Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 19th, Rich Bickle

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 19th: Rich Bickle #9 Orkin Melling Racing Ford

Finished: 29th

Bickle in retirement, wearing
his 1994 fire suit

Career Highlights: Four-time Slinger Nationals winner, Five-time Snowball Derby winner, fourth-place finish at Martinsville in 1998, no relation to Travis.

Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 5

Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 29th (1994)

"Making the race 19th out of
80+ cars" --Rich Bickle 45

1994 Fun Fact: 1994 was a difficult year for Rich on-track, as he was mostly uncompetitive in a mostly unsponsored Melling Racing car.  On the plus side, he didn’t have to pretend to like SPAM.

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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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The Hero Card Project 2026: Part 2

Link to my preview (contains all team addresses)

Link to Part 1

Hero card responses just keep pouring in!  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.  I sent SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) to every Cup, O’Reilly and Truck team, as well as a few major ARCA operations as well.  Who’ll be the first to respond?  Who’ll send in the most cards?  Whose cards will be brand new?  And will any teams send in autographed cards?  Join me over the next few months as I find out!

The following cards arrived from April 12 through April 26.

Four cards (one for each driver) from Hendrick Motorsports

Three AUTOGRAPHED cards from ThorSport

An impressive haul--9 cards (one of them signed,
and another from the online series) from Spire Motorsports

Two pairs of cards (all four signed)
from RackleyWAR

Three signed cards from Hyak Motorsports

Five types of cards (three are duplicates) all signed
by Preston Pardus

A NEW RECORD!  15 cards (some of them
autographed) from Niece Motorsports

Seven cards from Truck Series team MHR

Five autographed cards from O'Reilly Series
team Viking Motorsports

RETURN TO SENDER: ALPHA PRIME RACING 120 Pitt Road, Mooresville NC 28117

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 Watkins Glen: 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 (1 win) sez: Based on current 2026 form and betting markets:

Tyler Reddick 🔥 Probably the hottest driver right now—multiple wins early in the season and often listed as the overall favorite.

Truck Series (1 win) BullyHill Vineyards 176 Friday 4:30pm ET on FS1: AJ ALLMENDINGER—turning into quite a wait for Dodge, huh? (Still!)

O’Reilly Series (1 win) Mission 200 at the Glen Saturday 4pm ET on CW: COREY DAY—Oh Happy Day (sorry).

Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen 3pm on Fox  FAVORITE (1 win): CHASE ELLIOTT—on a heater when it’s still kinda cold outside.  NEXT FAVORITE (1 win): SVG—Trackhouse has to get their wins SOMEhow.  DARK HORSE (1 win): AJ ALLMENDINGER—the specialist rides again.

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