Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 10 of 12

PACK 10: Three memories of my younger days

FIRST LOOK: Kind of hard to see here, but this car was co-sponsored by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation.  Cal Jr. was my hero growing up—like Jeff Gordon was to other 90’s kids.  And Billy Ripken was an endless source of hilarity—like Robby Gordon was to other 90’s kids.

TO THE BACK: I’ve never moved out of the country, but moving remains a recurring stress dream of mine from my earlier days.  Strangely, they never involve me trying to figure out what to do with all my racing cards.

SAY WHAT?: “Much like this author, I too struggle with piloting a race car.”

RATING: 6 associate sponsors out of 10

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 23 of 24

PACK 23: Doubletime, dropping a dime, and a quick mime

FIRST LOOK: Two slightly different versions of the same card in the same pack?  Booo.

TO THE BACK: Oh wait—so the point of racing is to get the front?  Thanks Kev!

SAY WHAT?: “Get me, I’m a skyscraper!”

RATING: 1 post-race argument out of 10

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth comes out of retirement for Chip Ganassi (2020)

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? Kyle Larson’s career with Chip Ganassi Racing came to a sudden end when he said a racial slur online.  Needing a replacement, CGR turned to Matt Kenseth, who had run a partial schedule in a reunion with Jack Roush in 2018 before taking the entire 2019 season off.

How successful were they? Considering they’d signed Matt “off the couch”—and the sport was in uncharted waters thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic—the combo did pretty well, typically running in the top-twenty and posting a runner-up finish at Indianapolis.  All together, the 42 car finished 22nd in points.

What was the aftermath? Matt Kenseth returned to retirement, while Ganassi put Ross Chastain in the 42 car, which has since become the #1 Trackhouse entry.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 9 robots out of 10—the whole Larson incident was stunning, and it was made even-stranger by replacing him with someone with zero attachment to the team, sponsor, or manufacturer…who wound up doing ok for himself.

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 9 of 12

PACK 9: A blurry car, Carson Hocevar, and a 90’s star.

FIRST LOOK: Here we see the problem with making slick, glossy cards with metallic elements—they wind up looking like mirages in a bad desert movie.

TO THE BACK: “You want to race on Sundays”.  Yup, whether you’re a Nascar fan, an NHRA fan, an F1 fan, or an F1 fan who’s willing to accept running IndyCar instead.

SAY WHAT?: “I was huge!  Sure I don’t have a Cup championship, but neither did Mark Martin!”

RATING: 6 pit stalls out of 10

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt driving Bud Moore’s Ford (1982-83)

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 winning the 1980 Winston Cup, Dale Earnhardt’s 1981 was one of drama.  His team was sold to the controversial JD Stacy, which caused Earnhardt to leave mid-season for Richard Childress.  The two hit it off, but Childress felt his team wasn’t up to Earnhardt’s driving abilities.  RC suggested Earnhardt ply his trade with a more-experienced team, singling out Bud Moore as a prime destination.

How successful were they? While the Moore-Earnhardt pairing was successful by most drivers’ standards—three wins and finishing 12th and 8th in the standings—it was seen as a major disappointment for Earnhardt.

What was the aftermath? Earnhardt was lured back to Richard Childress Racing and a dynasty was born, winning six Cup championships from 1986-1994.  Moore’s team remained a consistent race-winner until the mid-90’s.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 9 special paint scheme 1:24 diecasts out of 10—while it was still Dale Sr. running his blue-and-yellow car for an experienced team owner…IT WAS DALE SR. IN A FORD!!!

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 8 of 12

PACK 8: On fire, to aspire, and looking higher

FIRST LOOK: I wonder if Dan Patrick knows about this.

TO THE BACK: I really hope that Lawless Alan makes it to the Cup Series and becomes a major star, just so it can confuse the hell out of the mainstream sports media that there’s a guy named “Lawless Alan”.

SAY WHAT?: “That cloud up there looks like Matt Crafton’s head.

RATING: 7 wavearounds out of 10

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Select ’24 Cards, Pack 7 of 12

PACK 7: A signing, some pining, and the silver lining

FIRST LOOK: Another autograph, this time by Brandon Jones.  I don’t know about you, but I find drivers like him (relatively young, backed by millions, moderately though not overly successful in lower series) oddly fascinating.

TO THE BACK: I remember this win—Bill’s first in seven years.  Perhaps not incidentally, the six years in between were spent by Elliott as an owner-driver.  I also remember him having to cancel making an appearance at a McDonalds by my hometown during that period, which was probably for the best.

SAY WHAT?: “Oh well—at least I can’t possibly do worse than Harrison Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, or Paul Menard.”

RATING: 8 “through the field”s out of 10

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Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2024 Donruss Cards, Pack 22 of 24

PACK 22: Winning a bunch, a general hunch, and an unconvincing punch

FIRST LOOK: This was the start of the RFK revival.  On the plus side it seems to be continuing somewhat this year.  On the minus side, couldn’t they have gotten a picture with a few more fans in the stands?

TO THE BACK: Um, I’m going to guess that ALL drivers express gratitude behind the wheel.  Does any driver sit in their car and say “I am so much better than this”?

SAY WHAT?: “Right in the kisser!  I’m just joking of course”.

RATING: 5 overtime restarts out of 10

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Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: PREVIEW

There’s certain superstar drivers who we just automatically associate with certain cars—Richard Petty in his family-owned 43, Dale Earnhardt in his #3 Chevy, Jeff Gordon in the rainbow or flame 24.  But virtually every driver of some renown as run at least once (some twice) in some out-of-character equipment.  Just take the three that I listed up there—did you know that…

NOTE: All images in this series are courtesy 
Wikipedia unless otherwise noted

—Richard Petty spent two years running for music impresario Mike Curb, and one race in a lime-green #6 car?

—Dale Earnhardt spent two seasons running for Bud Moore in the #15 FORD?

—Jeff Gordon closed out his storied career with a stint in the #88 Nationwide car?

And there’s plenty more beyond that.  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).

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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