Martinsville: Uncle Max vs. 13th Place plus eliminations

EDITOR’S NOTE: Uncle Max is down with a stomach bug.  He texted me his picks for the races and Cup Series championship eliminations:

Friday Night TRUCK SERIES (6 wins) ZIP 200: TYLER ANKRUM—one of the MANY Tylers competing in Nascar, it seems.

Saturday Afternoon XFINITY SERIES (5 wins) NATIONAL DEBT RELIEF 250: SAM MAYER—a bit of a going away gift before he becomes an RFK—er, I mean, Haas Factory Team driver next year.

Sunday CUP SERIES XFINITY 400: 13th Place (2 win) Picks KYLE LARSON.  FAVORITE (2 wins): CHRISTOPHER BELL—probably in on points, but best to be safe. NEXT FAVORITE: ROSS CHASTAIN—no “Hail Melon”, but maybe a “Time for a Rind”?.  DARK HORSE: MARTIN TRUEX JR.—not as evocative as Jeff Gordon’s “we’re goin to Homestead!” but cool nonetheless.

ELIMINATED: Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and William Byron

…MAKING THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4: Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson.

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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 12 of 24

PACK 12: Three in a row, room to grow, and not just for show

FIRST LOOK: The third straight pack with a premium insert, this one has a Kyle Busch autograph.  Nice autograph by the way—almost makes up for his horrible attitude post-crashes.

TO THE BACK: Brad K’s done a LOT in his time in sock car racing, but is he really a “titan”?  Let’s give him a few more years to see if he can make RFK so good they have to change the rules to stop its dominance (again).

SAY WHAT?: “I don’t just promote Hunt Brothers Pizza, I also enjoy it.  Take THAT, guys who are sponsored by prescription drugs.”

RATING: 9 stage breaks out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

www.facebook.com/spaderacing

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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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NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS 2014: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

Join me as we take a look at every NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year class from 1972 (the start of the modern era) through 2021, going from the worst to the first in terms of overall careers of each year’s rookie class.

2014

Kyle Larson

Winner: Kyle Larson (Ganassi).  Runners Up: Austin Dillon (RCR), Justin Allgaier (HScott), Cole Whitt (BK), Alex Bowman (BK), Ryan Truex (BK).  Aborted Attempts: Michael Annett, Parker Kligerman

How their careers turned out: Kyle Larson has already won a championship and established himself as one of the greatest drivers of his generation.  Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman have shown themselves to be regular race winners.  Justin Allgaier is one of the best Xfinity Series drivers in recent memory.  Ryan Truex, uh, he won an Xfinity Series race in 2023.  And Cole Whitt…um, won a pole for a Truck Series race once.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Kyle Larson showed us just how few people understand what “freedom of speech” really is.

Ranking: #10 out of 50

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