When I haven’t been covering the contentious NASCAR antitrust lawsuit that ultimately settled or contemplating the points format, I have been kicking back and relaxing, trying my best not to think of what lies ahead in February.
As a result, I spent a lot of time catching up with friends and watching other sports and programs. Naturally, my mind drifted back to the rising sound of engines once the command is received.
I talked with a few friends about an idea I had: comparing NASCAR drivers to cartoon characters.
They loved it and helped me out with it. One of them was Jey, one of our superb writers, and another was my close personal friend Kam, a former co-host of The Show Show, a podcast we did that focused on TV shows.
Our careful collaboration produced some interesting comparisons that I’m delighted to share with you now, starting with the tweet that kicked off this train of thought:
Connor Zilisch – SpongeBob SquarePants
Ever since Connor Zilisch popped up in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race with Spire Motorsports in early 2024, the 19-year-old wunderkind keeps finding ways to light the stock car scene on fire.
Whether he’s winning a Rolex after claiming a class victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona or rattling off seven wins in the span of eight races in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Zilisch makes his mark on the race track and in the record books, much like a little yellow sponge we all know and love.
Just like SpongeBob getting his start at the Krusty Krab in the pilot episode, Connor exhibited exceptional skill and talent in his profession right off the bat when he won his debut NOAPS race at Watkins Glen, and much like SpongeBob, he does it all with a big smile on his face that has endeared him to the fanbase.
It remains to be seen what Zilisch will be able to accomplish this season and beyond in the NASCAR Cup Series, but if he can further his meteoric rise, he could find himself aligned with some of the greatest in the sport’s history, similar to how SpongeBob has become a phenomenon in the entertainment industry.
Jesse Love – Patrick Star
(Writer’s note: I cannot stress this enough. This is not a commentary on Jesse Love’s intelligence.)
Jesse Love grew up in California where he tore up the dirt racing scene before transitioning to stock car racing in 2019. Much like Connor, Jesse climbed up the NASCAR ladder in short order, winning an ARCA West championship at just 15 years old and getting a NOAPS ride with Richard Childress Racing at just 19 years old.
Love made waves almost immediately, carrying the iconic No. 2 Chevy to a victory at Talladega that vaulted him to a deep playoff run prior to his 2025 season where he landed a victory at Daytona (and Rockingham where he was disqualified) before heading into the playoffs.
In those playoffs, Love pointed his way into the final round that allowed him a chance at a title, one he would inevitably rip away from his best friend, Connor Zilisch.
Remember when Patrick casually got his license and later won the Bass Blaster 3000 at the DMV after years of SpongeBob’s trials and tribulations in Boating School? That’s a pretty good analog to the 2025 NOAPS championship race between these two best friends.
Considering Jesse’s friendship with Connor as well as his affinity for surfing, it just made too much sense to align the defending NOAPS champion with SpongeBob’s best friend that, like Patrick, can put on a grand show of his own.
Pictured, Left: Jesse Love celebrates his first NOAPS championship at Phoenix last November. (Credit: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Pictured, Right: Patrick Star of “SpongeBob SquarePants” wearing a hat while holding a pennant and a foam finger. (Credit: Stephen Hillenberg/Paramount)
Shane van Gisbergen – Rocko
Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, Shane van Gisbergen made a name for himself in the Australian Supercars series, claiming three titles and 80 race wins before sliding over to the western hemisphere to take on the world of stock car racing.
Shane conquered the Chicago Street Race in his first NASCAR Cup Series career start, and since then, he remains simply untouchable on road and street courses. That said, the name of the game over here in the States is oval racing, which Shane hasn’t grasped too well to this point.
The Kiwi’s struggles to come to grip with oval racing remind me fondly of a notable marsupial. Rocko’s Modern Life centered on a wallaby named Rocko that immigrated from Australia to live out the American Dream, only to be met with all the horrors of the modern day (like overtimes, double-file restarts, and the dreaded playoffs.)
Despite their troubles, Rocko and Shane often find creative ways to get by and tend to excel when they’re in their element: for Shane, that’s taking right and left turns on road courses; for Rocko, that’s making twists and turns on the dancefloor.
Pictured, Left: Shane van Gisbergen waves to the crowd prior to a race. (Credit: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Pictured, Right: Rocko of “Rocko’s Modern Life” puts on a hat during the show’s title sequence. (Credit: Joe Murray/Paramount)
Erik Jones – Doug Funnie
Though he’s approaching his 30th birthday, Erik Jones already owns the title of veteran in the NASCAR Cup Series as he enters his 10th full-time campaign. Erik cut his teeth on the late model scene in the upper midwest before getting noticed by Kyle Busch after defeating the future Cup champ in the 2012 Snowball Derby.
Jones’ career trajectory skyrocketed after signing a development deal with Joe Gibbs Racing, winning a Truck Series title in 2015 before a thrilling NOAPS rookie season saw him make the jump to Cup by age 20. From there, Jones found a knack for winning big races while lacking consistency, leading to his dismissal from JGR after the 2020 season.
