Uncle Max: Martinsville Weekend Picks

Weekly picks from Spade Racing’s writer/webmaster/janitor Mike Mackler’s uncle.

Alriiiiight, my first Cup Series win is in the books, baby! Well, I guess I should say OUR first Cup Series win--lemme know how you're doing following my advice! That way I'll know how much to charge you! Haha, just kidding.

It's not just NASCAR that's doing well for me lately--my March Madness bracket is practically a lock to win! I was the only one at work smart enough to know to ride with Oregon AND UNC to the Final Four. Take THAT, Alice on morning shift who won last year by picking teams by their mascots!

Anyways, here’s my picks for the upcoming race weekend at Martinsville (total wins in parenthesis):

Truck Series Alpha Energy Solutions 250: Chase Elliott—these things happen when Kyle Busch sticks to Cup racing.

Cup Series STP 500:  FAVORITE (1 win)—Kyle Busch—do you really think that he’ll tolerate being the OTHER Kyle?  NEXT FAVORITE—Kevin Harvick—he’s due for a good run at a short track again.  DARK HORSE—Dale Earnhardt Jr.—it IS his favorite track, after all.

NascarMania: The Great GrandUncle of Them All

It's almost April, which means it's time for that annual rite of spring--annoying wrestling fans whining about WrestleMania. But why let them have all the "fun"?  Here's the full rundown of Nascar's showcase of the immortals:

Pre-Show (on The Nascar Network, the other OTHER TNN)

Ray Dunlap Memorial Battle Royal--the stars of the Truck Series scramble to win an over-the-top-rope battle royal, with the winner getting a featurette on the next FS1 pre-race show

Bubba Wallace vs. Ryan Reed--winner leaves Roush match (yeah, sorry if I've made the joke before)

Main Show

Austin Dillon vs. Coke Custer--cars-as-weapons allowed match 

ROTY Title Match: Daniel Suarez vs. Erik Jones vs. Ty Dillon triple threat

Canadian Title Match: DJ Kennington vs. Cameron Hayley (Canadian Rules--bring your Eh game)

Retirement Match: Carl Edwards vs. Tony Stewart--winner won't be asked about a comeback for a full year!

Tag Team Title Match: The Old Guard (Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth) vs. The New Blood (Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott)

Brad Keselowski vs. all comers in a Grudge Gauntlet Match

MAIN EVENT Nascar Championship Match: Kyle Busch vs. Joey Logano in a First Blood Match

Half of Auto Club 400 Crowd Partakes in “Empty Seat T-Shirt” Promotion

In a saturated sports market like greater Los Angeles, it takes a lot to get a sellout crowd to an event.  Well, Auto Club Speedway had one today for its Nascar Cup Series race, with at least half the crowd drawn in by the track’s Free Empty Seat T-Shirt Promotion.

Elbow-to-elbow!

“Around Los Angeles, people think that everyone wants to be seen”, said track promotions director Will Minton, “but some people really want to blend in to the background.  Well, what better way to do THAT than with a t-shirt that allows you to look like an empty seat?”

The promotion is one that appeared to help the track announce a sell-out, something difficult this day in age for all sports properties, even the NFL (well, in Los Angeles at least).

“We know how much fans watching from home care about how many people are in the stands, for, um, REASONS, so we did everything we could to make sure it was a packed-full grandstand for raceday”, Minton said.  “This Empty Seat T-Shirt event has already drawn interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are considering handing them out to fans in the sixth and seventh innings of home games.”

When asked if the Empty Seat T-Shirt would be used next weekend at Martinsville, a representative for that track laughed and hung up.