Spade Racing: November 2024

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

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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 16 of 24

PACK 16: Moose, deduce, and hanging loose

FIRST LOOK: Only in Nascar can any ol’ fan be transformed somehow into a moose!

TO THE BACK: Some slick advice from Lee Petty to Richard here. Winning by a lot pays the same as winning by a little (and winning by nearly nothing could get you some more publicity).

SAY WHAT?: “Heyhihowsitgoinggottagogottaracetorun”.

RATING: 5 spinouts out of 10

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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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 2018: 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.

2018

William Byron's rookie car

Winner: William Byron (Hendrick). Runners Up: Bubba Wallace (RPM). Aborted Attempts: none

How their careers turned out: Its still a little early, but William Byron appears to be a championship contending driver, having a break-out year in 2023. Like him or rant about him online, Bubba Wallace is a Cup race winning driver, and still has a sizable chunk of his career ahead of him.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Who’d have thought that a college would sponsor a Nascar driver and it wouldn’t be DeVry?

Ranking: #22 out of 50

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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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, Preview

My latest purchase was a hobby box of 12 packs of “Select ’24” cards from Panini. These cards are a bit more high-end than the regular Panini or Donruss ones, which explains the low card count per pack. Join me as I open all twelve packs!

www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly

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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 15 of 24

PACK 15: A pole, a goal, and an O’ll

FIRST LOOK: I still wish we had a version of the old Unocal bonus where a pole winner could win the race and get a growing bonus fund.

TO THE BACK: Being judged by Jeff Gordon has to be intimidating, but Kyle Larson has more than lived up to the hype. And I’m sure Jeff has had to get between Larson’s team owner Rick Hendrick and Larson’s sponsor Rick Hendrick on occasion.

SAY WHAT?: “They don’t realize that I can see the O in the corner”.

RATING: 7 pistons 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 2017: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

Erik Jones

2017

Winner: Erik Jones (Furniture Row). Runners Up: Daniel Suárez (JGR), Ty Dillon (Germain), Corey LaJoie (GoFAS), Gray Gaulding (BK). Aborted Attempts: none

How their careers turned out: Strangely, this year turned out a class of journeymen. While Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez have had decent careers for several teams, Corey LaJoie has never really gotten a full-time shot in decent equipment. Meanwhile, Gray Gaulding is still best known for his Krispy Kreme sponsorship, and Ty Dillon has kept getting jobs despite, well, his whole career.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Erik Jones is arguably the best driver to wheel the 43 car since Richard Petty’s retirement—sorry, Aric.

Ranking: #23 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’s 2024-25 Offseason Preview

By the way, this is the 2,000th article I’ve done here!

Three new champions have been crowned, two teams are in Charter limbo, and one team’s headquarters has a sign out front that simply says “47”—welcome to the offseason! Here’s what’s in store here at Spade Racing:

—ROTY Reports will continue every Monday through the end of the year, capped off with a final list of rankings. Then stay tuned for a new series debuting in January for 2025.

—No racing means double the cards! 2024 Donruss will continue to be posted every Tuesday, while a new set of 2024 Select cards will be posted every Thursday.

—Offseason news, “news”, and other sundry content will be posted on weekends as needed.

—I have two major projects to work on over the offseason—a complete redo of my Race Shop Reviews website, and another website that I hope to have up and running by the Clash.

As always, thank you to everyone who reads my output—I sincerely appreciate it!

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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Uncle Max vs. Thirteenth Place: Year in Review

And with that, another season is in the books. Picks were made, drivers didn’t do as well as I’d liked (especially in Cup) but after 36 races I wound up winning on the final day. Just goes to show you that 13 really ISN’T my unlucky number, I guess.

As for outside the racing world, I’m gearing up for six-plus weeks of nearly-nonstop work for the holiday shopping rush. I should count myself lucky—our store is one of the few to be fully-staffed, but that’s also because we hired a bunch of new workers the past two weeks. Nothing like training when the store is slammed, huh?

As for what the future brings, I’m not sure if I’ll be back for next year. If I do return, it’ll have to be with a new format, since obviously my Cup picks just haven’t been all that great lately. Either way, I’ll be sure to check in for my annual NFL playoff preview.

Thanks for reading, and remember—when in doubt, pick Penske or Gibbs!

TRUCK SERIES (6 wins)

XFINITY SERIES (5 wins)

CUP SERIES 13th Place (2 wins) vs. Uncle Max (3 wins)

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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MEGA POST: Spade Racing presents The Hero Card Project 2024 Part 10

CLICK HERE FOR PART 9

A bit of a different Hero Card Project entry this time: last week I took a trip to the race shops of NASCAR for another, larger project. I was able to fill in some missing hero cards in the process. My pics below show what I picked up at various race shops that I didn't already have. Click here to learn more about collecting Hero Cards: