Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 30th, Joe Nemechek

Join me as I take a look back every Monday at the starting lineup for one of the biggest races in NASCAR history, the inaugural Brickyard 400. 


Starting 30th: (rookie) Joe Nemechek #41 Meineke Muffler Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevy


Finished: 20th


1994 Nemechek hero card
Career Highlights: Four Cup Series race wins, 10 Cup Series poles, 1992 Busch Series champion, “Front Row Joe” (better than “Front Deck Nemechek”).


Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 18


Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 17th (2004)



"That one Hurt!  Crash in Practice!"
--Joe Nemechek


1994 Fun Fact: Joe’s best finish in 1994 was at the earlier Pocono race, coming home fifth.  This is back when the Pocono races were only about a month apart—30+ years later and I still don’t get it.



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Guy with Six Acting Credits get Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

This is a parody

Legacy Motor Club issued a press release earlier this week, announcing that team owner and Nascar Cup legend Jimmie Johnson—a guy with six acting credits to his name—will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“Its a great honor to have a star on the Walk of Fame—the PR firm that paid the $85,000 fee really believes in me”, said Johnson, whose IMDb page lists six individual credits.  “My goals growing up were simple: become a Nascar Cup champion, waste everyone’s time for two years in IndyCar, and get my name on a star in one of the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles.  Missions accomplished.”

Johnson’s acting career stretches from 2005—appearing in Herbie: Fully Loaded as ‘Jimmie Johnson’, to 2022, appearing in Reinventing the Wheel as himself.

“I really stretched my acing muscles in ‘Blaze and the Monster Machines’ back in 2016 when I voiced ‘Dash’”, Johnson said.  “It was my first and only time playing someone not named Jimmie—or some variation thereof—so it was nice getting into a different mindset for a few minutes of studio recording time.”

Johnson mentioned that he plans to expand his acting repertoire in the near future.

“Well, I have an offer to appear as ‘Jimmie Johnstone’ in an upcoming straight-to-streaming Flintstones movie”, Johnson mentioned.  “Plus, I’ll have to act like I don’t mind being in the Hollywood neighborhood when they unveil my star in a few months.”

When asked why Legacy MC team ambassador Richard Petty doesn’t have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Johnson said “Look over there” and then ran away.




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Race Picks Indianapolis (both kinds): Spade Racing vs. AI


Join me as I test my wits against various AI programs in picking the 2026 Cup races.  Once they’ve made their picks, I’ll make my normal Favorite, Next Favorite, and Dark Horse picks (in addition to my regular O’Reilly & Truck Series picks).  At the end of the year we’ll see who knows more—me, or a soulless machine gobbling up water and electricity.


Grok AI (5 wins) sez: I'd lean toward (Denny) Hamlin. Points leader or near the top, multiple 2026 wins, strong at similar tracks. JGR Toyotas have shown speed.


Truck Series (2 wins) TSport 200 Friday 8pm ET on FS1: CHRISTIAN ECKES—No better place to break through for a win than LORP.


O’Reilly Series (4 wins) Pennzoil 250 Saturday 4pm ET on CW: JUSTIN ALLGAIER—AND he’s coming back next year!


Cup Series Brickyard 400 2pm ET on TNT  FAVORITE (1 win): TYLER REDDICK—picks back up where he started this year.  NEXT FAVORITE (2 wins): JOEY LOGANO—keeps up the momentum.  DARK HORSE (1 win): CHRIS BUESCHER—I mean, RFK’s gotta win sometime, right?



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Spade Racing Opens a 2026 Donruss Hobby Box of Cards—Pack 9 of 16

It’s back to a hobby back for the first official 2026 cards.  Join me as I go through all 16 packs of 8 cards each!


Pack 9: Race Kings, Reunion Things, and Noah Sings!


First Look: Jimmie’s a lot like “The King” Richard Petty—seven championships, accusations of cheating, wasting the last few years of their careers…


To the Back: I’m thinking Christian saw a vision of Kaulig Racing in 2026 and decided to return to MHR.  “Oh no—I dreamt I finished 18th every weekend in a gaudy-looking truck!”


Say What: “And now, here’s a song about being two laps down and convincing people I deserve a better ride”


Final Rating: 5 spoilers out of 10



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Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 29th, Jeff Purvis

Join me as I take a look back every Monday at the starting lineup for one of the biggest races in NASCAR history, the inaugural Brickyard 400. 


