[dunnere]

With 2018 Panini Victory Lane Racing Hobby Box set to hit shelves May 23, the cut sheet for the release makes the following claim:

Find a Top 6 Driver Autograph in EVERY CASE!

Which led me to wonder - which drivers are considered the Top Six drivers?

So, I did a little bit of research, purely unscientific and very briefly, to figure out for myself what this might mean.

Martin Truex Jr. is clearly a Top Six driver in the series, but as far as being a force in collecting? Not so much. If you just do a quick check of Completed listings on eBay, Martin Truex has hundreds of cards that, if I collected him, I would consider steals. Auto cards, Mem cards, insert and variation cards that go without bids, listed at prices that are way below what you expect.

Kyle Busch is probably the Top driver in NASCAR right now (certainly a Top Six driver). He does seem to sell better than Truex, but I found a 2010 Kyle Busch #18 Spellbound Swatches "U" #09/18 that sold BIN for $10. That's a pretty good price on that. I found a 2004 Press Pass Signings KYLE BUSCH Auto RC /50 that is listed with a BIN of $75 that remains unsold. Surprising? Maybe that is a bit on the high side, but still... How about a Kyle Busch 2004 Wheels Autograph card CarQuest and a Kyle Busch 2004 Wheels Autograph card Lowe's, each with BIN of $43. What a great pair of RC Autos. If those were Tony Stewart RCs, I probably would have gotten all three...and then there is a 2009 KYLE BUSCH AUTO PRESS PASS PREMIUM SIGNATURES listed for $20 that I might just get to get even though I don't collect Kyle Busch, just because it is such a great card.

What about Kevin Harvick? Well, a KEVIN HARVICK/CLINT BOWYER 2017 ABSOLUTE TEAM TANDEMS DUAL RELIC AUTO # 6/15 just sold for $31. I need to start looking at SHR drivers, because that is a steal. A 2017 Panini Donruss Gold Foil Autograph Kevin Harvick Auto #16/25 for $30? Not a bad price, I guess, when you compare it to the 2016 National Treasures Racing KEVIN HARVICK QUAD RELIC AUTO #5/25 that sold for $18.50 (with 12 bids on it...how is that possible?). A National Treasures Quad Relic Auto #/25 for under $20??? Are you serious?


My point is, these are absolutely the Top Three drivers in NASCAR right now, and their premium cards do not command nearly the value that they should. The 1 of 1 cards and maybe the sick patch auto cards do get a little bit of run, but for the most part I think there are a lot of cards available at pretty reasonable values that it really makes it difficult to justify paying premium dollars to break boxes.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.