Race Picks (the last season?), Uncle Max vs. The Points Leader: SONOMA

Well, I’m back from vacation, and I have the suntan/burn to prove it!  It was a great week-plus at the beach with some good food, great friends, and plenty of traffic to and from.

Now, of course, comes the hard part—being back at work.  It’s a cliche, but really, the week back from vacation is always the hardest.  I feel like no matter how much planning I do, there’s still a mountain of work waiting for me when I get back.  Not only that, but I came back to word on a corporate visit coming up in a few weeks.  GAH!  Come on, retail gods, at least give me a week or two to get back into the swing of things!

TRUCK SERIES (4 wins) off 

XFINITY SERIES (1 win) Pit Boss FoodMaxx 250 (Saturday 4:30pm ET on CW) JUSTIN ALLGAIER—Gator IS pretty good on road courses, after all.

CUP SERIES Toyota Save Mart 350 (Sunday 3:30pm ET on TNT) Points Leader picks WILLIAM BYRON.  Favorite (2 wins): KYLE LARSON—counts as a home win, too.  Next Favorite (2 wins): SVG—two wins in one year gets him off the “Dark Horse” line at road courses.  Dark Horse (1 win): AJ ALLMENDINGER—so its back to the Dinger.

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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 Six 2017 Donruss Racing Packs: 2 of 6

Here’s my latest haul—a “blaster box” containing six ten packs of 2017 Donruss Racing cards.  So join me as I take a look back about eight years ago with some cost-effective card packs

Pack 2 of 6: Jimmie times three, the older they be, and Bennedy

First Look: In retrospect I think we really took Jimmie Johnson’s Cup Series dominance for granted.  And by “for granted”, I mean “assigned most of the responsibly correctly to Chad Knaus”.

To the Back: Speaking of Jimmie, I feel like Matt Kenseth’s stellar career was overshadowed by those of Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.  On the plus side, however, he DID get to close out his career in a truly bizarre fashion—half a year back with Roush, then most of a year with Chip Ganassi.

Say What: “Did you just say that I walk around here like I own the place?  Well, funny you should mention that…”

Final Rating: 4 pit stop adjustments 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’s Stars in Unusual Cars: David Pearson (part 1)

David Pearson, super-sub for Dale Earnhardt (1979)

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).

Courtesy John Betts and Bench Racing from
the Volunteer State

Why? After running for several different teams at the start of his career, David Pearson settled into running a part-time schedule for the Wood Brothers from 1972-1979.  Then, the 1979 spring Darlington race, a miscommunication led to an embarrassing pit road miscue.  Pearson left the team that day, then found himself called into a substitute role for Rod Osterlund when Osterlund’s driver Dale Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone.

How successful were they? VERY.  Despite having run nothing but Mercurys for the past 6+ years, and having missed the past eleven races, The Silver Fox posted a win, two top-fives, and one top-ten in four races.

What was the aftermath? Pearson went on to run for seven more seasons (albeit still on a partial-schedule) for several different teams.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 2 Purolator filters out of 10—David Pearson ran for so many teams outside of his Wood Brothers years that the most-surprising thing here was probably his immediate success.

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