Kyle Larson wins the 2026 NASCAR Championship - His 3rd

Kyle Larson is the 2026 NASCAR champion after a dominating playoff run.  In The Chase, NASCAR's form of the playoffs, he won 3 races, finished 2nd twice and was Top 10 in 8 of the 10 races.  One of the great runs in NASCAR playoff history.  And it came after a regular season where he didn't win a race.  This is Larson's 3rd championship also winning and 2021 and 2025.  He's a great driver. It's fun seeing a driver as good as him succeed.  And the playoff format changed this year.  That gives him a championship in consecutive years under different formats.  Pop is a big fan of his and was very happy.

Random Wax: 2026 Donruss NASCAR Blaster with Autograph

2026 Donruss:  Last race of the season is today, and NASCAR will crown the 2026 Champion.  Ryan Blaney is the 2023 NASCAR Champion.  Loudon the Lobster is the prize for winning the New Hampshire race.

Kyle Larson has all but sewn up his 3rd NASCAR Championship which he should win today.  He also won in 2021 and 2026.

There's an Optic in each blaster pack.  A couple of Orange Velocity Parallels here.  Kasey Kahne topped out at 4th in the standings in 2012 but was always a fan favorite.  Chris Buescher made the playoffs for the 2nd time this season.  He is currently 16th in the standings but did place 7th in 2023.

This design is reminiscent of the 2016 Donruss Football and 2016-2017 Donruss Basketball designs.  Thanks to Jeremy for pointing that out.

Spellbound has each of the letters from a driver's name.  I don't really get it but I'm sure some like it.

Bubba is a favorite of mine.  He's 13th to start the day but has a realistic shot at 10th place which would tie his 2023 career high.

I like Unleashed but I wish there was variety on the background art.  Josh Williams races full-time in the O'Reilly Series but hasn't really found any success there.  Kevin Harvick famously took over for Dale Earnhardt after he passed in 2001, and won 1 Championship in his career.  Brad Keselowski is the 2012 NASCAR Champion.  He's without a ride next year and still figuring out his next steps.

Team cards.  Team Penske has Austin Cindric,  Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano racing for them in Fords. 

My two Lime Green Parallels are #/199.

Lots of retired greats which is always fun to me.  Jeff Gordon (4X), Darrell Waltrip (3X), Kurt Busch (1X) and Richard Petty (7X) bring plenty of championship history with them.  That Petty is a Laser Parallel.

BREAKDOWN:

56 – Total Cards

13 – Retired Greats

8 – Retro

7 – Optic

7 - Rides

4 – Orange Velocity

2 – Unleashed

2 – Lime Green Parallel #/199

1 – Team Logos

1 - Spellbound

1 – Rated Rookie

1 – Laser Parallel

1 – Orange Velocity Base Optic Signature

2026 Donruss NASCAR Blaster with Relic

2026 NASCAR:  Kyle Busch, my favorite current driver, passed away unexpectedly this May.  The NASCAR playoffs start today, and Busch was no stranger to racing for the championship.  He won 2 NASCAR Championships (2015 and 2019), was ranked in the top 5, 7 times, and inside the top 10, 10 times.  I do like the Unleashed inserts.  First race in the 2026 Chase is Darlington, starting at 5 ET today.  And "The Chase" is the new branding for the NASCAR playoffs. 

The base design this season isn't bad. Not great but okay.  I say this every year, but I don't get why Panini doesn't add a tire, the driver's car number, a car graphic or something else to liven up the fronts. 

We do see a return of Rides, or car shots, this year which is great.  2025 Donruss NASCAR didn't include these cards, and it was a bummer.  Jeff Gordon is an all-time great with 4 Championships to his credit, and this Dupont paint scheme is synonymous with him as a driver.

You get 1 optic in each blaster pack for a total of 7.  Here you see two Orange Velocity Parallels along with a base optic card.  Retired great Carl Edwards did not win a title but was top 10 in the standings 8X in his 13 year career.

New this season is Team Logos cards.  This one isn't the most exciting looking logo going, but I like the addition of these cards.

I've seen this design before, but I can't remember the year to save my life.  After a rough start to his season, Joey Logano has raced back into the championship fight.  He's a 2X Champion and can't be ruled out.  He's seen here on a Lime Green Parallel #/199.

A couple of Rated Rookies and an Artist Proof #/25.

Toni Breidinger only raced a few truck races this season but this Laser Parallel Ride card is still a nice pull.  Not sure if she'll make her way back into a full-time ride but I'm pulling for her.  It's fun seeing the ladies doing better in the sport.

My Souvenir Swatches relic and Race Kings insert.  The Dale Jr. pull is great.  He's a NASCAR Hall of Famer with 26 career wins and has always been a fan favorite.  He's an announcer now and his Dirty Mo Media company provides plenty of great NASCAR content including his own weekly podcast which I really enjoy.  I always look forward to the Race Kings cards I like the design this year.  The car, or truck in this case, take on a prominent role on the card.  Layne Riggs was the champion in the Truck Series last season and deservedly gets his own Race Kings card.

Not a fan of Spellbound which are used to spell out a driver's name.  It doesn't work in a binder, so I don't get the point.  Carson Hocevar is only 23 and an excellent young driver in this year's Chase.  Aggressive on the track, many aren't fans, especially other drivers.  But he's a good personality for the sport.

This year's set is back up to 200 cards as opposed to the drop to 100 we saw in 2025.  We see drivers from across the three NASCAR top series - Cup, O'Reilly and Truck series.  Butterbean Queen is another young talent who has taken the sport by storm as much for his personality more than the driving we've seen so far.

Nice shot of Layne Riggs' truck.

We also get retired greats in this set which is so much fun.  All four of these drivers are in fire suits with their classic sponsors on them.  Rusty Wallace is my favorite NASCAR driver of all time, and he won 1 Championship in his career, finishing top 5 in the standings 7X.

BREAKDOWN:
56 – Total Cards
9 – Rides
9 – Retired Greats
7– Retro
7 – Optic
4 – Orange Velocity
2 – Rated Rookie
1 - Unleashed
1 – Team Logo
1 – Race Kings
1 - Spellbound
1 – Laser Parallel
1 – Artist Proof #/25
1 – Souvenir Swatches
1 – Lime Green Parallel #/199

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