Random Wax: 2020 Donruss NASCAR

2020 Donruss NASCAR:  The 2023 NASCAR Championship race is today in Phoenix.  We'll kick this off with my favorite driver in the sport, Kyle Busch.  He's a two-time champion and knows a thing or two about the playoffs.  Unfortunately the playoffs weren't kind to him and was eliminated in the second round.  This is one of two optics from this pack.

Here we have a Silver Parallel and a Carolina Blue Parallel.  The design here is a pretty good one.  I do think the driver's car number would have looked good in the bottom right area but hey it's not bad.  The photos of the drivers are good ones.  That Danica is a really good-looking photo.  I like the retired greats in these sets.

Kyle Larson is one of the four drivers still left in the playoffs and could win the championship today.  I'm rooting for him. I think he's the best driver left and he is my pop's favorite driver as well.

I'm not a huge fan of the 1987 Donruss design but it does work for NASCAR with the colors and how they incorporated the tires in the border.

I'm a big fan of Contenders as well as Race Kings and both of these designs look good. That Keselowski is a Checkers Parallel.

These guys all looking cool with the sunglasses.  Top Tier is a nice-looking card and I like how they have the car as well as the driver on the card.

Chase Elliott is another favorite driver of mine, but he had a tough year including an injury and didn't make the playoffs.  This was a fun pack of cards.  I like my pull and this set.  Hoping for a good race today.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

12 – Retro 1987

5 – Cars

3 – Carolina Blue Parallels

2 – Optic

2 – Contenders

1 – Top Tier

1 – Race Kings

1 – Rated Rookie

1 – Silver Parallel

1 – Checkers Parallel

 

Random Wax: 2020 Donruss NASCAR

 2020 Donruss NASCAR: Picked this pack up last March and finally getting around to posting it which seems to be how I do things.  The guys and gals are in Texas this week at the road course so they are turning left and right today.  We'll kick it off with Dale Jr.  One of the most favorite drivers of all-time he also has a great show, also available as podcast, which is a must watch.  It's called Dale Jr. Download and he has plenty of great guests and it does a great job of mixing past greats, current drivers, and others in the sport.

Zane Smith is a favorite of mine.  He's still in the truck series but has already won two races this season including yesterday in Texas.  I never complain about Dale Jr. cards. 

I'm a big Chase Elliott fan so pulling a couple of his cards is always a treat.

I don't think Brittney Zamora is still racing at the top levels of NASCAR but it's always fun to see the ladies represented in cards.  Folks are really rooting for them.  Hailie Deegan is in the truck series right now.  Kurt Busch is definitely a guy I never rooted for early in his career but I really like now.  He won the championship in 2004 and is fifth in points this year at the age of 43.

Lots of speculation about whether or not this is Harvick's last year at age forty-six but dude has been in the top five at seasons end for five straight years.  He was the 2014 champion.  I wonder if anyone told Sam Mayer they were going to use his 7th grade photo for his card.

Martin Truex Jr. is another guy I like.  Bass Pro Shops seems to have been his sponsor forever.  He was the 2017 champ. Donruss NASCAR is always fun.  Plenty of variety to include retired greats, young drivers and different designs. 

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
8 – Retro 1987
6 – Retired Greats
3 – Car Cards
3 – Rated Rookie
3 – Carolina Blue Parallels
2 - Optic
2 – Race Kings
2 – Elite Series
1 – Silver Parallel
1 – Aero Package
1 – Action Packed

2020 Donruss NASCAR Race Kings Set

2020 Donruss NASCAR: The Championship race is today for NASCAR. Chase Elliott (reigning champion), Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin are the four drives competing for the 2021 crown.  I'll be rooting for Elliott who is one my favorite drivers in the sport and is very popular with fans as a whole.

I enjoy the "Kings" of all the Donruss sets.  I picked this one up on eBay.  It harkens back to 1987 with that retro Donruss design.  Not a favorite of mine back in the day but I think it works here with the black and tires in the gray border areas.

Kyle Busch is my favorite driver but he just missed the cut in the last round of playoffs.

I like that Richard Petty is included here.  The King is an appropriate inclusion.  

Martin Truex Jr. has had a really good year and should show well on Sunday as he goes for the championship.  He has one championship already under his belt.  

If Elliott doesn't win I hope Hamlin does.  He's been so good for a long time but never been able to score a championship.  Kyle Larson will be the favorite out of the four drivers.  He has been so dominant this year.  If he wins it will be well deserved.  Can't wait for the race today and I'll call my pop and watch the end of the race with him like I do every week.

