3 in Their Third: A Monthly Spade Racing Series—April Report

Two years ago there were six rookie drivers.  Last year four of them returned for their sophomore seasons.  This year the three best are back once again for their third seasons in Cup—and just like over the past two years, we’ll be ranking them here at Spade Racing.

Just like in years past we’ll be utilizing the PRETTY grade—Performance Relative to Equating Team’s Typical Year—as a way to properly rank someone from a top-flight team like Joe Gibbs Racing against someone from a top-flight slumping team like Stewart-Haas Racing against someone from a mid-level operation like RCR.

Here’s where our three guys stack up heading into Richmond:

1.) Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing).  2022 Best Race Finish: 3rd (Phoenix). PRETTY Grade: A.  Despite two crummy finishes Tyler has ridden two top fives to tenth place in the overall standings.  I guess the secret to the “second” RCR team competing for wins was dropping Caterpillar all along (sorry Ryan).

2.) Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing).  2022 Best Race Finish: 3rd (COTA).  PRETTY Grade: C+.  You’d think that being 23rd in points would be enough for C.Bell to be getting a failing PRETTY Grade, but no—after all, he’s just one spot behind Denny Hamlin.  Has Toyota finally been stymied?  Will they continue to be stymied?  Why do I keep using the word stymied?

3.) Cole Custer (Stewart-Haas Racing).  2022 Best Race Finish: 11th (Auto Club).  PRETTY Grade: D-.  Cole is quickly running out of excuses, with Chase Briscoe winning and Aric Almirola eighth in points.  Still, AA’s upcoming retirement mixed with Cole’s dad, y’know, running the team will likely keep him in this ride ad infinum.

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UNCLE MAX vs. REPEAT WINNERS vs. THE ROULETTE WHEEL: Richmond

Editor’s Note: Uncle Max is hunting for a new car and was unable to write much this week.  Here’s his picks…

TRUCK SERIES: off

Saturday Afternoon XFINITY SERIES ToyotaCare 250: Ty Gibbs—better get aboard the Ty train.

Sunday CUP SERIES Toyota Owners 400: LAST RACE’S WINNER picks Ross Chastain.  THE ROULETTE WHEEL picks 21st in points Justin Haley.  FAVORITE (1 win): Kyle Larson—THIS is the weekend to make some distance.  NEXT FAVORITE (1 win): Alex Bowman—rebounding from last week.  DARK HORSE: Denny Hamlin—yep, all the Toyotas are dark horses at the moment.

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Spade Racing Opens Classic “Blaster Boxes” and Premiere Sets

Recently I acquired a collection of Nascar cards from the past thirty years.  Most of it was unopened “Blaster Boxes” (those things you see near checkout at big box stores) as well as a few early-90’s “Premiere Sets”.  Lets open them and see what’s inside!

Victory Lane 2018—direction, selection, and reflection

FIRST LOOK: I’ve often wondered how Panini gets their hands on the race-used tires.  I mean, how do they choose them?  “No, no, nah, no, THAT’S IT!  Chop that one up immediately!”

TO THE BACK: Now that he’s retired Dale Jr. can pick and choose where he races.  Well, Hellman’s does, but you get the idea.

SAY WHAT: “If my hat looks like its radioactive one day, that would be so cool.”

RATING: 8 victory lane pictures out of 10