Spade Racing Opens Three 2026 Select “Blaster” Boxes—Pack 3 of 18


I’m moving away from Hobby Boxes to three “Blaster” Boxes this time for the 2026 Panini Select cards.  Join me as I go through all 18 packs!


Pack 3: Throwback, gator attack, and sponsorless? Ack!


First Look: I stand by my belief that the Wood Brothers should just run various throwbacks for every Motorcraft sponsored race they have.


To the Back: Congrats, gator!  The less said about your Cup Series exploits, the better.


Say What: “Hmm, my firesuit doesn’t have a primary sponsor on it.  Better cash that check first thing Monday morning.”


Final Rating: 5 green flags out of 10



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Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 40th, A.J. Foyt

Join me as I take a look back every Monday at the starting lineup for one of the biggest races in NASCAR history, the inaugural Brickyard 400. 


Starting 40th: A.J. Foyt #50 Copenhagen A.J. Foyt Enterprises Ford


Finished: 30th

Foyt in the 90's

Career Highlights: Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, 1972 Daytona 500 winner, voluntarily employed Mike Bliss.


Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 1


Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 30th (1994)





1994 Fun Fact: The 1994 Brickyard 400 was the last major race of any kind that A.J. qualified for (his last three successful starts being Truck Series races).  Then he’d be back as an owner a few years later with the 14/50/14/50/14 car for Larry.



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A Late Green Flag Today: What To Do

As usual, the Cup Series’ second visit to Las Vegas Motor Speedway is, for the east coast, a late-afternoon/early-evening start, with the green flag scheduled to drop around 5:45pm ET.  Here’s what you can do today to pass the time:


—Check out the NFL, with such riveting early matchups as Colts vs. Commanders and Jaguars at Bengals.


—Tune into USA Network early to catch up on your Law & Order SVU reruns (dun-DUN).


—Read one of the many autobiographies “written” by Nascar drivers.


—Call up your uncle who got you into racing and listen to him yammer about Toyota and Bubba Wallace for an hour.


—Determine all the things that would have to happen for Dodge to return to Cup in 2027, then figure out how they could finish better than 25th anywhere outside of drafting tracks.


—Reorganize your diecast collection, just don’t look up its value unless you REALLY like being disappointed.



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Race Picks Las Vegas: Spade Racing vs. AI

Join me as I test my wits against various AI programs in picking the 2026 Cup races.  Once they’ve made their picks, I’ll make my normal Favorite, Next Favorite, and Dark Horse picks (in addition to my regular O’Reilly & Truck Series picks).  At the end of the year we’ll see who knows more—me, or a soulless machine gobbling up water and electricity.


Claude AI Sonnet 5.5 (6 wins) sez: If I had to pick, I'd go with (Kyle) Larson.


Truck Series (2 wins) off


O’Reilly Series (4 wins) Focused Health 302 Saturday 7:30pm ET on CW: SHELDON CREED—the ol’ double-oh is heating up.


Cup Series South Point 400 5:30pm ET on USA  FAVORITE (1 win): DENNY HAMLIN—JGR could be our only hope to avoid Larson running away with it.  NEXT FAVORITE (3 wins): TY GIBBS—see above.  DARK HORSE (2 wins): ALEX BOWMAN—his last win?



www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly


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Spade Racing Opens Three 2026 Select “Blaster” Boxes—Pack 2 of 18


I’m moving away from Hobby Boxes to three “Blaster” Boxes this time for the 2026 Panini Select cards.  Join me as I go through all 18 packs!


Pack 2: Blurry, no hurry, and fury


First Look: You’ll have to take my word for it—this “Select Skills” card is pretty cool in person.  Guess I shouldn’t have skipped photography class in high school.


To the Back: Keep in mind that while Erik LIKES the Chase returning, he didn’t find it necessary to actually qualify for it this year.


Say What: “The next guy who asks me to take my hat off will feel the wrath of someone who had to run for SHR for four years.”


