Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2023 Donruss Cards, Pack 20 of 24



Pack 20: A love of wings, racing rings, and one of the Kings


FIRST LOOK: Garrett Smithley is one of the most-anonymous drivers around.  Let’s start a fake fun fact like him, like, oh, I don’t know—that he REALLY likes chicken wings.


TO THE BACK: Harry Gant knew how to wheel a car, and probably could’ve won a championship if he’d gotten with a true championship organization.  Almost makes up for how gross his sponsor was.


SAY WHAT: “I’m not really a Race King—more of a lesser duke or maybe a count.”


RATING: 8 road course turns out of 10


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A MOXOC Media production

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NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years (Introduction)


NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year classes.  They’ve really run the gamut—some have many future race winners, some have none.  Some have half a dozen or more entrants, some only have one.  Some have drivers beginning their careers in family-owned underfunded equipment, some have youngsters fresh out of the developmental series running for top teams.

Contingency Logo from 2013

But how do they rank against each other, all-time?

Join me as every Monday throughout the year, we’ll be taking at look at every single NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year class from 1972 (the start of the “modern era”) through 2021, figuring out how each different class of rookies stacks up against the others.  Starting next week, every rookie class will be reviewed year-by-year, and by the end of 2024 all fifty will be ranked.

How are they ranked?  Well, I’ll be taking a look at how each Rookie of the Year class’s members did throughout their careers (or careers so far, in terms of the most-recent ones).  So there’s less focus on the individual Rookie of the Year season, and more focus on the resulting body of work.  This will include each winner and and runners-up, but NOT include any aborted attempts—that being any drivers who declared for Rookie of the Year, but ran less than ten races that season.



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A MOXOC Media production

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Musically Declined: Nascar Runnin’ Wide Open—Junk Cars



In 1995 Nascar was starting to get hot.  Jeff Gordon was on his way to his first Cup championship, TV ratings were on the rise, and for the first time ever, stock car racing was somewhat cool.  So what better way to celebrate the sport’s success than with an album of bland middle-of-the-road country music?

The Song: Junk Cars

The Star: Ricky Van Shelton

The Clip: https://youtu.be/ZvYtueZ5-18?si=IH3dAaehOjMhrohX

The Review: So in an album dedicated to Nascar, the highest-level of stock car racing, where the best fabricators, mechanics and manufacturers come together to produce the best vehicles in the country for competition, we get a song about “Junk Cars”.  Oh kaaaaay…

The Verdict: Pretty bad, and stinks of “I can’t write you a new song, but here’s a B-side I have lying around.”



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