2009 Press Pass Eclipse Blaster

2009 Press Pass Eclipse:  The NASCAR 2023 Awards Banquet is tonight so let's do some NASCAR.  We'll kick this one off with my favorite driver in the sport, Kyle Busch.  As a two-time champion he knows a thing or two about awards.

These are fun to open and see drivers what is now 14 years ago.  And look at these greats. The design is okay.  Photos stick to the head and shoulder shots for the most part.  Wouldn't have minded a bit more variety in driver photos. That Jeff Gordon is a blue parallel.

Brightest Stars highlighted up and coming stars on the track and they nailed it.  Denny Hamilin is one of the best drivers in the sport today, while Dale Jr. was/is a huge fan favorite but is now retired and an announcer.  Kurt Busch recently retired but won a championship in his career.

These Lunar Mission inserts are different.  

Pathfinders is another insert that is okay but doesn't wow me.  NASCAR and a space theme don't necessarily work together that well.

Solar System inserts are plastic cards.  Here we a Stars Over NYC insert.  Not sure why New York was important but okay.  That Carl Edwards is a Ground Control insert.  They weren't shy in shoehorning the theme into cards.

This Orbital card is one I like.  We have a good driver photo as well as being able to show off the card.  Not saying Orbital is great but I like the look.

More base cards of greats from the sport.  Harvick retired after this season and will move to the Fox Sports booth while Jeff Burton is already an announcer for NBC.

Again, a pretty good look on these Orbital inserts.

The backs aren't bad.  Never see stats on NASCAR cards which is a shame.  They have plenty of stats to share.  Still, these are good.  Nice photos with more variety.  Some of these would have played well on the front.

The rockets on the bottom of the cars just has me shaking my head.

Take Off inserts are another plastic card.  I like those and I like the Brightest Stars cards.  Great Jeff Gordon Photo.

That Burning Rubber raced used "WIN" tire is #/85.  I know I made some fun about the space themes but I really enjoyed these cards.  It's great seeing all the drivers over a decade ago on cardboard.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
6 – Lunar Mission
5 – Brightest Stars
4 – Blue Parallel
3 – Orbital
3 – Take Off
3 – Pathfinders
3 – Ecliptic Path (Plastic)
1 – Solar System (Plastic)
1 – Stars Over NYC
1 – Ground Control
1 – Burning Rubber Race Used “WIN” Tire #/85