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
3 – Retired Greats

Random Wax: 2020 Donruss NASCAR

 2020 Donruss NASCAR: I was out for a long drive yesterday with the music up and ran by a Wal-Mart I haven't been to in years.  Found me some 2020 and 2021 Donruss NASCAR fat packs which made me really happy.  We'll kick this pack off with the reigning NASCAR champion on this checkerboard parallel Contenders insert.  Chase Elliott is having a good start to the season currently sitting in fourth place after four races.

This set's base card design is shown on that Clint Bowyer card while the Retro 1987 cards have almost the same amount of cards within the set.  I think the black borders and race wheels in the gray border really work even though I'm not a big fan of that design on the original 1987 baseball set.

Simple but good looking car cards.

I enjoy seeing retired greats in the set like we do here on that gray looking silver parallel of Michael Waltrip.  The Sorenson and Almirola cards are Carolina Blue parallels while Almirola's card is also one of the Optics that collectors like finding in these sets.

The Top Tier inserts are nice looking cards working in the driver and the car.  Another retired great, Hall of Famer and two-time champion Terry Labonte.  I'm a big fan of the Race Kings cards as well as all the "Kings" cards across the different Donruss sets.  Fun pack.  Plenty of good drivers and a nice surprise find these.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
11 – Retro 1987
4 – Retired Greats
3 – Carolina Blue Parallels
2 – Contenders
1 – Top Tier
1 – Race Kings
1 – Silver Parallel
1 – Checkers Parallel

2020 Donruss Racing Hobby Box w/Auto and Relics

2020 Donruss Racing:  Working from home means I don't get to a Target so I don't get to find these in the wild.  NASCAR was the first sport to return and it really has been fun.  It now has to compete with the other sports but I'll still tune in each week.  This box came from Blowout Cards.  The last NASCAR hobby box I picked up was in 2017.  I felt that box was a bit repetitive and boring.  This box didn't have those problems.  There was plenty of variety, good designs and fun cards.  This Hailie Deegan was the best card in the box.  #/99 this green parallel can pay for 2/3 the cost of a hobby box.  She is extremely popular and there's hope she can someday star at the Cup level.

 The base design is good for me.  There are 75 cards that look like this.  The photos are good shots of the drivers.  Nothing too special but fit the bill.

 Retired greats are a big part of this set.  With the list of active drivers being small adding these guys is needed and fun.  NASCAR trading cards weren't a thing back in the day so many of these guys would never had been on a card had it not been for the Panini Donruss sets.

 The base set is 200 cards but 125 of those are parts of subsets.  These Retro 1987 cards are a design I like. I can't say it was my favorite back in the day but I like it here. 

 More retired greats included.

 Each design also has photos of the driver's cars.  As this is what you see 95% of the time on race day this is how fans identify with drivers and they are great inclusions.  Some of the NASCAR sets included "action shots" of pit stops which is a good idea and would have been nice to see here.

 There are plenty of parallels to be had in the set and it felt like I pulled a ton.  These are part of the 25 or so I pulled.  There is also one Optic in each pack.  

 Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott are both favorite drivers of mine so these two relics were great pulls for me.  Gray Gaulding is a young driver who really hasn't done much but there's still time for him to do something.

 Terry Labonte and Jeff Burton are two retired greats whom I'm a fan of.  Terry is a former champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer.  Another Hailie Deegan card which is a good thing nowadays. 

 I like both of these inserts as we get to see the cars again.  I think the Aero Package is my favorite. 

 I'm a Contenders brand guy so I really like that insert and the Top Tier is a nice insert too.  Pulling Danica is always fun.  The Elite Series insert is OK but seems a bit bland.

 I love the "Kings" cards across the Donruss sports brands and Race Kings is no different.  Bubba Wallace was a great pull for me.  The Retro Series gives us a look at drivers from their past.  I like that and like the 80's Miami Vice vibe.  I enjoyed the heck out of this box.  Tons of variety and good designs really made this a win.  We'll finish it all off with The King Richard Petty.  

BREAKDOWN:

 192 – Total Cards

12 – Silver Parallel
10 Race Kings
5 – Rated Rookie
5 – Red Parallel #/299
3 - Classics
3 – Top Tier
3 – Elite Series
3 – Retro Series
3 – Contenders
3 – Aero Packages
3 – Blue Parallel #/199
2 – New Age
2 - Dominators
2 – Action Packed
2 – Green Parallel #/99
2 – Holographic Parallel #/199
1 – Signature Series
1 – Race Day Relic
1 - Retro 1987 Relic
1 – Pink Parallel #/25
1 – Purple Parallel #/49
-24 – Total Optic-
7 – Retro 1987
3 – Illusions
2 – Race Kings
1 – Rated Rookie