Spade Racing Opens Two Blaster Boxes of 2025 Select Cards—Pack 1 of 12

Rather than a “hobby box”, I decided to go with the more economical choice of two “Blaster Boxes” for the 2025 Select cards.  With six packs of five cards each in each box, that’s twelve packs to open!

Pack 1: The Queen, the Dream, and an Awkward Scream

First Look: Here we see what the basic Select card design is.  A great look, but as with most super-premium cards, the gloss is intense, leading to plenty of pictures with my phone shadow in reflection.

To the Back: “The harder you work at it, the better you get at it”, good advice from a guy who won his second-ever Cup start.

Say What: “Say, who was the celebrity Subway sent to celebrate with me—AHHH!!!”

Final Rating: 3 pre-race interviews out of 10 

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

Spade Racing’s Stars in Unusual Cars: Mark Martin (part 1)

Mark Martin runs the Morgan-McClure #4 (1983)

Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).

Mark Martin racing one of James Hylton's cars,
Courtesy NASCAR Legends on Twitter

Why? After a promising start to the 1983 season with the controversial JD Stacy, Mark Martin soon found himself out of a ride.  Meanwhile, Morgan-McClure Motorsports had just entered Cup.  After a single race with Connie Saylor, MMM signed Martin to drive their 4 car on a part-time basis.

How successful were they? In just six races (plus a DNQ) Martin posted a single top-ten finish for MMM.

What was the aftermath? Martin would largely retreat to the ASA Series before making a triumphant comeback to Cup racing with another new team, Roush Racing.  Morgan-McClure, meanwhile, would continue to be a middling organization until hitting pay dirt by hiring Ernie Irvan, and later Sterling Marlin.

Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 2 WD-brand steaks out of 10—Mark had a strange start to his career, so having him hook up with a fledging MMM team isn’t all that odd.

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

AUTO-Biographies: Junior Johnson: Brave in Life

Author(s): Tom Higgins & Steve Waid

Copyright Date: 1999

The Good: First off, this is more of a “coffee table” book—that is, it’s larger than most paperbacks, and goes heavy on pictures.  But that’s not a bad thing!  Junior seemed to be about 99% on-board with the authors, providing a detailed look back at his life in (and out) of racing, warts and all.  Junior delves deep into things such as his bootlegging/moonshining past, his business partners, and various drivers—and you can tell he wasn’t holding back in his interviews.

The Not-so-good: That 1% Junior held back on? His messy divorce from his wife Flossie, which had a massive impact on the future of his race team.  The book also seems to have a bit of a rushed finish to it—after Darrell Waltrip leaves the team, there’s a few pages on subsequent drivers, but then it just kind of ends.

What I’d Change: Back in 1999 I would have maybe prodded Junior to explain more about his reasons for leaving the sport, or more pictures of what the race shop looked like at the time after its abandonment (only one is shown).

Read It?: Yes, it’s a great look back at the history of NASCAR from the start to the mid-90’s from the inside-out.

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