Random Wax: 2024 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box - 6 Packs

2024 NASCAR:  Kyle Larson is in the midst of a mid-season slump, but he already has three wins this year and is probably still looked at as the best all-around driver in NASCAR.  He's also the 2021 NASCAR Champion.

Bubba is fighting for his playoff life right.  He's one of my favorite drivers.  Jeff Burton is retired and an announcer now but having retired greats in these sets is something I really enjoy.  Chastain has won a race and is in the playoffs.  I'm not a fan of the '91 Donruss design but I do like it better on parallels like the Blue Parallel.

Denny Hamlin is having a great year with three wins, and many are hoping he'll get his first championship.  I'd be fine with that.  I think he's one of the few great personalities in the sport which it is lacking right now.  The photo is too small here but overall, I like the design on Burning Rubber.

The Retro Series inserts are fun and od have a retro vibe to them.  Bill Elliott (retired legend) drove with McDonald's as his sponsor for a really long time.  I like the 2024 Race Kings.  Plenty of color and while the driver is really prominent, we also get to see his car.

These Picture-Perfect Victory cards are a fun way to highlight wins by the drivers.

Here we see the standard 2024 Donruss design utilized. It's okay but again the extra color on the Purple Parallel #/99 looks better.  I really like the Cole Custer photo.

I like how the Production Line inserts highlight how many times a driver has won the championship and overall is a good-looking card.

One optic card per pack.  That Erik Jones card is a Black Velocity Parallel #/39.

These car photo cards are good.  I like them but I do wish we could see them in other spots other than just on the track alone.  I know it's limited what they can do when taking photos of cars but I think there is room for variety.

Dominators inserts don't scream dominator to me.  Feels like they could have done more.

I like Unleashed.  As always, I wish there was more variety in the animals behind the driver.  They are the same on every card.

Fun packs of cards.  I still haven't decided if I'll pick up a 2025 hobby box this year.  I'm reevaluating my collecting so it's still TBD.  We'll end it with my favorite driver in NASCAR, Kyle Busch in a nice photo.

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
15 – Retro ‘91
8 – Retired Greats
6 – Optic
4 – Red and Blue Parallel
3 – Cars
2 – Retro Series
1 - Unleashed
1 – Race Kings
1 – Dominators
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Base Variation
1 – Burning Rubber
1 – Production Line
1 - Red Xplosion #/99
1 – Blue Parallel #/199
1 – Purple Parallel #/99
1 – Black Velocity Parallel #/39

Random Wax: 2024 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box - 6 Packs with Relics

2024 Donruss:  We go racing today as the 2025 NASCAR season starts at Daytona.  Dale Jr. is still very relevant in the sport today.  His company Dirty Mo Media has many media efforts including podcasts and he will be an announcer for TNT and Amazon Prime in 2025.  He will be on 10 races I think during the summer months.

As part of this set we get Retro '91 cards.  Not a favorite design of mine but maybe a car number or some type of logo would help.  Lots of parallels in this set including this Purple Parallel #/99 of Dale Jr.

The Car cards are fun.  We get to see the sponsors.  I do wish we could see more action here.  Maybe add some "Track Action" inserts showing spins, wrecks or major moments from the sport.

The base design is a bit meh to me.  The tire tracks do work but the gray and lines just don't work.  Give me a little car, a car number, or some type of logo and maybe this works better.  Just kind of bland as is.

I like Unleashed which goes vertical in 2024.  Again, the cards I'm showing off today are from six packs from my 2024 hobby box.

My two Red Parallel Suited Up Swatches.  Christopher Bell was 5th in the 2025 standings, and it was his third year being in the top 5.  Alex Labbe drove a total of 10 races in the Xfinity series and NASCAR Canada series.  

Nice combo cards with Production Line inserts where we get to see both the driver and car as well as pertinent stat like 93 wins for one of the all-time greats, Jeff Gordon which is 3rd all-time.

We get a Red Xplosion Parallel #/99 on one of my two Dominators inserts.  The Retro Series logo does say Retro, but I'd like to see something else on the card to help us get that feel.

Season Highlights card.

I do like these.  Plenty of color and we get the driver and car on the card fronts.  FedEx will not be a NASCAR sponsor for the first time in forever.  This is a big loss for the #11 Denny Hamlin team who has had FedEx as a sponsor for a long time.

We'll end this post with a Burning Rubber insert which gives me some of the action I'm wanting to see and this really cool looking Black Velocity Prizm Optic Parallel #/39 of Rajah Caruth.  Caruth finished 7th in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2024.  Enjoy the race today.  I'm excited for the season to start!

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
16 – Retired Greats
6 – Optic
3 – Season Highlights
2 – Cars
2 – Race Kings
2 – Dominators
2 – Suited Up Swatches Red
1 – Unleashed
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Burning Rubber
1 – Production Line
1 – Purple Parallel #/99
1 – Red Xplosion Parallel #/99
1 - Black Velocity Prizm Optic Parallel #/39

Random Wax: 2024 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box - 6 Packs

 2024 Donruss:  NASCAR starts the Round of 12 this weekend in Kansas so we'll do some racing.  Kyle Busch, my favorite driver isn't in the playoffs this season, but as a two-time champion in the sport he's seen plenty of playoff races.

Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin moved on to the round of five. Logano won a race early the Round of 16 to guarantee his spot in the next round while Hamlin needed a 4th place finish to get into the Round of 12.

