Spade Racing Picks: Uncle Max vs. Mystery Picker—Darlington

Hey, Uncle Max here.  Let’s take a break from the Throwback Week festivities to present my annual NFL season preview!

NFC Division Champs: Eagles, Bears, Falcons, Rams

NFC Wild Card Teams: 49ers, Panthers

AFC Division Champs: Patriots, Steelers, Titans, Chiefs

AFC Wild Card Teams: Chargers, Texans

Closest calls for the playoffs: Seahawks, Browns

Most improved teams: 49ers, Browns

Teams that will fall off a cliff: Cowboys, Bucs

AFC Championship Game: Patriots 31-Steelers 17

NFC Championship Game: Eagles 23-Rams 20 (OT)

Super Bowl: Eagles 35-Patriots 31

CUP SERIES Bojangles Southern 500: Mystery Picker (1 win) picks Ryan Newman.  Favorite (4 wins): Kyle Busch—someone check on Mystery Picker, he might be on something…and I don’t mean Oscar Mayer Weiners.  Next Favorite (3 wins): Kevin Harvick—1880’s car in effect.  Dark Horse: Alex Bowman—a little help in the sponsorship hunt?

XFINITY SERIES SportClips VFW 200 (6 wins): Chase Briscoe—takes a guy with a little experience to win here.

Opening Up 8 Packs of 2004 Press Pass Cards—Part 2 of 2

In honor of Throwback Week, and as a preview of an upcoming offseason project, I ordered a “blaster box” of 2004 Press Pass Nascar Trading Cards—8 packs in the box (yay!), 4 cards per pack (boo!).  What were cards—and the sport—like 15 years ago?  Let’s look!

IN FOCUS: Astrology—the obsession of the bored and easily fooled alike.  While its cool to wonder if Jeff named his son after his own astrological sign, it also makes me wonder if I should name any future kids of MINE “Scorpio”.

A CLOSER LOOK: Remember those endless “Sticks n Stuff” commercials Tina Gordon was in?  Too bad—you do now!

WHAT THE?: Despite having watched a total of about 15 minutes of soap operas in my lifetime, I somehow saw the clip of Casey Mears on “Days of Our Lives”.  But why the hell was he on Party of Five?  Was he capable of looking blandly attractive while never smiling on camera? “C’mon, gimme that pensive look!  Pensiver!!!”

Opening Up 8 Packs of 2004 Press Pass Cards—Part 1 of 2

In honor of Throwback Week, and as a preview of an upcoming offseason project, I ordered a “blaster box” of 2004 Press Pass Nascar Trading Cards—8 packs in the box (yay!), 4 cards per pack (boo!).  What were cards—and the sport—like 15 years ago?  Let’s look!

IN FOCUS: Its pretty depressing that they show Mark Martin visibly going AWAY from the Cup Championship exit—maybe Richard Childress gave him wrong directions.  Also, as a Delaware resident, I can tell you that Dover’s Victory Lane does NOT have his own dedicated exit off of the Route 1 bypass.

A CLOSER LOOK: Speaking of Delaware, we get a look back to when MBNA was a thing thanks to Bobby Labonte’s “Cool Persistence” card.  Unfortunately the 2004 season wouldn’t lead to another Cup championship for Bobby—instead it led to being teammates with Kyle Petty.

WHAT THE?: While its cool that a frighteningly young-looking Kurt Busch had a dog, who the hell names their dog “Jim”?  I mean, Jimmy, Jimbo, Jim-Bob—all of those I get.  But Jim?  What, did he have a cat named Fred?