a MOXOC Media Production
As a tribute to The Pits Comics, here’s my annual bingo card for the 2025 Truck Series championship race.
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| Click to enlarge |
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
As we close in on the final race of the season, it’s time for an announcement from ol’ Uncle Max: these will be the last picks I make for this website.
I’ve decided I want to focus more on the “real world” going forward, and while I’ve loved sharing whatever wisdom I might have, I think my time would be better spent hanging out with friends or working on other hobbies. So thank you to my nephew for letting me make these picks (and speak a bit of my mind) every week for the past few years. I don’t know who’ll be taking my place, but I wish them nothing but the best.
TRUCK SERIES (7 wins) Craftsman Championship Race (Friday 7:30pm ET on FS1) COREY HEIM—the only way it can end this year.
XFINITY SERIES (2 wins) Xfinity Championship Race (Saturday 7:30pm ET on CW) CONNOR ZILLICH—the only way it can end this year.
CUP SERIES Cup Championship Race (Sunday 3pm ET on NBC) Points Leader (1 win) picks CHASE BRISCOE. Favorite (3 wins): DENNY HAMLIN—FINALLY. Next Favorite (5 wins): WILLIAM BYRON—FINALLY. Dark Horse (2 wins): TY GIBBS—FINALLY!
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
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| Special Championship Week BONUS Lap Zero! |
Saturday will be the final race for the “Xfinity Series”, as the communications giant ends its sponsorship of the second-tier Nascar circuit. Here’s a look back at some highlights from their 11 year run:
2015: Ryan Reed wins the first-ever race under Xfinity’s title sponsorship, the Alert Today Florida 300. He would’ve described the racing as being “as fast as Xfinity internet” but the servers were down and had an undetermined fix time.
2016: Daniel Suarez becomes the first foreign-born driver to win a major Nascar Series championship. Since then he’s raced for approximately 19 different Cup teams.
2017: This marks the sixth straight year that the owner’s title is taken by either Joe Gibbs Racing or Team Penske. Nascar—names are made here (but primarily just two of them).
2018: The GMS Racing 23 car has a slew of drivers behind the wheel, including Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger, Chase AND Bill Elliott, the ghost of Johnny Mantz, and Junior Senior Jr.
2019: Tyler Reddick wins his second straight Xfinity Series championship. Fun fact—no one has won more than two Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity Series championships. Well, not so much a “fun fact” as “something to mention awkwardly on a date just before she leaves for the bathroom and never comes back.”
2020: The pandemic puts the season on pause, as we go more than two months without a race. That also be as long as we’d go without Mark Martin NOT winning a race in the Winn-Dixie car.
2021: We get one of the longest race names in series history, with the Drive for the Cure 250 presented by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina. Or, if you need to save space, the DftC250pbBC/BSoNC.
2022: Ty Gibbs compares himself to Jesus.
2023: Cole Custer wins the championship in the iconic #00. Hey—anything Buckshot Jones did is iconic in MY book.
2024: NBC shows just how much they care about Nascar by shafting Xfinity Series coverage to The CW months ahead of schedule.
2025: We all enjoy the final year before the O’Reilly jingle gets permanently stuck in our heads (OW!).
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
It’s back to new cards, with a “hobby box” of 2025 Donruss racing cards. There’s sixteen packs, so join me as I go through each of them!
Pack 11 of 16: Unknown, Where’s He Go’n, and Bad to the Bone
First Look: I don’t know much of anything about Jake Garcia, but I admire his dedication to racing—he even shaped his hair into a helmet.
To the Back: Suarez could wind up anywhere in 2026. And by “anywhere” I mean “Kaulig Racing”.
Say What: “Hello fellow racers, as you can see I am a bit of a rouge as well.”
Final Rating: 2 B-post decals out of 10
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
Brad K starts his career in the Hendrick #25 (2008-09)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
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| Courtesy NBC Sports |
Why? Plucked from relative obscurity (beyond his family’s ARCA and Trucks experience) by JR Motorsports, Brad Keselowski was tabbed as Hendrick Motorsports’ “next big thing”, ready to take over from an aging Mark Martin in the #5 Cup car. And while Keselowski was far-better known for his exploits in the 09 Phoenix Racing car, he also ran a handful of races in HMS’s #25 R&D car in 2008 and 2009.
How successful were they? Keselowski and the 25 crew struggled mightily, as “Bad Brad” tended to run much better in the Phoenix Racing car. His best finish in the #25 was a seventh at Darlington in 2009.
What was the aftermath? After Mark Martin re-signed with Hendrick, Keselowski accepted an offer to race for Team Penske. He would go on to win numerous races and a Cup championship before leaving to help rebuild RFK Racing as a driver-owner.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 1 slightly-too-intense post-race interview out of 10—this was just Brad getting his feet wet in Cup.
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
Believe it or not, we’re nearing the end of the 2025 season. So for the next thirteen days keep it here for a new piece every single day! Who will win the Cup championship? Will the Xfinity and Truck Series finales be dramatic or a let down? Will the Nascar charter lawsuit be sett—ok, let’s not get too optimistic here. Still, keep it here for plenty of content up to and beyond Championship Weekend!
