The 2019 racing card season got started in February with the release of 2019 Donruss Racing. This marks the third consecutive year Panini is using the Donruss Brand as part of their Racing offerings, solidifying the perception that Donruss is becoming the “flagship” racing product for them.

The Basics

Hobby boxes will once again contain 24 packs, however, this year each pack will only have eight cards.  Last year, packs contained ten cards.  It seems on average each pack contains five base cards and a combination of three inserts and parallels.  In addition, each box promises one autograph and two relics.

This year’s base set contains 175 cards made up of a combination of base cards and a variety of subsets.  Race Kings are back again, Retro Rated Rookies bring a historic twist on the iconic Rated Rookie designation.  Retro ‘86 continues the trend of using classic Donruss designs on a portion of the set, and finally, the Legends subset brings attention to some of the biggest names in the history of NASCAR.  In addition, 25 cards have a nickname variation.  

This year also marks the introduction of the Optic line to Racing!  Collectors will find one Optic card in each pack which will be used to build a 90 card base Optic set and a 10 card Optic insert set.  Will we see a stand alone Optic set in future years?  Time will tell!

The insert set lineup could be mistaken for 2019 Panini Chronicles - Racing Edition.  Action Packed, Classics, Contenders, and Originals all bring a racing twist to other Panini releases. Top Tier and Next In Line are back again for another year, and Champion, Decades of Speed, and Icons are new inserts this year.

Parallels for all base and inserts can be found at a variety of numbered and non-numbered levels.  There are seven parallels for base cards, five for the Optic line, and three for the inserts.

The autograph checklist runs deep with almost 150 different possible cards to pull, and most have multiple parallels as well.  The relic checklist is a little more limited with Signature Swatches, Retro Relics, and Race Day Relics as the only options.

Box Break

Here’s a video of one of my two hobby boxes.

I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t put together a full base set after busting two hobby boxes. I had a lot of doubles, and even some triples somehow. I’m going to have to pick one up on eBay and I’ll be selling off all these cards on Sportlots.

The Johnson, Byron, and Blaney relics I pulled are pretty cool, and I’m happy with the Almirola and Waltrip Autos. I really like the insert lineup this year, especially after seeing them in person. I like the Classics and Action Packed versions the most.

Overall, it was a fun break. I just wish I could have put together the base set with the two boxes.

I have so much fun collecting racing!  Getting cards of the guys I’m using every week on DraftKings is awesome.  Plus, with less popularity comes lower prices.  You can get some amazing products for a fairly low cost.

You can get these hobby boxes at a pretty reasonable price, but it’s hard to beat getting a complete set for about $15 delivered!

If you are a racing fan, I think you are going to enjoy this product.

Base Set Checklist

Race Kings

1 Jimmie Johnson
2 Brad Keselowski
3 Martin Truex Jr.
4 Kevin Harvick
5 Kyle Busch
6 Kurt Busch
7 Richard Petty
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr
9 Bill Elliott
10 Dale Jarrett
11 Darrell Waltrip
12 Joey Logano
13 Rusty Wallace
14 Tony Stewart
15 Terry Labonte

Retro Rated Rookies

16 Jimmie Johnson
17 Richard Petty
18 Danica Patrick
19 Terry Labonte
20 Dale Jarrett
21 Bobby Labonte
22 Carl Edwards
23 Michael Waltrip
24 Rusty Wallace
25 Darrell Waltrip

Base

26 Austin Cindric
27 Corey LaJoie
28 Mark Martin
29 Terry Labonte
30 Martin Truex Jr.
31 Chase Elliott
32 Trevor Bayne
33 Ryan Truex
34 Richard Petty
35 John Hunter Nemechek
36 Jeremy Clements
37 David Ragan
38 Bubba Wallace
39 Danica Patrick
40 Michael Annett
41 Alex Bowman
42 Daniel Suarez
43 Clint Bowyer
44 Ricky Stenhouse Jr
45 Michael McDowell
46 Ross Chastain
47 Rusty Wallace
48 Jimmie Johnson
49 Joey Logano
50 Kyle Busch
51 Ryan Reed
52 Aric Almirola
53 Erik Jones
54 Ryan Blaney
55 Darrell Waltrip

56 Brad Keselowski
57 Daniel Hemric
58 Tyler Reddick
59 Matt Tifft
60 Kevin Harvick
61 Ty Dillon
62 Jamie McMurray
63 Denny Hamlin
64 Kasey Kahne
65 Tony Stewart
66 Kurt Busch
67 Elliott Sadler
68 Justin Allgaier
69 Dale Jarrett
70 Kyle Larson
71 Christopher Bell
72 Dale Earnhardt Jr
73 Austin Dillon
74 Matt Kenseth
75 Cole Custer
76 Brandon Jones
77 Paul Menard
78 Cole Whitt
79 Chris Buescher
80 Matt DiBenedetto
81 Ryan Newman
82 William Byron
83 Bill Elliott
84 Carl Edwards
85 Johnny Sauter

Cars

86 Jimmie Johnson
87 Martin Truex Jr.
88 Kyle Busch
89 Kevin Harvick
90 Brad Keselowski
91 Joey Logano
92 Aric Almirola
93 Kyle Larson
94 Chase Elliott
95 Austin Dillon
96 Alex Bowman
97 Ryan Blaney
98 Clint Bowyer
99 Erik Jones
100 Danica Patrick

1986 Retro Subset

101 Danica Patrick
102 Dale Earnhardt Jr
103 Carl Edwards
104 Richard Petty
105 Tony Stewart
106 Jimmie Johnson
107 Kevin Harvick
108 Chase Elliott
109 Ryan Blaney
110 Bubba Wallace
111 Martin Truex Jr.
112 Kyle Busch
113 Brad Keselowski
114 Joey Logano
115 Aric Almirola
116 Kyle Larson
117 Kurt Busch
118 Austin Dillon
119 Alex Bowman
120 Clint Bowyer
121 Erik Jones
122 Denny Hamlin
123 Ryan Newman
124 Paul Menard
125 Ricky Stenhouse Jr
126 Daniel Suarez
127 Jamie McMurray
128 William Byron
129 Chris Buescher
130 David Ragan

131 Michael McDowell
132 Kasey Kahne
133 Ty Dillon
134 Matt DiBenedetto
135 Trevor Bayne
136 Matt Kenseth
137 Corey LaJoie
138 Cole Whitt
139 Christopher Bell
140 Daniel Hemric
141 Justin Allgaier
142 Ross Chastain
143 Elliott Sadler
144 Matt Tifft
145 Tyler Reddick
146 Brandon Jones
147 Cole Custer
148 Ryan Truex
149 Austin Cindric
150 Ryan Reed
151 Michael Annett
152 Jeremy Clements
153 John Hunter Nemechek
154 Mark Martin
155 Dale Jarrett
156 Rusty Wallace
157 Bill Elliott
158 Darrell Waltrip
159 Terry Labonte
160 Harry Gant

Retired Legends

161 Carl Edwards
162 Dale Earnhardt Jr
163 Dale Jarrett
164 Bobby Labonte
165 Mark Martin
166 Terry Labonte
167 Rusty Wallace
168 Bobby Allison
169 Richard Petty
170 Darrell Waltrip
171 Tony Stewart
172 Bill Elliott
173 Harry Gant
174 Ned Jarrett
175 Wally Dallenbach