Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 10th, Mark Martin

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 10th: Mark Martin #6 Valvoline Roush Racing Ford

Finished: 35th

Mark Martin in 2024

Career Highlights: 40 Cup Series wins, four-time Cup Series championship runner-up, two-time Southern 500 winner, world’s longest retirement tour.

Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 20

Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 2nd (1998, 2009)

1994 Fun Fact: Though he won only two races in 1994, Mark finished second in the season points standings.  The keys to the 6 team’s performance were consistency, top-fives at low-attrition races, and preventing anybody from stealing Jack Roush’s hat.

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Patrick Warburton as Grand Marshal Today? “Yeah, That’s Right”

As you may have heard, actor Patrick Warburton and his mustache will be the grand marshal for today’s Cup race at Phoenix.  However, I’ve read through the official press release, and while highlighting some of his voice roles, there’s a DISTURBING lack of Seinfeld quotes.  This from a guy who played David Puddy!  So, to rectify that, here’s some of Puddy’s best quotes put into a Nascar context:

“Feels like an Arby’s night” —reaction after Justin Allgaier’s win yesterday.

“Gotta support the team” —Alex Bowman fans still rooting for the 48 today.

“High five” —Kyle Larson when he wins and/or gets airborne.

“I’ll come back, we’ll make out” —Tony Stewart to Leah Pruitt just before a race.

“You got a question, you ask the 8-ball” —Kyle Busch pointing to his destroyed race car that finishes 32nd”

“All signs point to YES!” —Mike Joy answering the question ‘What’s your favorite prog rock band?”

“Don’t boss me!” —championship drivers on the radio when spotters who barely qualified for Busch Series races tell them what to do.

“Sorry, ‘thou shalt not steal’” —JGR fans acting high and mighty about the whole Spire/Gabehart thing.

“That’s a misprint” —reading said press release with its dearth of Seinfeld quotes.

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

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A MOXOC Media production

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Race Picks Phoenix: 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.

AI (1 win) Google Gemini 3 sez: “Front-Runners to Watch

Tyler Reddick: He is arguably the hottest driver in the garage right now, having already won the Daytona 500 and the Autotrader 400 at Atlanta earlier this season.”

Meanwhile, here’s MY human picks:

Truck Series (1 win) off

O’Reilly Series GOVX 200 Saturday 7:30pm ET on CW: COREY DAY—he’s gotta be more than just a road course ringer, right?

Cup Series StraightTalk Wireless 500 Sunday 3:30pm on Fox  FAVORITE: DENNY HAMLIN—maybe it’s just going to be a Toyota kind of year.  NEXT FAVORITE: KYLE LARSON—sticking with Larson as my next favorite because AI keeps picking Tyler Reddick.  DARK HORSE: SVG—no road course required (well, this week).

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