RACING
Richard Petty
2023 Panini Prizm
White Sparkle #16
CGC Grade: GEM MT 10
The base set lays the foundation for the product, offering standard racer cards as well as subsets that dig deeper into the vehicles they drive. Like everything Prizm, it’s a chromium product, and being chrome means a generous assortment of parallels. The rainbows here are a mix of both colors and background patterns. White sparkle parallels are exclusive to the Panini website. Sometimes you can only purchase them with panini points and other times you can outright buy them. The price depends on the product. Panini doesn’t release a print run but people say there are about 20-30 copies of each player. It is common belief that they are super short printed. This would be one of those examples.
“The King, as he is widely known, Richard Petty is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, having statistically been one of the most accomplished drivers in the history of the sport. He competed for 35 seasons from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series).
Matt Kenseth #CB4
2023 Panini Prizm
Color Blast
CGC Grade: Pristine 10
Returning for a seventh year of chromium cards, 2023 Panini Prizm Racing NASCAR includes a selection of Optichrome parallels, inserts and autographs all dedicated to the stars of the track. The “Color Blast” set includes only 5 drivers, from Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick to Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Color Blast cards are some of the most eye-catching cards that Panini has ever created, and not only are they beautiful cards – they’re valuable cards, too. They’re an SSP, meaning they’re exceptionally tough pulls that have been as tough to find as one per case or even one per x-many cases. Color Blast cards are pretty close to “Kaboom” and “Downtown” cards in many ways: they’re artistic, they’re hard to pull, and they’re often very valuable. However, one of the most significant differences is that they haven’t been around for as long In fact, Colorblasts first hit the market in 2019 and have since been a tremendously popular super-short print or SSP.
Matt Kenseth advanced to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2000, and winning the final Winston Cup championship in 2003. Kenseth secured a rain-shortened victory at the Daytona 500 in 2009, and captured a second Daytona 500 title in 2012. As of 2022, he remains the last driver to compete in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race across four consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s).
Toni Breidinger
2023 National Treasures
Signatures – Silver
On-card autograph
Numbered 1-of-10
CGC Card Grade: GEM MT 10
CGC Auto Grade: 10
2023 Panini National Treasures NASCAR Racing highlights some of the best racers past and present. But, so do most of Panini’s products. What sets this one apart? It’s super-premium content that runs through all parts of the checklist. Hobby boxes contain just eight NT cards. However, all but one are hits — four autographs and three memorabilia cards. On-card ink is a central theme for National Treasures.
Breidinger formerly held the record for most United States Auto Club (USAC) wins for a female with 19. She also holds the record for the most top-tens of a female in any NASCAR series with 27 top-ten finishes. Toni competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 5 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage. In September of 20222, Breidinger announced that she was hired to be a model for Victoria’s Secret and participated in the VS 2023 Tour.
Jeb Burton
2022 National Treasures
Trackside Swatches 55-of-99
Dual race-used patches
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
Back for a third straight season, 2022 Panini National Treasures Racing NASCAR brought us autographs and relics. The Trackside Swatches set checklist included only 10 cards, all of which were serial numbered to 99. Popular drivers were Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric and Ty Dillon. This Jeb Burton card includes two, track-used materials from his ’22 season. In the prior nine years, Burton had raced in each of NASCAR’s three national series. Burton had a proven track record of successes including 1 win, 13 career Top 5’s, and 31 career Top 10 finishes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Ryan Vargas
2023 Chronicles
#CSRV Swatch
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
Back for a fourth year, 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing NASCAR kept the brands coming while offering a mix of card stocks, including chromium and acetate designs. Hobby boxes averaged three autographs and one relic.
Stock car racing driver Ryan Vargas competes full-time in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving the No. 30 Camaro for 3F Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 32 Camaro for Jordan Anderson Racing and No. 74 Chevrolet for Mike Harmon Racing. He also serves as the team and development director for 3F Racing.
Sammy Smith #DRU-SST
2023 National Treasures
Dual Race-Used Firesuits
Numbered 68-of-99
CGC Grade: GEM MT 10
The biggest program of the season arrived with 2023 National Treasures Racing! The hunt included ultra-rare Cut Signatures featuring pioneers, Hall of Fame drivers, and fan favorites from the 75 years of NASCAR. The firesuit memorabilia pieces are also a fan favorite which returned for the 2023 year.
Samuel Smith competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Camaro for JR Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 7 Silverado for Spire Motorsports. He previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series and won two consecutive Series East championships in 2021 and ’22. He also has competed in the CARS Tour, where he has driven for car owners Barry Nelson, Marcus Richmond and Donnie Wilson as well as Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Daniel Suarez #RU-DSZ
2023 National Treasures
Race-Used Shoes
Numbered 12-of-25
CGC Grade: GEM MT 10
Panini reports that: ‘The biggest NASCAR release of the year arrives with a tremendous amount of SUPER-PREMIUM autograph and memorabilia content, and they aren't wrong as this is pretty much the holy grail for NASCAR cards each year.”
Suarez competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 99 ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing and part-time Xfinity Series driving the No. 14 Camaro for SS-Green Light Racing. He previously drove in the Toyota Series in Mexico for Telcel Racing. Suarez is the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion with Joe Gibbs Racing, becoming the first foreign-born driver to win a major National Series championship.
Erik Jones #SEJ
2021 National Treasures
Silhouettes
Numbered 35-of-50
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
2021 Panini National Treasures Racing took the super-premium route. Not only did the checklist cater primarily to NASCAR autographs and memorabilia, but it did so with things like on-card signatures, lots of jumbo patches and small print runs for individual cards.
Jones competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 43 Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. His nicknames are EJ, his initials, and “That Jones Boy,” given to him by announcer Ken Squier. Until 2021, he had spent his entire career with Toyota, and while in their driver development program, he won the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. He would return to Toyota's NASCAR program in 2023 when Legacy Motor Club would switch their manufactural allegiance to them.
AJ Allmendinger
2023 Chronicles #SSAJ
Status Swatch
PSA Grade: GEM MT 10
Allmendinger's professional racing career began on the American open-wheel circuit. He earned five wins and third place overall in the 2006 Champ Car Season. He began with Team Red Bull, and later drove for Richard Petty Motorsports, Penske Racing, Phoenix Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing in the Cup Series. He became a part-time driver in the Xfinity Series and part-time television broadcaster for NBC. He also competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona for Michael Shank’s team in all but one year from 2006 to 2021, winning the event in 2012.
2023 Panini Chronicles NASCAR Racing had the line’s usual deep dive into the company’s portfolio. This time, though, collectors will find more super-premium content.. They also deliver a pair of Immaculate cards, which come from one of Panini’s highest end brands.