And just to get things started, here’s some rejected Lap Zero story quotes from the 2025 season:
—“The two Austin Hills still can’t match up to the two Andy Hillenburgs.”
—“Danica was mild, but Isabella is Robusto.”
—"Kyle Busch probably should've used that time machine to stay with Joe Gibbs Racing."
—“The Kaulig Chevys will become Kaulig Hot Rods, just as Mikey foretold.”
—“Chase vs. Chase sounds more like a 1920’s financial scandal.”
—“The Gearhead Gertie paint scheme will run in the 37th points race of the year.”
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
I come to you today with some disappointing news, well, for me—I didn’t get the promotion. It’s ok though, I’m taking it in stride (whatever THAT means).
I don’t know what cost me the job—I think I interviewed well, and I got plenty of compliments from the corporate higher-ups. Sometimes there’s just too many people going for a role, and they go with a coin flip. Just my luck that it lands on tails instead of “Hire Max”.
With that being said, I *am* excited about the end of the Nascar season. Since I’ve started really watching the sport, Martinsville’s become my favorite track. Here’s hoping we have an exciting AND safe race three times over—and if not, hey, there’s always the Phoenix dogleg to cut!
TRUCK SERIES (6 wins) Slim Jim 200 (Friday 6pm ET on FS1) COREY HEIM—Heim Time on a grandfather clock.
XFINITY SERIES (2 wins) IAA & Ritchie Bros. 250 (Saturday 7:30pm ET on CW) CONNOR ZILLICH—Shades of the Toyota/SaveMart sponsorship.
CUP SERIES Xfinity 500 (Sunday 2pm ET on NBC) Points Leader (1 win) picks CHASE BRISCOE. Favorite (3 wins): RYAN BLANEY—he knows how to win when it matters. Next Favorite (5 wins): CHASE ELLIOTT—always a popular win. Dark Horse (2 wins): BUBBA WALLACE—just to stick it to the haters.
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
It’s back to new cards, with a “hobby box” of 2025 Donruss racing cards. There’s sixteen packs, so join me as I go through each of them!
Pack 10 of 16: Signed, Sealed, Delivered
First Look: Here’s our first legit special insert of the set, a Kyle Busch autograph. Kudos to Rowdy, as his autograph is quite legible. I’m assuming that’s pretty far down on his list of personal accomplishments, somewhere between winning a random Truck race and being decent at leaving voicemail messages.
To the Back: To be fair to Richard, he was also in charge of running an entire race team that employed a good chunk of his family. Its probably hard to appreciate having another win in the bag when you’re making sure everyone is getting paid on time (even Mike Skinner).
Say What: “I’ve finally made it to Cup full-time! Time to irritate people by changing the number on the Wood Brothers car!”
Final Rating: 9 preferred lanes out of 10
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
Bobby Labonte runs for the TRG 71 car (2009-10)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
Why? After being released from a crumbling Petty Enterprises, Bobby Labonte latched on at Yates Racing in their 96 car (which was “Hall of Fame Racing” in name-only). But when THAT team ran out of sponsorship funds, Labonte began moonlighting for The Racers’ Group (TRG), which had debuted in Cup that season. Labonte would stick with TRG through the midway point of the 2010 season.
How successful were they? Even by new-team standards, this was a disaster, as Labonte finished better than 18th once in the TRG 71.
What was the aftermath? While TRG would hang on through the 2011 season, Labonte would return to full-time racing with JTG-D in 2011 and 2012, then revert to a part-time schedule through 2016. He was never able to return to his JGR-level form.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 7 Tax Slayers out of 10—Bobby Labonte had quite a fall from grace, and running for a team that was gone in just a few years was the best evidence of that.
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production
This is a parody
In response to criticism of their new marketing slogan “Hell Yeah”, Nascar has unveiled a new alternative marketing slogan for the upcoming 2026, “Heck Yes”.
“We at Nascar are all about inclusion, and we’re pleased-as-punch to offer ‘Heck Yes’, our inoffensive alternative to the other slogan”, said Nascar marketing spokesman Justin Steiner. “We’re just so gosh-darn happy to show that we’re for everyone, even those who don’t like to say H-E-double-hockey sticks out loud.”
The bowdlerized slogan will appear in specifically targeted ad campaigns, reaching out to those who are offended by the mere mention of a mild curse word.
“Going in the 2026 Daytona 500, we’ll partner with Son of a Gun protectant to offer the dadgum fan with the most freaking intensity a lifetime supply of fudge. Because you don’t have to say a certain world that rhymes with ‘smell’ to enjoy Nascar!”, Steiner said.
At this point Steiner explained that the previously-announced “Hell Yeah” campaign will still be going forward.
“We’ll still be using the ‘You-know-what Yeah’ campaign, but we’ll be restricting its use. We’ll make sure that nobody who can possibly be offended by the four-letter-word will be exposed to such friggin adult language. By jove, it’s a great day to be a Nascar fan, eh what?”
www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly
Visit the store https://www.cafepress.com/spaderacing
Buy the book 100 Stock Car Racing What Ifs Unauthorized
A MOXOC Media production