After most of his career with Joe Gibbs racing, Busch started anew with Childress Racing last year.

1986 Topps isn't a design I appreciate that much.  Overall the 2024 Donruss base and '86 designs leave me wanting more.  I do like the Red and Blue Parallels.  The extra color makes a big difference to me.

I enjoy the car cards even if the design isn't a favorite. At least some of the elements of the card have a tire track feel to it.  Chase Elliott is my driver in the playoffs.  I think he has a shot at the championship but with three more round to go that's not an easy task.

Optics fall one per pack.  Decker didn't make it to the highest level of NASCAR but the sport has hopes other young female drivers will make it there in the near future.

I do like this design.  Good look at the driver, former champion Matt Kenseth, and his car.

Bubba Wallace is one of my other favorite drivers.  He didn't make the playoffs but just signed an extension with 23XI Racing and owner/driver Denny Hamlin.  Dale Jarrett is another retired great and past champion.

Another Red and Blue Parallel.  The colors might not work with the yellow Penzoil scheme per se but I still like it.

Chris Buescher won a thrilling race two weeks ago against road course specialist New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen.  I like the design on this insert.

One the all-time greats, Kevin Harvick knew all too well about the playoffs.

Danica Patrick is most successful female driver in the sport driving five full-time seasons at the Cup level.  GoDaddy.com was her main sponsor for the majority of her career.  Kasey Kahne and Bill Elliott were extremely popular drivers in their different times in the sport.  Elliott would win one championship and finish top 10 in the standings eight times.

Another retired great and fan favorite in Dale Jr.

Blaney will also compete in the Round of 12.  I like Unleashed but I wish they had different animals for each driver or moved them around for each.  Something to change things up.  I like the Race Kings cards and this year's design is one I like.  Fun cards overall.  Plenty of variety and a good mix of young drivers, current stars and retired greats.  Go Chase Elliott!

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
13 – Retro ‘91
12 – Retired Greats
6 – Optic
5 – Cars
5 – Season Highlights
3 – Red and Blue Parallel
2 – Race Kings
2 – Red Parallel #/299
1 - Unleashed
1 – Reto Series
1 – Dominators
1 – SP Variation
1 – Night Moves
1 – Production Line
1 – Burning Rubber
1 – Blue Parallel #/199
1 - Blue Xplosion Parallel #/49

2024 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box - 6 Packs with Autograph

2024 Donruss:  This hobby box showed up in the mail Friday.  I'll share the box in four different posts over time. We'll kick it off with Kyle Petty who looks perfect on this Retro '91 card.  Mello Yellow was also a sponsor on one of Cole Trickle's cars in the 1990 movie Days of Thunder.  It is a really fun movie and Tom Cruise plays driver Cole Trickle with Robert Duvall playing his crew chief.

This is the base design.  I'm not a fan.  Fairly bland overall.  Feels like they could have done so much here.  Add the car number under the driver's name.  Throw a tire or small car in the other corner. Something.  

There is one Optic per pack.  Nice pull of one of my favorite drivers, Bubba Wallace.

Plenty of young drivers in the set including this David Starr Red Parallel which is #/299.

Unleashed goes horizontal this year.  A little more color in those white areas would have been nice but I do like the design.  I would also like different animals on different Unleashed cards or move them around.  Something different.

Zane Smith, another favorite driver of mine, shows up on a Red and Blue Parallel.  Nice photos of Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth.  Jesse Love is a rookie in the Xfinity series and already has one win.  He is 19 years-old.  Rajah Caruth is currently ranked sixth in the Truck Series and also has one win on the season.

I like these Season Highlights inserts showcasing fun moments during the season.  Joey Logano is in the winner's circle after winning at Atlanta.

More Optic including my autograph.  Myatt Snider doesn't currently have a full-time ride at any level.  Optics mirror other cards within the set.

Another Red and Blue Parallel.  I like the multi-color parallel from what I've seen so far.  Lots of color on this car card.  I like that photo of Tyler Reddick's Monster Engergy #45.  Two hundred cards in this set, not including inserts, with the breakout below.

Base                                    1-75

Cars                                     76-93

Rated Rookies                     94-100

Retro 1991 – #                    101-170

Season Highlights               171-190

Race Kings                          191-200

A couple more inserts.  Too much dead space on the Retro Series inserts but otherwise I like where they were going with it.  Dominators is fine but not a lot going on there.

I enjoy the retired greats in these sets and here we get one of the all-time greats in 7X NASCAR Cup Champion, Jimmie Johnson.  I like the Production Line inserts.  Simple but I like the design and having the driver and cars on the front.

I'm a fan of Race Kings and this year's design is a win for me.  I like the color and the car in the background.  Maybe a little over the top but still good.

Not as much smoke as I'd like to see on a Burning Rubber insert but I still like it.  The design styling works for me.

Fun cards.  Not every design is a hit but overall, I enjoy the set and drivers.  Some more retired greats to help end it.

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
15 – Retro ‘91
10 – Retired Greats
7 – Optic
4 – Cars
3 – Race Kings
3 – Red and Blue Parallel
2 – Retro Series
2 – Rated Rookie
2 – Season Highlights
1 – RC
1 - Unleashed
1 – Dominators
1 – Burning Rubber
1 – Production Line
1 – Red Parallel #/299
1 – Blue Parallel #/199
1 – Base Optic Signatures #/25