Without a host of seats available for 2021, Jones’ options were limited, leading to his signing with Richard Petty Motorsports (now known as Legacy Motor Club) where he took over the famous No. 43. Jones drove the car to its 200th victory in 2022 and has since helped rebuild LMC into a weekly contender.
The reset Erik was forced into during his career is reminiscent of how the first Nicktoon was cast away from Nickelodeon. Doug debuted on August 11, 1991 and became an instant hit with fans as animation (much like Jones with JGR) was sold as the future of the company.
Eventually though, the future got set to the side in favor of the new, shinier thing (for Jones, that was Christopher Bell; for Doug Funnie, that was Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.) While Erik has yet to regain his JGR form, he achieved immortality when he won the 43 car’s 200th race, just like how Doug reached silver-screen immortality with Doug’s 1st Movie.
Pictured, Left: Erik Jones waves to the crowd prior to a race. (Credit: Mark Humphrey/AP Photo)
Pictured, Right: Doug Funnie seems to be greeting someone in an episode of his eponymous Nicktoon. (Credit: Jim Jinkins/Disney)
Austin Dillon – Remi Buxaplenty
For much of his life, Austin Dillon existed in the shadow of his grandfather, six-time Cup Series team owner Richard Childress. Dillon wanted to be in a race car his whole life, and after watching Dale Earnhardt Sr. (he will be featured in this series) win the 1998 Daytona 500, he knew he wanted to drive that black No. 3 Chevy.
Austin spent years working towards this goal, cutting his teeth on dirt tracks in his teen years before duking it out with the best in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where he would eventually become champion before moving up to NOAPS where he claimed yet another title.
His successes followed him up to the Cup Series after a good bit of time, winning the Coca-Cola 600 and Daytona 500, but his career has become overshadowed by his struggles for consistency and reining in his aggression, specifically at the 2024 Richmond summer race.
Dillon’s general demeanor and upbringing bring me back to a niche character from a childhood favorite. A part-time nemesis of Timmy Turner in The Fairly OddParents, Remi Buxaplenty appears to have everything he could ever want at his fingertips (including a fairy godparent!), and it still isn’t enough for him.
It often feels like Austin has the potential to be better, but he spends too much time thinking about how others have it better than him, somehow. Other drivers in the garage would wreck their grandmother or risk their fairy godparent for the job security Austin has had, especially given his lack of great statistical output.
Pictured, Left: Austin Dillon waves to the crowd prior to a race. (Credit: John Raoux/AP Photo)
Pictured, Right: Remy Buxaplenty from “The Fairly OddParents” pilots a helicopter. (Credit: Butch Hartman/Paramount)
Chase Briscoe – Heffer
(Writer’s note: Just to be clear, this is in no way a statement about Chase Briscoe or his physique.)
Growing up in the Hoosier State, Chase Briscoe knew from an early age that he wanted to dedicate his life to being a race car driver, and when he was just 13 years old, he overtook Jeff Gordon (another name you will surely see again) as the youngest driver to win in a 410 sprint car.
A tough move to Charlotte when he 21 saw him nearly give up on his racing dream before becoming a champion in ARCA with team owner Briggs Cunningham III that vaulted him into the Ford development pipeline, eventually landing him a Cup ride in his idol, Tony Stewart’s No. 14 car after dominating the 2020 NOAPS season.
His first four season with Stewart-Haas Racing saw more high-profile incidents than high-profile performance; it seemed that Briscoe would find himself up front and quickly find his way into an accident, whether he meant to or not. After SHR decided to close shop, the 30-year-old earned the team one final playoff berth with a walkoff win in the 2024 Southern 500 before replacing Martin Truex Jr. at Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 19 car.
Briscoe’s aloof nature frustrates onlookers and (for lack of a better term) victims to his recklessness similar to a well-known yellow bovine. Heffer Wolfe never means to cause problems or make matters worse; he just brings them about and offers little more than a smile and an “Aw, shucks!” Tell me that ain’t Briscoe.
Not only that, JGR, like the Wolfe family, used to eat drivers like Chase and spit them out, but they came to like him so much that — instead of making him into a meal on the track — they made him part of the family. Coincidentally, the news about Heffer being adopted in the Rocko’s Modern Life episode “Who’s For Dinner?” got broken by Rocko, akin to how Christopher Bell mistakenly revealed that JGR signed Briscoe prematurely.
Pictured, Left: Chase Briscoe stands with his team and the trophy after winning at Pocono. (Credit: Derik Hamilton/AP Photo)
Pictured, Right: Heffer from “Rocko’s Modern Life” rushes through a door too hard, slamming it into the wall so hard that it cracks the drywall. (Credit: Joe Murray/Paramount)
(Top Photo Credit: Warner Brothers)
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