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

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

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

2025 Donruss:  Kevin Harvick is one of the all-time greats in the sport.  He finished his career with 60 wins, 1 championship and finished top five in the season standings 5 times.  He's also a really good announcer and his podcast is a fun watch.  NASCAR is in Charlotte tonight for the Coca-Cola 600.

Ty Gibbs on this Red & Blue Parallel.  He got his first career win this season and has been very consistent after a rough start to the season.  Overall, this design doesn't do much for me and I find this year's set boring.  The 2026 set is supposed to bump up the card totals and hopefully bring back some of the fun.

The backs are fine but without a different photo it feels redundant.  We also need stats.  NASCAR is easy for stats.

You get one Optic per pack.  That Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a Gold Parallel #10.

This Pedal to the Metal is #/99.  Checklist says it is a Red Parallel.  Is it really?  I do like this relic.

Coming Attractions, Season Highlights, Unleashed.  I like all three of these inserts.  That coming attraction is a Red Parallel #/99.  I like Unleashed the most but wish they had different backgrounds for different drivers or at least some variety.

That Matt Kenseth isa Red Parallel #/299.  I like that the set includes retired greats like Kenseth.  Zane Smith is one of my favorite drivers.  He's had an uneven third year of driving in the Cup Series but has seen some promising finishes.

This may appeal to some, but I don't get Spellbound.  It won't look right on a page of cards so I'm not sure what display options it would give you. 

And some Rated Rookies.  Yep, the Frankie Muniz from Malcom in the Middle.  After dominating much of the O'Reilly series (minor leagues) season last year, Connor Zilisch was the most anticipated rookie this season.

BREAKDOWN:
32 – Total Cards
5 – Rated Rookie
4 – Optic
4 – Retired Greats
3 – Red and Blue Parllel
1 - Unleashed
1 – Spellbound
1 – Gold Parallel #/10

1 - Red Parallel #/299
1 – Season Highlights
1 – Coming Attraction
1 – Pedal to the Metal Relic

Random Wax: 2023 Donruss Racing Hobby Box (Part Three)

2023 Donruss:   4X NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon also finished top 5 in the standings 10X.  And he looks cool in his DuPont flames fire suit.

Third time I'm sharing different cards from this hobby box.  It was a fun box of cards.  Tons of variety, great drivers from all eras, across the different levels and some nice designs.

I'm a big 1990 Donruss guy so these are right in my wheelhouse.  Kyle Larson is 2X NASCAR Champion as well as the reigning champ.

Cool looking Under the Lights insert which may also be a Holographic Parallel?  My bad.  I don't remember.

I always find Elite Series inserts a bit bland, but I like the 2023 design and the way they scan.

Metal Masters, Unleashed and Royalty inserts.  Kyle Busch is my favorite driver in the sport.  He's 40 and nearing the end of his career.  I'd really like to see him have a good season before retiring.  He hasn't finished inside the top 15 in year-end points since 2023.  I like Unleashed.

Always enjoy the car shots.  Unfortunately, they didn't put cars shots in the 2025 set.  Big loss.  They are racing in Martinsville today.  There is some information out now on the 2026 set which is set to release next month.  I like the design and the base set has doubled in size from 2025.  I'm looking forward to it.

With NASCAR's 75th anniversary, they went with a diamond thing going on.  Not my favorite look for Race Kings/Race Queens.  Hailie Deegan is back in NASCAR after a year trying other opportunities.  She's driving in the Arca Menards Series which is NASCAR's lower tier.

That Red Parallel #/299 is one of 3 I pulled in the box.  I like the color it added to the card.  The Labonte and Gant are Silver Parallels.  Terry Labonte was a 2X NASCAR Champion winning in 1984 and 1996.

I really do like these Under the Lights.  We get to see the car, the driver and a good design that scans well.  Kevin Harvick is an all-time great, 1X Champion, and a good listen on the Fox broadcasts and Fox podcast.  His 60 wins have him 11th all-time behind current driver and owner Denny Hamlin.

BREAKDOWN:
192 –Total Cards
60 – 1990 Donruss
34 – Retired Greats
24 – Optic
23 –Race Kings
15 – Silver Parallel
8 – Cars (Basic)
6 – Elite Series
6 – Rated Rookie
4 – Unleashed
4 – Under the Lights
3 – Royalty
3 – Metal Masters
3 – Red Parallel #/299
2 – Revved Up
2 – Power Squad
2 – Race Day Relic
2 – Green Parallel #/99
2 – Navy Blue Parallel #/199
2 – Holographic Parallel #/199
1 – Marvels
1 – Monikers Auto
1 – Red Parallel #/250
1 – Purple Parallel #/49

2025 Favorite Cards and Action Figure

 

These favorite cards posts are one I look forward to every year.  This Eric Dickerson card takes top honors this year.  I really like the colors, the photo, it's a simple design, and the great look at Dickerson's eyes and goggles.  In June I posted this card and other Dickerson cards I got in a Eric Dickerson card lot on eBay.  There are a few good-looking cards in the lot.

This Giannis was close behind.  I thought this 2021-2022 Donruss card did a great job with the photo and subtle design elements making it feel like a show.  It was posted in March.

This 1992 Pro Set Racing card is one of Jeff Gordon's first cards and a big reason I picked up some packs to open.  It's very simple but a card I like.  This one was also posted in March.  

Cards found in this post are cards I posted in 2025.  I'll show of my favorite from each sport and non-sport as well as my favorite action figure.  Why I like them or choose them can be random and it doesn't matter if they are old or new.  

This cool looking card is from a 2024 Upper Deck Marvel Studios Series 2 Cinematic blaster that I also posted in March.  I like the retro lunchbox vibe, and the colors and design really work for me.  I like it.

This 2025 Topps Elly De La Cruz I showed off in August has a nice photo and framing.  A really good use of the horizontal cards from Topps.

This 2022-2023 Upper Deck Trevor Moore was in a June post.  I didn't post much hockey this year, but I kept coming back to this card.  It's the intensity of the bench players that really draws me in here.  Good job Upper Deck.

This Topps Chrome Rhea Ripley was posted in February.  Ripley is very photogenic, and this made for an easy pick.

This Baylan Skoll figure looks really good.  I posted him in May along with Shin Hati, both of the Ahsoka series.  He really captures the actor's looks and is a great addition to the collection.

These are so much fun. Everyone have a fun and safe New Year's Eve!