Substitute Driver Named for Upcoming Race Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Boogertown, North Carolina)

In a difficult move, 52 Pickup Racing has announced a substitute driver for the upcoming race weekend in Bob McDonald, who joins the team after a number of years with several other prestigious race teams in the sport.

“Its great to get back in the driver’s seat again”, said McDonald.  “I always keep my license up-to-date, and being able to help out a great group of guys like 52 Pickup Racing is a way to give back to the sport.”

“Its tough to find an adequate replacement, and let’s be honest—you never want to have to make a driver change mid-season”, said co-owner Chuck Gibson, one of the fifty-two co-owners of 52 Pickup Racing.  “But really, once the car is off the Monday Cigarettes hauler, it’ll be business as usual for us at the track.”

“I didn’t want to have to take a weekend off, but these things happen”, said Ben “Moose” Milacki, the team’s normal hauler driver.  “But my niece just HAD to get married during the race season, and there’ll be hell to pay if I miss it.”

QUOTES: “You didn’t think I was being replaced, did you?  My contract is iron-clad.  Literally—I had it ensconced in iron before Daytona.” —T.B. Dee, driver of the 52 Pickup Racing Monday Cigarettes race car.

“We can’t wait till Moose gets back, mostly because he knows the short cut to Martinsville.” —Chuck Gibson, co-owner of 52 Pickup Racing.

ABOUT 52 PICKUP RACING: 52 Pickup Racing is NASCAR Cup’s newest race team.  Based out of Boogertown North Carolina, the team employs up-and-coming driver T.B. Dee and is sending a bouquet of windshield tear-offs to Moose’s niece’s wedding.

For more information please visit the 52 Pickup Racing website at www.52pickupracing.com

For all media inquiries please contact Moxoc Media at moxoc(at)moxoc.com

Spade Racing Presents The Sophomores: JUNE RANKINGS

Last year Spade Racing took a look at the six drivers competing for Rookie of the Year.  This year we continue to look at that vaunted class (sans John Hunter Nemechek and Brennan Poole) as they strive to establish themselves while avoiding the “sophomore slump”.  Returning for 2021 is the PRETTY grade: Performance Relative to Equating Team’s Typical Year (its pretty much how well each driver is doing considering their equipment).  Here’s how things look going into Kansas:

1. Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing).  Best finish: 2nd (Homestead).  PRETTY grade: A.  A shake-up up top!  Reddick swaps places with Christopher Bell with consistency—eight top-ten finishes in his last ten races.  Granted, it helps to have a Chevy this season, but Reddick is developing into a fine racer.  Now if he can only get a Cup win…and possibly a cool nickname.

2. Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing).  Best finish: 1st (Daytona Road Course).  PRETTY grade: A-.  C.Bell has slid in the Cup standings (all the way down to 16th) having gone five races without a top-ten finish.  The PRETTY grade only gets a slight ding, however, as JGR outside of Martin Truex Jr. seems to be having a bit of a slump.  For those of you new to the sport, this is the first slump JGR has been in in which JJ Yeley isn’t prominently involved.

3. Cole Custer (Stewart Haas Racing). Best finish: 10th (Talladega/Dover).  PRETTY grade: C+.  This has…not been a good year for Cole Custer.  Mired in 27th place in the Cup standings and without a top-five race finish, he might just be focusing on the new 2022 car regulations.  After all, that would explain the relatively poor performances of both his other teammates.

4. Quin Houff (StarCom Racing).  Best finish: 24th (Martinsville).  PRETTY grade: D-.  Quit has Josh Bilicki to thank for keeping him out of last place in the Cup points standings so far.  Lead-lap finishes are a struggle, top-twenty finishes off of plate tracks are a dream.  But at least he’s not sitting in an apartment in Delaware creating rankings.

Spade Racing presents Uncle Max vs. Repeat Winners: Sonoma/Mid-Ohio

EDITOR’S NOTE: Uncle Max is currently on vacation.  He texted me the picks below:

TRUCK SERIES (2 wins): off

Saturday Afternoon XFINITY SERIES BL Transport 1700: AJ Allmendinger—PLEASE help me get an Xfinity Series win, Dinger!

Sunday CUP SERIES Toyota/SaveMart 350. Repeat winner—Kyle Larson.  FAVORITE (1 win): Martin Truex Jr.—three straight (well, over four years) at Sears Point. NEXT FAVORITE (1 win):  Kevin Harvick—he DOES know how to win there.  DARK HORSE (2 wins): Kurt Busch—future 23XI racer staking his claim?