2026 NASCAR Playoffs - The Chase - Set

 NASCAR's playoffs are set.  Last night at Daytona was thrilling as Ryan Preece won the race to make it into the playoffs eliminating Shave Van Gisbergen.  Amazing to watch and so much fun.  The first Chase race is next Sunday in Darlington with 10 races in the playoff schedule.  I have two drivers I'm a fan of in The Chase, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace, and pop's driver is Kyle Larson. I feel you can make a case for any of the top 9 drivers or so.  If I was a betting man, I'd probably go with Ryan Blaney.

NASCAR's playoffs are now called The Chase.  16 drivers with the #1 driver starting with a 25-point advantage over the next driver.  Subsequent drivers are 5 points behind the previous driver.  We saw some pretty big point swings during the regular season which surprised folks so there are plenty of drivers with a shot and I expect some craziness and lots of fun.  

Random Wax: 2025 Donruss NASCAR 4 Hobby Box Packs with Auto

2025 Donruss:  It's Father's Day and we'll kick it off with a NASCAR post for all the dads who like seeing these guys turn left.  And I'm one of those guys.  Michael Waltrip only had 4 Cup wins in his career, but he was always a great fun driver personality in the sport and he's still active as a NASCAR O'Reilly Series (minor leagues) and NASCAR Truck Series commentator.  His best seasons were 1994 and 1995 when he finished 12th in the rankings both seasons, and he's looking great on this Red Xplosion Auto #/49.

I don't like saying it every time, but this is a boring design.  Just nothing going on on the fronts that scream NASCAR or fun.  Driver car number?  A little car design?  Tire design?  Race track design?  Give me anything people!  "Hurricane" Hocevar is always fun to watch because you don't know what chaos he might bring to the track.  He's only 23 and did get his first win this season and looks to make the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Jesse Love won the 2025 O'Reilly Series Championship (minors).  He's shown on a Red and Blue Parallel.  Two more young drivers appear on these Rated Rookie cards.

Not a fan of Spellbound but pop is a big fan of Kyle Larson.  These inserts allow you to spell out a driver's name if you get all of their Spellbound cards.  Larson has won 2 Championships and is the reigning NASCAR champ.

These Race Kings grown on me more and more though maybe a bit more color around the border would help.  But still, I like that Donruss brought back the cars.  Denny Hamlin is the biggest personality in the sport and for the all the great drivers NASCAR has, there just aren't enough drivers with the big personalities the sport craves.

After winning 10 races in the O'Reilly Series (minors) last season, Connor Zilisch is now a rookie at the Cup level.  He's on a Spellbound Carolina Blue Ice Parallel #/199.

More youngsters in the sport.  Layne Riggs is one of the top drivers in the Truck Series.

And some all-time greats including three retired greats.  We get The King, Richard Petty, Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison both left the sport too soon.  Kulwicki won one championship but died shortly afterwards in a plane crash and Allison passed away at the height of his career in a helicopter crash.  Petty is the all-time winningest racer with 200 wins to go along with 7 Championships.  Joey Logano is no slouch winning 3 Championships of his own.

BREAKDOWN:

32 – Total Cards

5 – Retired Greats

4 – Red and Blue Parallel

2 – Race Kings

2 – Spellbound

2 – Rated Rookies

1 – Signature Series 

1 – Red Xplosion Parallel #/49

1 - Carolina Blue Ice Parallel #/99

Kyle Busch dies at age 41

Kyle Busch passed away yesterday at age 41.  A complete shock.  He's my favorite driver in in the sport today.  I've been a fan of his since early on in his career.  The sport has lost one of the greats and lost someone who meant a lot to others including fellow drivers, fans, and all those associated with the sport which is evident by the outpouring of thoughts and emotions we've already seen.  Just nothing you can say when someone passes this early in life.  I pray for his young family.

As a driver he was a 2X NASCAR Cup Champion in 2015 and 2019.  He won 63 Cup races, which puts him 9th all-time.  He won a combined 234 Cup, O'Reilly Auto Parts and Truck Series races which was best in the sport all-time.  He was in the twilight of his career and had been, and still was cantankerous but that was part of his "charm".  Just a great competitor.  In my mind I'll always see him in an M&M's racing suit or car.

RIP Kyle

2025 Donruss NASCAR 4 Hobby Box Packs with Relic

2025 Donruss:  The Daytona 500 today marks the start of the 2026 NASCAR season.  Denny Hamlin finished second in the 2025 season missing out on the championship with a heartbreaking loss at the end of the final race.  He's now tied for 10th all-time with 60 career wins.

Three of the better drivers at the Cup level which is the top tier in the sport.  Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott are two of my favorites in NASCAR.  Elliott is a 1X Champion and has finished top 10 in the standings in 9 of his 10 full-time Cup seasons.

The backs are colorful but with no stats or different photo it's hard to get too excited about them.

Three of my Optic pulls.  They are the same designs and photos of the base cards.  That Riley Herbst is a Red Parallel #/199.

Jeff Gordon is an all-time great with 4 NASCAR Championships and 93 wins, good for 3rd all-time.  Spellbound inserts allow you to spell out a driver's last name.  There are six Gordon Spellbound inserts with different letters, photos and colors.  Okay idea but not sure how you display them as putting them in binder pages won't do anything for you.

Plenty of youngsters to go around.  Some who have only raced in the lower NASCAR levels and some who have raced some at each.

