Spade Racing: 2024

Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 4 of 12

PACK 4: Autograph, a numbered path, and doing the math

FIRST LOOK: Now THIS is an autograph! Not only is it from a damn successful driver, but it’s clear and easy to read. Legendary, indeed! I wonder what would happen if I sent it to JR Motorsports to be autographed—would Dale Jr. just send it back as-is, or would the fabric of time collapse upon itself?

TO THE BACK: Number 120 of 199 of this variant, in which Justin Marks talks about how much he loves his driver. Again, you’d think stuff like this would just be a given—with the possible exception of Elliott Sadler’s last year with RPM.

SAY WHAT?: “Eventually I have to keep a Cup ride for more than a year, right?”

RATING: 10 hot laps out of 10

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 19 of 24

PACK 19: “Hoosier”, Hoosier, and “who, sir?”

FIRST LOOK: Ah yes, Danica Patrick. Before she went completely off the deep end and was just a mediocre Nascar driver. Of course before THAT she was an above-average IndyCar driver at a time when nobody cared about IndyCar.

TO THE BACK: Ah yes, Ryan Newman. Before he went completely off the deep end. Maybe it was the hair plugs that did it.

SAY WHAT?: “Just try making reservations at a restaurant. ‘Two for Lawless Alan’ is followed three seconds later by ‘Yes, that’s my real name’”.

RATING: 2 lug nuts out of 10

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NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS 2021: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

Chase Briscoe

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.

2021

Winner: Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas). Runners Up: Anthony Alfredo (Front Row). Aborted Attempts: none

How their careers turned out: So far this has really been the story of Chase Briscoe—he was arguably the best driver under contract at SHR this season, as well as seemingly the only one to bring outside sponsorship. Meanwhile Anthony Alfredo is stuck in the Xfinity Series mid-pack.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Chase had Ford backing, which is why he got the 14 ride instead of Kyle Larson. Well, at least it’s better than the time Ford backed Robby Gordon over Jeff Gordon.

Ranking: #31 out of 50

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 3 of 12

PACK 3: Jazzy, spazzy, and snazzy

FIRST LOOK: One of the many many MANY parallels Panini loves to use, this time both prismatic and different colored borders. No clue why they went with purple and teal, unless they really liked early-90’s aesthetic.

TO THE BACK: Sounds like the Biff loved to run around racing as a kid. Yeah, but I run ONE GO-KART off the track and suddenly I’m banned for life.

SAY WHAT?: “I look like a racer standing like this, despite my results.”

RATING: 5 early commercials out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 18 of 24

PACK 18: Riley, obviously, and Legacy

FIRST LOOK: Huh—so in addition to his lack of success on the track, Riley also looks kind of weird in a hat.

TO THE BACK: Winning races was important to Bobby Allison. Duh. So was running for championships, defeating his rivals, and complaining about that one race he kinda won but didn’t.

SAY WHAT?: “We see Jimmie around the shop about once a month. He’s usually wondering why the team isn’t running great. Yeah.”

RATING: 7 pre-race contingency award presentations out of 10

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

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NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS 2020: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

2020

Cole Custer's rookie car

Winner: Cole Custer (Stewart-Haas). Runners Up: Tyler Reddick (RCR), Christopher Bell (Leavine), John Hunter Nemechek (Front Row), Brennan Poole (Premium), Quin Houff (StarCom). Aborted Attempts: Driver

How their careers turned out: Thanks to my ongoing series on this class, I probably know more about these half-dozen drivers than anyone else. Well, Reddick and Bell have turned into consistent race winners and championship contenders, while Cole Custer DOES have a Cup win to his credit. JHN will be making his Cup return this year, while Brennan Poole and Quin Houff could be anything from exclusive driver coaches to Chipotle assistant mangers for all I know.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Writers everywhere are hoping Cole will announce his retirement in their lifetimes, just so they can write “Custer’s Last Stand” headlines.

Ranking: #17 out of 50

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 2 of 12

PACK 2: They lied, the ride, and red pride

FIRST LOOK: The card itself is ok, but check the white card behind it—it’s a thick blank piece of foam used to simulate a “memorabilia card”. Honestly, I wonder if anyone even BUYS cards by the pack at stores anymore, so they could probably ditch these.

TO THE BACK: “I’m proud to be along for the ride”, a quote that could apply to virtually any driver in any series at any time, with the possible exception of Elliott Sadler’s last year with RPM.

SAY WHAT?: “I’m redder than the author of these quips when he said I’d be fired before the end of the season!”

RATING: 6 pace laps 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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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 17 of 24

PACK 17: Sponsor landed, not that much demanded, and empty-handed

FIRST LOOK: Here we see Tyler Reddick doing something all drivers should learn immediately upon getting into racing. No, not how to win—how to hold your sponsor’s product with the logo facing the camera.

TO THE BACK: Three races in the Truck Series isn’t really much to write home about, but Toni B keeps getting publicity. Probably because she’s hot.

SAY WHAT?: “I had something in my hand, but now it’s gone. Must’ve lost it in the divorce proceedings.”

RATING: 3 souvenir trailers 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 2019: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

Daniel Hemric

2019

Winner: Daniel Hemric (RCR). Runners Up: Ryan Preece (JTG-D), Matt Tifft (Front Row). Aborted Attempts: none

How their careers turned out: Its still pretty early, but it’s hard to see much success ahead for any of these three drivers. Daniel Hemric has a single Xfinity Series win across nearly 200 national touring series starts. So far Ryan Preece’s biggest moment has been a crash at Daytona. And unfortunately Matt Tifft’s NASCAR career (as a driver) seems to be over due to health issues.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Daniel Hemric won that single race in dramatic fashion, doing so to win the 2021 season finale and Xfinity Series championship. I mean, at least that slots him ahead of Ty Dillon.

Ranking: #42 out of 50

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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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 1 of 12

PACK 1: Jawsome, saw some, and awesome

FIRST LOOK: Here we get our first look at the regular Select cards. For some reason Panini (the makers of Select, and all Nascar cards for that matter) chose a rare picture of Jimmie Johnson completely clean-shaven. I guess his facial flow-bee was on the fritz that week.

TO THE BACK: Brad Keselowski’s lived a pretty interesting life, as evidenced by his mini-bio here. And yes, while he got a head-start in Nascar thanks to his family’s experience in the sport, so did Kertus Davis.

SAY WHAT?: “I need to stop staying ‘Awesome’ so much, but I have yet to make ’Splendiferous’ catch on”.

RATING: 3 grand marshals out of 10

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

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