FAVORITE: Chase Elliott—another popular win that people would claim was fixed.  DARK HORSE: Christopher Bell—JGR-adjacent but still a true underdog.  

May 25 (Monday): Xfinity (300 miles) Charlotte.  7:30 p.m. ET on FS1: Ross Chastain—a nice return to the Xfinity Series if he can pull it off.

May 26 (Tuesday): Trucks (200 miles) Charlotte.  8 p.m. ET on FS1: Matt Crafton—when in doubt, pick ol’ reliable.

May 27 (Wednesday): Cup (500 kilometers) Charlotte.  8 p.m. ET on FS1.  LAST YEAR’S WINNER (kinda sorta): Martin Truex Jr.  FAVORITE: Denny Hamlin—Toyotas stay tough.  NEXT FAVORITE: Joey Logano—a bad stretch for BradK raises rumors that he might have a foot out the door.  DARK HORSE: Alex Bowman—as refreshing as a splash of water to the face.



2020 Donruss Panini Nascar Cards Unboxing PACK 5



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 5—Chillin with Hamlin and Dillon
A pretty basic set here with no real special inserts (unless you consider a Ray Black Jr. Optic “special”).  We see two more characteristic poses here—Dale Jr. does the “arms crossed” while Clint Bowyer does the “shot from below so I look tall”.  And is it just me or is there more facial hair than usual in this pack?

FIRST THING’S FIRST: Speaking of facial hair we get Dale Jarrett from his mustache phase.  Donruss/Panani has a decent selection of Hall of Famers with the notable omission of Dale Earnhardt Sr.—I’m assuming that licensing agreement’s sitting in the middle of a giant stack of papers in Teresa’s old office.
SECOND LOOK: We get a nice look at Denny Hamlin’s Darrell Waltrip Western Auto throwback scheme.  For the record, Western Auto no longer exists, as they went out of business years ago forcing that weird guy from your high school to go to work at Advance Auto Parts.

TO THE BACK: Three poles for Austin Dillon!  We also get a look at one of the drivers’ personal logos, in this case the “AD Spade” logo that Austin uses.  Hey Austin—quit stealing my moves!


FINAL SCORE: 2 wall scrapes out of 10

Nascar—and Spade Racing—Gets Ready for The 7 in 11 Gauntlet


Enough virtual racing!  Enough drivers ruining their careers with horrific word choices!  Enough Clint Bowyer bullying!  Nascar’s gonna go back to racing in less than two weeks!
Original graphic from Nascar with
additional info added by me (Click to enlarge)
And when I say “racing”, I’m not kidding—seven national touring series races in eleven days (see below)
It’ll be a gauntlet of competition for Nascar’s competitors, safety crews, officials, and fans.  And since my “real job” is deemed essential, it means extra work (of the fun kind) here at Spade Racing.
So here’s the plan:

—I’ll be keeping up the usual “three articles a week” schedule here.

—There’ll be a 7 in 11 Gauntlet Omnibus preview before the return on May 17th from Uncle Max, who’s STILL working full-time but said he’ll be happy to focus on something other than PPE.

—There’ll be “Lap Zero” pre-race articles before both Sunday races but not for the mid-week races.

So let’s strap in and get ready for the wildest two weeks in Nascar history!

SCHEDULE (courtesy NBCSN & Nascar):

May 17 (Sunday): Cup (400 miles) Darlington.  3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 19 (Tuesday): Xfinity (200 miles) Darlington.  8 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 20 (Wednesday): Cup (500 kilometers) Darlington.  7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 24 (Sunday): Cup (600 miles) Charlotte. 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 25 (Monday): Xfinity (300 miles) Charlotte.  7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 26 (Tuesday): Trucks (200 miles) Charlotte.  8 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 27 (Wednesday): Cup (500 kilometers) Charlotte.  8 p.m. ET on FS1

Return to North Wilkesboro—Fast Facts


Nascar returns to North Wilkesboro in the virtual sense for today’s finale of the eNascar iRacing Invitational.  For the uninitiated, here’s some info about the track Nascar forgot, but fans still remember:

—After opening in 1947, North Wilkesboro Speedway held its first Nascar “Strictly Stock” Series (forerunner of today’s Cup Series) race in 1949.  When the green flag dropped at the second Nascar race there in 1950, fans immediately began complaining that racing at North Wilkesboro wasn’t as good as it used to be.

—The track was paved in 1957, holding two premiere series races from that point on.  North Wilkesboro was an early trendsetter for holding two Cup Series races, thus paving the way for Nascar to inexplicably go to Delaware twice a year.

—As early as the 1960’s the track earned a reputation as not keeping up with renovations and lagging behind newer, more-modern tracks in amenities and purses.  Some people will read this and magically decline to comprehend it since it would actually explain the reason why Nascar abandoned the track, but so be it.

—In 1979 North Wilkesboro signed a race sponsor for the first time, introducing the Holly Farms 400.  Yeah, Holly Farms was a meat processor, but I prefer to think of it as a farm that grows people named Holly.

—1989 saw the infamous on-track (and nearly off-track) battle between Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd.  Then 1990 saw the infamous on-track AND off-track battle between Brett Bodine and math.

—1996 would see the final year of Nascar racing at the track as the facility was purchased for its valuable Cup racing dates, split between New Hampshire and Texas.  While there’s been a handful of lower non-Nascar series attempts at running the slowly crumbling track, nothing’s come close to the glory days of the past.  Oh well—at least it gives fans something to whine about.

Buddy Baker: Nascar Hall of Famer Retirements—Who Hung On Too Long?


