Nascar News

Ranking Every NASCAR Rookie of the Year Since 2000

Rookies far too often are given overly lofty expectations when it comes to their debut season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Others are not even remembered and some even excel to level that not many others can reach. Today we look back at every Rookie of the Year of the last 24 years and put them in a tier list and see who really went above and beyond and who flat out failed. This is ranking every NASCAR rookie of the year since 2000.

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Outro Song:
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47 comments

@TheIceberg December 21, 2023 at 3:30 pm

Where would you rank these rookies?

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@robertdelange2071 December 21, 2023 at 11:07 pm

where would you put Tony Stewart’s 99 rookie season finishing 4th in the points with 3 wins.?

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@AndyHayner-ok6zh December 22, 2023 at 12:29 am

I would make a follow up video observing their career as a whole:
A. Ryan Newman went from four straight years in the top ten to having three total years in the top ten for the rest of his career
B. Austin Cnidric dropped from 12th in points to 24th after just one year and;
C. Joey Logano??

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@JohnSmith-mk5jt December 22, 2023 at 12:46 am

​@@robertdelange2071Dawg, it’d be an easy A tier. It’s arguably the best rookie season in NASCAR history

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@ColtDaBolt85 December 22, 2023 at 2:02 am

Hey Iceberg heres a question why was Justin Haley not in the 2022 rookie class when thats the year he went full time in the cup series and also he was never in a rookie of the year battle in any year

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@AndyHayner-ok6zh December 22, 2023 at 3:01 am

@@ColtDaBolt85 Haley ran all but 5 races in the 2021 season, but he wasn’t in the rookie of the year race that year because he was registered for points in the Xfinity Series.

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@JackCallSports December 21, 2023 at 9:29 pm

It still breaks my heart how many races Kasey lost in his rookie year

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@JGR4LIFE December 21, 2023 at 9:45 pm

It’s crazy that he could have had a 5 win season if things fell in the right place for him.

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@JackCallSports December 21, 2023 at 10:24 pm

@@JGR4LIFE yup…
Rockingham
Texas
Dover
Charlotte off the top of my head

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@ssigeon December 21, 2023 at 10:59 pm

especially texas, just a few feet away

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@jbucktheman December 21, 2023 at 11:19 pm

I mean he was very inconsistent

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@runrafarunthebestintheworld December 21, 2023 at 11:51 pm

Not me. He was always overhyped and could be compared to Casey Atwood. The expectations where too high for him.

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@JackCallSports December 21, 2023 at 9:29 pm

As a Byron fan 2018 was so beyond painful
More than relieved he’s turned into a championship caliber driver

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@threepea1151 December 21, 2023 at 9:44 pm

He still isn’t lmao, he’s he 3rd best at Hendrick

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@JackCallSports December 21, 2023 at 9:54 pm

@@threepea1151 I’m sorry what?
Explain yourself

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@threepea1151 December 21, 2023 at 10:09 pm

@@JackCallSports I hate Elliott but he is better than Byron, Larson is Miles better than Byron, and the only reason Byron won 6 races was because of restarts, he only really earned 1 at Las Vegas, not to mention his team cheated for quite a few races

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@EthanSanchee December 21, 2023 at 10:13 pm

Idk what this guy is talking about but same I have been a Byron since he got in cup

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@JackCallSports December 21, 2023 at 10:15 pm

@@threepea1151 and is that his fault for taking advantage of situations where he could win?
Harvick won 1/3 of his races like that
is he not as good as he is because of that?
And Roush in 2005 had 5 championship caliber drivers
Who says Hendrick can’t have 3 championship caliber drivers

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@JGR4LIFE December 21, 2023 at 9:32 pm

The original youth movement in the 2000s will never be topped. Almost all of them have won championships and some of them had close calls to winning one unlike today’s generation of drivers.

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@KanonDaioh December 21, 2023 at 10:12 pm

I would argue that the 2014-2020 youth movement is capable of contending. All be it there is now less legitimacy with the championship. Elliott, Larson, and Blaney have already won championships and drivers like Bell, Byron, and Reddick are constantly showing they can contend for it.

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@JGR4LIFE December 21, 2023 at 9:40 pm

I noticed one thing. In the gen 4 era the people coming into cup can compete for wins instantly because the cars weren’t as aerodynamic as they are today. I wish we can get to that point again.

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@timechanger9162 December 21, 2023 at 10:43 pm

Back then it was about the driver. Nowadays it’s all about qualifying and pitting. As long as you hold your line as the leader and have a decent car it is very difficult to pass. Unless the person behind has a much faster car it’s nearly impossible. I feel bad for the new drivers coming to cup

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@NathanJakobMichaelThomas December 21, 2023 at 11:30 pm

@@timechanger9162imagine saying this after the past 2 years in cup.