Final Rating: 4 out-of-sync calls to start engines out of 10



www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly


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Foundational Bricks—The 1994 Brickyard 400: 39th, Derrike Cope

Join me as I take a look back every Monday at the starting lineup for one of the biggest races in NASCAR history, the inaugural Brickyard 400. 


Starting 39th: Derrike Cope #02 Children’s Miracle Network Taylor Racing Ford


Finished: 27th


Career Highlights: Two Cup Series race wins, 1990 Daytona 500 winner, StarCom Racing founder, subject of a book by Brock Beard.


Cope (in the 02) with AJ Foyt behind him at
the Brickyard
Total Brickyard 400 Starts: 5


Best Brickyard 400 Finish: 14th (1996)



"I had just lost my ride with Cale Yarborough and went with a team who had not qualified for a race in 1994-- the 02 car.  I made the race for them in a race that had 80 cars entered.  I think we finished
27th, a good moral victory" --Derrike Cope


1994 Fun Fact: Despite racing for three different teams in 1994, Derrike still attempted every single race in 1994.  He was like a utility infielder—plug him in anywhere and he’ll improve performance.



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The Hero Card Project Part 8

Link to my preview (contains all team addresses)


Link to Part 7

Hero card responses just keep pouring in!  If you’re new to hero card collecting, check out my guide at herocardguide.com for step-by-step instructions on how to request hero cards, how to receive them, and how to store them.  I sent SASEs (Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes) to every Cup, O’Reilly and Truck team, as well as a few major ARCA operations as well.  Who’ll be the first to respond?  Who’ll send in the most cards?  Whose cards will be brand new?  And will any teams send in autographed cards?  Join me over the next few months as I find out!

The following cards arrived September 15th

A DOZEN cards from Kaulig Racing!




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Race Picks Kansas: Spade Racing vs. AI

Join me as I test my wits against various AI programs in picking the 2026 Cup races.  Once they’ve made their picks, I’ll make my normal Favorite, Next Favorite, and Dark Horse picks (in addition to my regular O’Reilly & Truck Series picks).  At the end of the year we’ll see who knows more—me, or a soulless machine gobbling up water and electricity.


Grok AI (5 wins) sez: Top Contenders: Kyle Larson — The clearest favorite right now. He just took the Chase lead by 1 point over Denny Hamlin after finishing 2nd at Bristol. Kansas is one of his best tracks: he has multiple wins there in recent years, leads all drivers in laps led at the 1.5-mile oval in the Next Gen era, and consistently runs up front on intermediates. His recent momentum makes him the guy to beat.


Truck Series (2 wins) Kansas 200 Saturday 1pm ET on FS1: JAKE GARCIA—at least its not GREG Garcia.


O’Reilly Series (4 wins) off


Cup Series Hollywood Casino 3pm ET on USA  FAVORITE (1 win): CHRISTOPHER BELL—maybe there’ll be a brawl after this race too.  NEXT FAVORITE (3 wins): WILLIAM BYRON—a quiet run finally gets loud.  DARK HORSE (2 wins): BRAD KESELOWSKI—fuuuueeeellllll mileagggge.



www.spaderacing.com updated four times weekly


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www.twitter.com/spaderacing


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


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A MOXOC Media production

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Spade Racing Opens Three 2026 Select “Blaster” Boxes—Pack 1 of 18


I’m moving away from Hobby Boxes to three “Blaster” Boxes this time for the 2026 Panini Select cards.  Join me as I go through all 18 packs!


Pack 1: First first look, the path took, and are “obscure Truck Series drivers” this series’ hook?


First Look: Here’s a look at the 2026 Select cards’ basic look.  As is often the case, they’re very fancy, very slick, and VERY hard to photograph.


To the Back: As always there’s the issue of these cards going to print months before they are released to the public.  So they missed all the great things Jake Garcia’s done since then like…uhh, more top-tens.


Say What: “I’m a little teapot”


Final Rating: 2 pre-race interviews 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

www.moxoc.com

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