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Unboxing and Unwrapping: Parts 13 & 14


13. More Proof, a TV goof, and Kyle’s doof

OVERVIEW:  Things stay mostly in the here and now as we get a good mixture of up-and-comers, current stars (punctuated by a smiley Kyle Busch), and recent retirees.  Alex Bowman appears in Press Proof form, which is to say shinier than in his other cards.  Also note the lack of a horizontal “car card” in this pack.

BACK OF THE CARD BONUS:  In the future its probably best not to associate as “race king” with NEARLY winning a pole at Atlanta.

PICK OF THE PACK:  Michael Waltrip appears in a card celebrating his final Cup Series race.  Say, do you think he had to request to have “2-Time Daytona 500 Champion” embroidered on his firesuit, or did Simpson just do it automatically?

FINAL RATING:  3 roll bars out of 10


14. Larson, Dale’s son, and a Young Gun

OVERVIEW:  This is an…odd selection.  While its nice to have the reigning Cup champion at the center of it all, the rest are a grab bag of random drivers (less Kyle Larson).  Cole Custer gets the “Rated Rookie” treatment, and Kenny Wallace appears to be wearing a bootleg Nascar hat.

BACK OF THE CARD BONUS:  A surprising miss by Donruss/Panini on the Dale Jr. card, referencing his seventh place starting and finishing position at Dover.  The place has a casino, guys—7!  Casino!  Lucky!

PICK OF THE PACK:  Hey, photographers—when your subject is developing “landing strips” in his scalp, do NOT take his picture to emphasize the fact that he’s starting to lose his hair.  I speak from experience on this one.


FINAL RATING:  1 playoff race out of 10