Inserts including my Suited Up relic.  I really like the Unleashed look.  I do wish there were different animals behind each driver.  I like Coming Attractions as well.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with this set.  The design is okay.  Nothing more.  In years past there was also a second retro design that gave mit ore variety.  There were also different photos of each driver.  Feels like Panini just phoned it in.

A couple Red and Blue Parallels and a Purple Parallel #/99.

We'll end it with a driver you either loved or hated in Darrell Waltrip.  I liked him and enjoyed him quite a bit as an announcer.  He won 3 NASCAR Championships and finished with 84 wins which is 5th all-time.  I'll show off more of these over time.

BREAKDOWN:

32 – Total Cards

6 – Retired Greats

4 – Optic

3 – Red and Blue Parallels

2 – Spellbound

1 – Unleashed

1 – Suited Up Relic

1 – Red Parallel #/199

1 – Coming Attraction

1 – Purple Parallel #/99

 

Earnhardt Amazon Prime Documentary Series (2025)

Earnhardt is a good documentary series done on Amazon Prime last year.   Tons of good information in these four episodes.  I'm sure most of it is out there but seeing it all here in one piece and done as well as it was really made it a good watch.  It follows his early life to when he passed during the Talladega race.  Dale Jr. plays a big part of the documentary which makes sense.  His sister Kelly is a good part of it as well.  Competitors, teammates, crew, and family help round it out.  I thought Jr., Kelly, and Darrel Waltrip stood out but everyone who was in it did a good job.  His on-track accolades are highlighted as well as his struggles and his family life too.  Lots of insight into who he was.  Very enjoyable.  I think each episode is about 1 hour long.  

Today starts the 2026 NASCAR season in earnest as the Daytona Speedweek kicks off with the two duels tonight.  The Daytona 500 is 2:30 EST on Sunday.  This week's Daytona schedule is here.

 

Random Wax: 2009 Press Pass Eclipse Blaster

2009 Eclipse:  Former NASCAR Champion and all-time great in the sport, Kevin Harvick is now an announcer in the sport.  Tonight is Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte which is a grueling 400 laps totalling 600 miles.

This set has a space based them. The design isn't bad but its full of stars (no pun intended) and it is fun to look back 16 years to see so many greats in the sport.  Jimmie Johnson was the NASCAR champion for five years straight, from 2006 through 2010.  He would be the sport's top driver seven times in his career.  Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are also past champions.

I like that these Pathfinders inserts give us a glimpse of drivers in their youth.

Denny Hamlin was still young in the sport but 2009 would mark his second top five finish in the standings.  I like the Take Off design.  The colors and the driver tree in the background work for me.

The Checklist card gives us a great photo of Jimmie Johnson away from the track, probably part of the press tour after winning the championship.

Ground Control cards seem to show drivers after victories, and I like these cards.  That Tony Stewart card is a Solar System card which is plastic.

I like this Ecliptic Path card.  The colors and photos of the driver look good.  This card is plastic.

Nice looking Brightest Stars cards and two drivers I really like in Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer.  Stars Over NYC cards show us drivers in a different setting.

I'm still not feeling these Lunar mission cards, but I get where they are going with them.

More base cards.  Martin Truex Jr. would go on to win a championship in his illustrious career.  Hard to remember him ever looking like this photo though.  Again, fun to look back so many years.

These are fun cards.  So many stars at a different time in their career.  Enjoy the race tonight!

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
5 – Brightest Stars
4 - Pathfinders
4 – Blue Parallel
4 – Lunar Mission
3 – Orbital
3 – Take Off
2 – Eclyptic Path (Plastic)
2 – Stars over NYC
2 – Ground Control
1 – Checklist
1 – Solar System (Plastic)

1992 Pro Set Racing NASCAR (4 Packs)

1992 Pro Set:  This set gives us one of Jeff Gordon's earliest cards.  He does have earlier cards as far back as 1987.  Gordon is a NASCAR legend.  He won four championships, he finished top five in the standings 11 times, and won a total of 93 races.

These cards are a pretty simple but I'm good with the design.  The name sits in what could be thought of as part of a race track and the Pro Set logo includes a checkered flat.  No borders can be tricky but these look good.  The photos are fairly varied as well.  Allison, Schrader and Martin finished 3rd, 9th and 6th respectively in the 1991 NASCAR standings.

We get Rig or hauler cards which are always fun.  I really like these.  This is Davey Allison's.

There are also Legends cards which include legends like Marilyn Green who was the first Miss Winston as well as drivers like NASCAR greats Junior Johnson and Cotton Owens. 

Team cards are nice as well.  

Crew cards highlight team personnel like crew chiefs, the pit crew, and engineers.

A good on track photo of the cars on these Card cards.  I picked up these four packs on eBay.  The price was great, and the seller took a while a to ship.  I was wondering if they were having second thoughts.  I'm very happy I grabbed these.  Fun cards and plenty of great drivers.

A Miss Winston Card. Renee White held the title from 1996-2001.  

I really like seeing the haulers.  Something about them is fun.

Some drivers get a horizontal card. I like this one.  It looks like Michael Waltrip's photo is on the side of a hauler or promotional banner.

Dale Jarrett would go on to win a NASCAR Championship in 1999.

The backs are great.  Nice write-up, photo and stats and player/team info.  Alan Kulwicki would go on to win the 1992 NASCAR Championship.  He is the last driver/owner to win a championship.  Sadly, he would die in a plane crash the next April.

BREAKDOWN:

48 – Total Cards

11 – Crew

8 – Legend

7 – Rig

3 – Car

2 - Team

1 – MRN Radio

1 – Miss Winston