Starting 29th: Jeff Purvis #51 Country Time Lemonade Phoenix Racing Chevy


Finished: 34th


A promotional piece from Country Time in 1994
Career Highlights: Three-time World 100 winner, Three-time All American 400 winner, 1995 Snowball Derby winner, was kind of just “there” in Cup.


Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 2


Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 34th (1994)





1994 Fun Fact: Jeff only made seven starts in 1994, with a best finish of 21st at the spring Atlanta race.  Oh well—still better than being a start-and-park for Hendrick in 1995.



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The O’Reilly Series Off Weekend—Top Ten Plans


This is a parody

With the O’Reilly Series off this weekend, here’s what the top ten in points are doing with their free time:


Justin Allgaier—considering retiring, maybe, possibly, hmmm…nah.  But mayb--no.  However…


Jesse Love—selling a shipping container’s worth of Chevy swag on Craigslist.


Corey Day—making sure his racing seat fits in the 48 car jussssst in case.


Sheldon Creed—shopping for even bigger glasses.


Austin Hill—racing in the Cup race.  And by “racing”, I mean crashing.


Brandon Jones—preparing for regular every-other-year switch to another team.


Carson Kvapil—reminding people that he’s not Carson Ware.


Sammy Smith—still waiting on becoming a breakout star so that 1 of 1 card I have will be worth thousands.


Parker Retzlaff—waiting on Sheldon Creed to get even bigger glasses so he can get Sheldon’s older, slightly-less-big glasses.


Sam Mayer—May-ing all over the place.



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Race Picks North Wilkesboro: Spade Racing vs. AI

Join me as I test my wits against various AI programs in picking the 2026 Cup races.  Once they’ve made their picks, I’ll make my normal Favorite, Next Favorite, and Dark Horse picks (in addition to my regular O’Reilly & Truck Series picks).  At the end of the year we’ll see who knows more—me, or a soulless machine gobbling up water and electricity.


ChatGPT AI (5 wins) sez: I think Kyle Larson takes the Window World 450. 


Truck Series (2 wins) FaithFest 250 Saturday 12:30pm ET on FS1: LAYNE RIGGS—a festival of faith, but I’m still not picking a Ram to win.


O’Reilly Series (4 wins) off


Cup Series Window World 450 7pm ET on TNT  FAVORITE (1 win): CHRISTOPHER BELL—and why isn’t this a Saturday night race, for the third straight week?  NEXT FAVORITE (2 wins): DENNY HAMLIN—and I don’t know why this is a “450”, but I kinda like it.  DARK HORSE (1 win): BUBBA WALLACE—back from the DQ.




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Spade Racing Opens a 2026 Donruss Hobby Box of Cards—Pack 8 of 16

It’s back to a hobby back for the first official 2026 cards.  Join me as I go through all 16 packs of 8 cards each!


Pack 8: Last Name Seen, What’s That Mean, and Louis XV


First Look: Durst?  Like Fred?  Is he sponsored by hot dog flavored water?


To the Back: While I realize that “Spellbound” refers to the letter on the front of the card, what is spellbinding about a fuel mileage race?  Especially one in Iowa?


Say What: “Après moi, le déluge”


Final Rating: 6 stage break caution laps out of 10



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Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 28th, John Andretti

Join me as I take a look back every Monday at the starting lineup for one of the biggest races in NASCAR history, the inaugural Brickyard 400. 


Starting 28th: (rookie) John Andretti #14 Bryant/Byrd’s Cafeteria Hagan Racing Chevy


Finished: 28th

John Andretti shortly
after retiring from full-
time racing

Career Highlights: Two Cup Series race wins, one IndyCar race win, first driver to “Do the Double” (Indy 500 & Coke 600), lifetime supply of cereal.


Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 11


Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 7th (1998)



Signed by Doug Williams,
John Andretti's crew chief


1994 Fun Fact: John raced for two teams in 1994, starting with Hagan Racing and moving to Petty Enterprises.  Before shutting down, the Hagan team replaced Andretti with Phil Parsons, which I think was a law of some sort.



www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly


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


Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized


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A MOXOC Media production

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