First, thanks to Press Pass for the box to review!!! :-)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/pet_midget/box.png

20 packs per box
5 cards per pack

The 2008 Wheels American Thunder has a 90 card base set with the last five being rookie autographs. With this box we almost got a full set. Only missing 7 of the regular base -no rookie autographs. Only one duplicate.

The set starts off with Sprint Cup Series Drivers.Then it goes into Running Mates which shows each driver on a team. Next the base set goes into the Campaign Headquarters cards tht show the team race shops. These are followed by Front Runners. These showcase the top drivers in the series for victories, poles, laps, points, etc. The Gaining Ground (2007 vs. 2008) part of the set let us see the drivers that have made improvements from the previous year. Popular Vote gives us cards of some of Nascar's more popular drivers. Next would be the Oval Office cards. These show several drivers with President George W. Bush; which is pretty cool. And finally there are the Future Leaders cards. These are autographs of this year's rookies.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/pet_midget/base.png

Now on to the inserts..

The Delegates inserts replace last year's Starting Grid. This set includes 25 cards. The American Dream return again this year looking even better than last year. The American Dream also include a gold version /250. A new insert is included this year replaceing American Muscle which is the Motorcade set. This is a 9 card set that looks really nice. Campaign Trail cards are similar to last year's Thunder Road.

American Dream: (3) 4 Kyle Busch, 10 Mark Martin, 11 Jimmie Johnson
American Dream /250: (1) 7 Jeff Burton 125/250
Motorcade: (2) 4 Bobby Labonte, 7 Tony Stewart
Delegates: (10) 3 Clint Bowyer, 4 Jeff Burton, 5 Kurt Busch, 10 Michael McDowell, 11 Casey Mears, 13 David Reutimann, 16 Tony Stewart, 23 Erik Darnell, 24 Ron Hornaday, 21 Scott Wimmer
Campaign Trail: (2) 1 Kyle Busch, 2 Martin Truex Jr.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/pet_midget/inserts.png


Also included in WAT are Triple and Double Hats which give pieces of driver worn hats -Manufacturer, Sprint, & Team. There are also Cool Threads which have a piece of race used shirts on them. /285 Next is the Head to Toe that has a piece of hat & shoe. These are /125. The final race used set would be Pushin Pedal. These are /99 and include a driver's shoe.

Triple Hat: (1) Dale Jarrett 63/99
Doulble Hat: (0)
Cool Threads: (2) Aric Almirola 190/285, David Reutimann 237/285
Pushin Pedal: (0)
Head to Toe: (0)
Besides the Rookie Autograhs in the base set already mentioned, this year's WAT include a new one - Trackside Treasury. These are pretty nifty looking autos. To go along with them there is also a gold version /25.
Treasury Trackside: (1) Kyle Busch
Treasury Trackside Gold: (1) Cal Gale 18/25


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/pet_midget/ruauto2.png


Final Ratings (out of 5)
Base Set: 5
Fun: 4.5
Overall Design: 5
Value: 4.5
Rebuy: 4.5

Final Grade
23.5/25 (94%)

Overall I really liked this year's Wheel American Thunder. I like that they were a bit different than last year's. How the base/insert went along with the current election coming up was pretty cool. I really liked the Motorcade insert and how it mainly focuses on the driver and their car. The only thing that I didnt really care too much for was the Front Runners base cards. I like the concept of them but compared to the others I thought they were a little plain.


Ashley

That was a great break Ashley, I think that this years Thunder set as a whole has been the best yet for them. But that goes along with most thinking that this year as a whole has been outdone by none with everything that Press Pass has done in every set this year.

Great break with an even greater review of it, Ashley!

American Thunder is always a fan favorite it seems like every year, and Press Pass never disappoints with it! Press Pass has done such a great job overall this year, I wonder how they are going to top it next year? Only time will tell I guess! So, thank you Press Pass for putting out some of the best racing cards!

Darin

Nice review. Nice to see there are hot boxes out there and I haven't heard of anyone getting shorted on hits, so that's a huge plus. I like the Campaign theme this year. Nice to see tradition of the Skidmarks style cards carried on, but I wonder, could we see a Sheet Metal version of this card in the future? Now, that would be a set I'd love to have...

very nice review Ashley, I also think a sheet metal version of the skidmarks cards would be very cool...Thanks Ed

Nice review. Nice to see there are hot boxes out there and I haven't heard of anyone getting shorted on hits, so that's a huge plus. I like the Campaign theme this year. Nice to see tradition of the Skidmarks style cards carried on, but I wonder, could we see a Sheet Metal version of this card in the future? Now, that would be a set I'd love to have...

That would be a pretty neat addition! And something different.

Ashley

I like the red, white & blue – starts & stripes theme. The political side of it I didn’t like at first – but it’s kinda grown on me. There were some awesome multi colors on the Triple Hats. The Trackside Treasury Autographs look great

Nice review Ashley.