Spade Racing: 2025

The Hero Card Project 2025 Part 5

Hero Cards! They’re collectable, they’re colorful, and they’re free! I have SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) going out to every Cup, Xfinity and Truck team, as well as a few major ARCA operations as well. If you’re new to hero card collecting, check out my guide at herocardguide.com for step-by-step instructions on how to request hero cards, how to receive them, and how to store them.

Here’s my third batch of Hero Cards—they arrived between June 7th through 18th:

Two mini-cards (one of them signed!) from Sam Hunt Racing
of the Xfinity Series

An autographed Joey Gase card

A signed Dawson Sutton card from Truck Series
team RackleyWAR

Six cards from Spire Motorsports

Four Cup Series cards (and a nice note) from Joe Gibbs Racing

Four cards from Hyak Motorsports

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

Race Picks (the last season?), Uncle Max vs. The Points Leader: POCONO

EDITOR’S NOTE: Uncle Max is on vacation, he texted me his picks last night.

TRUCK SERIES (3 wins) MillerTech 200 (Friday 5pm ET on FS1) CARSON HOCEVAR—maybe Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will block his way into victory lane, Buckshot Jones-style.

XFINITY SERIES (1 win) Pocono Mountains 250 (Saturday 3:30pm ET on CW) CHASE ELLIOTT—sure there’s no podium here, but there IS the “Lehr Wall”.

CUP SERIES Great American Getaway 400 (Sunday 2pm ET on Prime) Points Leader picks WILLIAM BYRON. Favorite (2 wins): DENNY HAMLIN—maybe he can celebrate with an ISTABOY-brand cigar. Next Favorite (2 wins): CHRISTOPHER BELL—a surprisingly quiet (but still strong) first half of the season. Dark Horse: RICKY STENHOUSE JR.—assuming Carson Hocevar doesn’t wipe him out. Repeatedly.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

Spade Racing Opens 10 Value Packs of 2012 Press Pass Cards: 10 of 10

Here’s my latest haul—ten 8 card packs of 2012 Press Pass Cards. So join me as I take a look back about 13 years ago with some cost-effective card packs

Pack 10 of 10: Head of the Class, A Little Sass, and Brendan’s Mass

First Look: “Head of the Class”. Gee, that makes sense for a guy who claims the moon landing was faked.

To the Back: I can’t help but think that if Danica Patrick had a personality transplant, that she would’ve been much-better received by fans. As it is she’s nearly forgotten in Nascar, and all five IndyCar fans don’t exactly remember her fondly.

Say What: “I’m about fifty pounds away from reaching full Mike Harmon.”

Final Rating: 5 post-race interviews out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Ricky Rudd (part 1)

Ricky Rudd’s two years with Richard Childress Racing (1982-83)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Why? 1981 was a breakout year for the well-travelled Rudd, who finished sixth in points. However, his DiGard team chose to sign veteran Bobby Allison, leading to Rudd moving to Richard Childress Racing’s #3 car, where he replaced Dale Earnhardt.

How successful were they? Rudd took the RCR car to its first two wins in his second year, posting a pair of 9th place points finishes in the process. Considering that RCR was a small independent team prior to 1981, this was a major step up in performance.

What was the aftermath? Richard Childress went back to Dale Earnhardt Sr. for 1984, while an angry Rudd moved to Earnhardt’s old ride at Bud Moore Engineering. While the Earnhardt-Childress combo would go on to win six Cup championships, Rudd would become something of a journeyman.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 6 pairs of Wrangler jeans washed in Tide out of 10—not only was this the spark for the Earnhardt-Rudd feud, but it made Rudd one of only four people EVER to drive the RCR #3 car on a regular basis.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

NASCAR Goes International Again—What’s Changed?

Believe it or not, this weekend is NOT the first-ever points-paying NASCAR premier series race to be held internationally—that would be the Jim Mideon 500 held at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto Canada in 1958. The race was a rainy, sloppy affair won by Lee Petty, but is best-remembered today for being the NASCAR debut of his son, Richard Petty.