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@timechanger9162 December 21, 2023 at 11:37 pm

@@NathanJakobMichaelThomas it’s true
Short tracks are terrible especially martinsville. Richmond at least eats the tires away and there’s rarely cautions so teams can play strategy. Intermediate tracks aren’t too bad but still needs a little work. Restrictor plate tracks besides Atlanta your stuck 2 by 2 the whole time very hard to move forward. Anything I’m missing?

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@NathanJakobMichaelThomas December 21, 2023 at 11:46 pm

@@timechanger9162 Oh yeah, just this little stat that says that the 2022 Cup Series season is tied for the most different winners in a single season at 19. Also that 2023 had 15. Just that little tidbit you forgot to mention.

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@twc621 December 22, 2023 at 4:00 am

All those guys who were rookies and winning were around 25 or so. The 21 year old rookies that take three years to win now are not that far off.

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@sunshinecoolwater9528 December 21, 2023 at 9:42 pm

There should be an entire series dedicated to NASCAR drivers rookie years from the Winston era to date. So many what ifs and stories to tell.

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@SuperNASCARrocks December 21, 2023 at 9:54 pm

Kasey Kahne could’ve had so many wins his rookie year. Larson did good as well. Coming in as a rookie he was really good. I would definitely rank his rookie year a B.

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@NASCARFAN93100 December 21, 2023 at 10:13 pm

How Jimmie Johnson didn’t win ROTY in 2002 is still baffling to this day

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@seannolan9857 December 22, 2023 at 3:08 pm

Not really baffling. ROTY was determined by your best 15 races. Newman had 14 top fives to Johnson’s 6.

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@bearmarsh6579 December 21, 2023 at 10:24 pm

Daniel Hemric differently belongs in the D tear and if you had a F tear then he belongs there as well.

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@BlueJimmie48Fan December 21, 2023 at 10:30 pm

Had Jimmie scored more rookie points, I could honestly argue that he had the greatest rookie season in NASCAR history.

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@jbucktheman December 21, 2023 at 11:25 pm

Jimmie was the better rookie of the two(Ryan Newman) but because of the stupid ROTY point system which awarded the best results more than actual Winston cup point standings,Newman won it even though Johnson had more wins and finished higher in the standings.

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@NASCARFAN93100 December 22, 2023 at 1:06 am

Ryan Newman shared The Most Top 10s with Mark Martin in 2002

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@coolfetus6733 December 22, 2023 at 4:08 am

wouldn’t come close to hamlins year though

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@jbucktheman December 22, 2023 at 5:13 am

@@coolfetus6733 they are pretty damn equal

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@chrisaycock6963 December 22, 2023 at 1:19 pm

​@jbucktheman
Well Newman had 14 top 5’s to Johnson’s 6 top 5’s, but I think Johnson should have got ROTY because he finished ahead of Newman in points. Wonder if Johnson won the championship and Newman finished 2nd, would Johnson get ROTY even though Newman had more Rookie points. That would be crazy.

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@chrislorusso433 December 21, 2023 at 10:33 pm

I know 2000 is an easy place to begin, but I want to mention Tony Stewart’s 3 win rookie campaign in 1999. Definitely A tier.

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@matthewamato625 December 22, 2023 at 12:30 am

Without a doubt

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@warcpa5004 December 21, 2023 at 10:38 pm

I remember one thing about Daniel hemric’s rookie year and that was the one pole he won. Besides that, I remember nothing else about his performance.

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@runrafarunthebestintheworld December 22, 2023 at 12:09 am

It’s kind if sad that Stephen Leight didn’t really get a shot in the Cup series. Just like Reed Sorenson he won an Xfinity race at Kentucky but after that Roush decided to stick with David Reagan instead of moving Stephen up.

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@jeffgordonfan24 December 22, 2023 at 12:49 am

Let’s not forget Kevin Harvick pulled double duty almost every weekend and ended up finishing top ten in Cup points and Kevin is the Busch series champion in 2001.

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@doomusrlc December 22, 2023 at 1:12 am

1999, Stewart’s ROTY was definitely A tier.

Beyond that I don’t know who got ROTY until back to 1993 with Gordon lol

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@DGeorge819 December 22, 2023 at 2:07 am

IMO, the only rookie campaign deserving of an S tier ranking, if there was one, was Kevin Harvick, for obvious reasons. To pretty much just click right away in that car like nothing happened and finish 9th in points while missing the 500 is massive to me.

Also, I’m sure there are some people that would put Ty Gibbs lower, but after his 2022 Xfinity campaign, it was exactly what he needed: clean and quiet. Was good to see that he just went out there and didn’t ruffle any feathers. He also had some good runs toward the end of the year, was in contention to win multiple times.

Great list.

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@mturriziani23 December 22, 2023 at 5:13 am

This was a cool idea, you should do more tier lists

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@Bobert20plus7 December 22, 2023 at 5:56 am

I think it is important to note that Cindric was the first rookie to lead the points in consecutive races

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@BrazoFuerteProd December 22, 2023 at 6:28 am

2016 had one of the strongest rookie classes ever, now with 2 future champions and one heck of a surging talent in 2023!

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