Spade Racing

Spade Racing Opens a Box of 2022 Chronicle Nascar Cards, Pack 4 of 6

Join us (well, me) as we/I go through a box of 2022 Chronicle Nascar Cards. This set is Panini’s “upscale/exclusive” line—lets see if they live up to those expectations.

Pack 4—Berry, Tony, and Pepsi

FIRST LOOK: Another autograph, this time from Xfinity Series standout Josh Berry! My only complaint is that it looks like he’s bored out of his mind in the picture here.

TO THE BACK: Tony’s all about keeping a busy schedule, whether its on the track or off. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who sits around on a random Thursday evening watching old episodes of Dr. Katz on YouTube.

SAY WHAT: “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot. 12 full ounces—that’s a lot. Twice as much for a nickel too *tock* Pepsi-Cols is the drink forrr you. Er, I mean, rrrrrr.”

RATING: 7 Rovals out of 10

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R&D PROJECT TAKING UP SPAD3 RACING RESOURCES

Leadership at Special Protective Advance Defense Department Detachment (SPAD3) Racing has admitted that the team’s on-track performance as of late leaves much to be desired. However, they have placed the blame squarely on a recent Research & Development project which has taken up much of the team’s resources.

“Look, none of us are happy with how the car has run the past few weeks”, said team business manager Lewis Hampton. “But we’re focused just as much on the future as the present. And I’d argue that every single team member KNOWS how important the future is to all of us.”

The project, known only as “Operation Blue Lion”, is taking up not only much of the team’s time and budget, but much of the team’s race shop space as well.

“Its tough to work on next week’s car with only half the space you had around the start of the year”, said shop fabricator Erik Strahan, “but we all know the importance of the project. From what I hear if Blue Lion isn’t deployable by the time the enemy—I mean, competition—gets Codename Texan off the ground, all will be lost.”

Veteran crew chief Mike Henshaw echoed the rest of the team’s thoughts, if not in so many words.

“Things are really strange here—even stranger than usual”, Henshaw said. “But I don’t think I have much of a choice. Oh how I long for the days when the worst thing I had to worry about was a driver not liking our set-up. Now I have the fate of mankind being worked on right over my shoulder.”

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3 in Their Third: A Monthly Spade Racing Series—October 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 Talladega:

1.) Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing). 2022 Best Race Finish: 1st (Road America, Indy & Texas). PRETTY Grade: A. Reddick didn’t advance in the Playoffs, but holds onto the top spot after his third win of the year. More-concerning, however, is the fact that he will likely require a hefty buyout of his contract from 23XI Racing for next year. If not, be prepared for the #30 car to come back (hopefully without AOL sponsorship this time).

2.) Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing). 2022 Best Race Finish: 1st (New Hampshire). PRETTY Grade: A. C.Bell would’ve taken the #1 slot this week on the back of three straight top-five finishes to start the Playoffs, had he not DNF’d at Texas. With all the nuttiness surrounding Kyle Busch’s departure, its helpful to remember that Bell just might be the next Kyle Busch, just much much MUCH more likable.

3.) Cole Custer (Stewart-Haas Racing). 2022 Best Race Finish: 8th (Bristol). PRETTY Grade: D+. No top-five finishes. No Playoff berth. No contending for wins. Yeah…