But how much have things changed since 1958? Let’s take a look:

MONEY…

Average yearly income: $4,650

Brand-new Ford: $1,967 (and up)

Gallon of gas: 24 cents

Gallon of milk: $1.01

Postage stamp: 4 cents

Tickets to the race: $2 Canadian (50 cents Canadian for children)

TOP MUSIC SINGLES…

Don’t (Elvis Presley, although he had MANY more)

Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley)

Tequila (The Champs)

To Know Him is to Love Him (The Teddy Bears, aka Phil Spector)

TOP MOVIES…

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Touch of Evil

Vertigo

BIG DEBUTS…

Toyotas & Datsuns (aka Nissans) are imported to the US

Explorer, the first US satellite

Sweet n Low

Cocoa Puffs

the Hula Hoop (by Wham-O)

The Jolly Green Giant

Pizza Hut

The Grammy Awards

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

Race Picks (the last season?), Uncle Max vs. The Points Leader: MEXICO

By the time you read this I’ll be on my way to my buddy’s beach house for my annual vacation! I just finished up getting things squared away at work when I got the dreaded pre-vacation call—something was wrong at my townhouse! It turns out that one of my toilets wouldn’t stop running, and decided to leak all over the floor. Thankfully it was the one on the ground floor, and even MORE thankfully I rent, so my landlord got things squared away. But why is it that something ALWAYS comes up right before vacation? Oh well—time for grilling, drinking, and relaxing by the beach!

TRUCK SERIES (3 wins) off

XFINITY SERIES (1 win) Chilango 150 (Saturday 4:40pm ET on CW) CHRISTOPHER BELL—well, unless JPM punts Scott Pruett out of the way again.

CUP SERIES Viva Mexico 250 (Sunday 3pm ET on Prime) Points Leader picks WILLIAM BYRON. Favorite (2 wins): CHASE ELLIOTT—nothing like having your most-popular driver win a historic race. Next Favorite (2 wins): CHRIS BUESCHER—staying on a roll (in multiple countries!). Dark Horse: DANIEL SUAREZ—NO, it’s not a fix.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

Spade Racing Opens 10 Value Packs of 2012 Press Pass Cards: 9 of 10

Here’s my latest haul—ten 8 card packs of 2012 Press Pass Cards. So join me as I take a look back about 13 years ago with some cost-effective card packs

Pack 9 of 10: RePeters, Roush Heaters, and Bubbly Treaters

First Look: Yeah, Timothy Peters is the guy who shows up way too much in this set of packs for me this time. Its even funnier since its the exact same card, as opposed to when I get about five different Hailey Deegan cards.

To the Back: Yes, folks, there was a time that a Roush-owned team was dominating Nascar. And the lack of information about David Ragan’s race success is a good example of why they fell off.

Say What: “KSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhHHHHHHHHhhhhhHHHHH”

Final Rating: 2 overtime attempts out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com

Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Junior Johnson

Junior runs a one-off for Petty Enterprises (1955)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Junior (after becoming a full-time team owner) and
Richard Petty, courtesy Autoweek

Why? Very few drivers ran for the same team owner the entire season in the sport’s early days. So it’s not surprising to see Junior Johnson having run for four different team owners in 1955. But for a single race, Junior ran for his longtime rivals in Petty Enterprises.

How successful were they? Running the Petty Enterprises 44 car Johnson came home second in the Greenville-Pickens Speedway race.

What was the aftermath? Both driver and team went their separate ways, with Johnson later hitting his stride as a legendary team owner.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 5 “Durllll”s out of 10—Junior ran for plenty of different teams, but the fact he ran for his arch-rivals early on, albeit for a single race, is just bizarre.

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

www.twitter.com/spaderacing

Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing

Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized

Does this track have lights?

A MOXOC Media production

www.moxoc.com