Unlike other sports, Nascar can see drivers compete well into their 50’s.  While this allows for some pretty cool stories and added fan memories, it also can lend itself to some drivers staying active well past their prime.
With Jimmie Johnson being just the latest driver to announce his retirement from Nascar (effective the end of the 2020 season), I wanted to take a look at drivers who voluntarily retired from the sport to see if they hung on too long or left at just the right time (or maybe even a little too soon).  By “voluntary retirement” that means I’m not including anyone who was killed or seriously injured while driving.
Instead of looking at EVERY driver (even though interest in an analysis of Scott Wimmer’s latter years could be quite high) I’m limiting it to Hall of Fame inductees—for now.

(Drivers listed in order of their Hall of Fame induction)

NOTE: Those inducted primarily or exclusively for achievements outside of driving (team ownership, crew chiefing, etc.) will not be considered.  Cup performance is all that’s considered for this piece.  Also, the more modern term “Cup Series” will be used instead of Grand National, Winston Cup, etc.

Buddy Baker

DRIVING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 19 Cup Series wins.  1980 Daytona 500 champion.  1970 Southern 500 winner.  Fastest average speed for a Daytona 500 champion (1980).  First driver to exceed 200 mph on a closed course.

LAST HURRAH: Baker, who rarely ran the full schedule, had two successful part-time seasons with the Wood Brothers in 1983 and 84.  He then left to run his own co-owned equipment over the next four years, posting occasional top-fives and top-tens.

FINAL YEAR(S): After stepping out of the drivers’ seat of his own team midway through 1988, Baker would return on a very limited basis from 1990-92, posting middling results when he managed to qualify.  Baker would close out his driving career with three Did Not Qualify’s over his final two years before focusing full-time on his broadcasting career.

DID HE HANG ON TOO LONG?: Yes.  Baker likely would have done better to retire after his 1988 partial-season, one that saw him post seven top-tens in only about half the number of races.

Virtual Dover International Speedway: The Full Experience


Today’s iRacing Invitational race comes to us from Spade Racing’s home track of Dover International Speedway (aka Dover Downs).  To fully embrace the Dover experience, here’s what you can do:
For the full Delaware experience, avoid
paying sales tax, put plenty of chemicals
in your drinking water, and eat some
terrible pizza

1.) Drive for an hour marveling the whole time at how twenty years ago there was nothing but traffic.

2.) Sit outside and crack open some local Delaware beers, such as Dogfish Head, Fordham, Wilmington Brew Works, or that terrible home-brew I tried to make a few years ago that smelled like apples and gave me a headache.

3.) Whilst sitting around waiting for the race to start, make sure to surround yourself with plenty of Canadians on vacation—six feet (or 1.83 meters) apart, of course.

4.) Feel free to park your car in the authentic Dover way—by having a bored 17-year-old give you the wrong directions.  Bonus points if you manage to get your car stuck in a mud pit.

5.) Take a $100 bill.
5a.) Light it on fire.
5b.) You’ve just recreated the experience of gambling at the Dover Downs Casino.

6.) Find a hot metal bench to sit on while you watch the race.  Oh, and make sure there’s a nuclear plant cooling tower visible in the distance.

The Best Nascar TV Theme Songs of All-Time PART 3


A bit of a break from the normal routine as Spade Racing takes a look at the best Nascar television theme songs of all-time. (note—a * after the song title means it is the actual documented song title—all others are descriptions by me).

PART 3—Songs 5-1

5. TNT early-10’s “TNT (live)”*—Yes, its obvious.  Yes, its an old song.  Yes, it was only for six races a year.  Yes, the coverage that followed sucked.  But dang it, AC/DC and Nascar came together like nothing else.  Funny how TNT and its Turner Sports forbearer TBS had some great tunes for what were usually some terrible broadcasts.
Fun Fact: The footage of AC/DC performing (seen in a longform commercial for TNT’s Nascar coverage) was shot in Buenos Aries. 

4. ESPN SpeedWorld early-90’s “Techno Target”—The second evolution of “18th Avenue”, this version was one of the few in this countdown to combine with the on-screen action.  A hard-charging remix combined with a car “locking onto” its competition and scrolling through the available forms of motorsports ESPN aired at the time.  Just thinking about the bass riff gets me fired up.
Fun Fact: The on-board camera footage used for Nascar openings with this song was that of Mark Martin’s—and the “Target Acquired” was the car of Kyle Petty. 

3. NBC/TNT 2001 “Fuel”*—No matter your issues with this combo’s coverage, you could count on an awesome Metallica theme song to kick things off.  Metallica was obviously a big “get” for the duo, and it lent credibility both to the networks’ motorsports coverage and Nascar’s new status as a major sport.  Unfortunately the theme was significantly toned-down by the end of the season and eventually replaced.
Fun Fact: The song was toned down (most notably the lyrics were removed) in response to the 9/11 attacks. 

2. TBS late-90’s “Thunder Fist”*—While TBS’s limited coverage often left much to be desired, this oft-forgotten theme was above reproach.  Combining an amazing rock sound with swelling gravitas, about the only downside to this theme was its bizarre title.  A pity it wasn’t used more.
Fun Fact: “Thunder Fist” composer Edd Kalehoff created many of the signature musical cues on The Price is Right. 

1. ESPN SpeedWorld late-90’s “Rock Remix”—Come on—you had to know this would be number one.  The Nascar theme song against which all others are based, the final form of “18th Avenue” rocked hard enough to get viewers fired up without overdoing it.  This song stands up against the all-time greatest motorsports themes as the best of the best.
Fun Fact: This version of the SpeedWorld theme is frequently heard on ESPN’s “The Ocho” marathons of oddball sports, with a late-90s lawn mower racing show almost always being included.