"Rookie of the Year”. Its a term that can portend future success—or flash in the pan. Sometimes its a fierce
battle between several talented drivers—sometimes a walk-over by a single person. So looking back, how have the overall careers of Nascar Cup’s various Rookies of the Year stacked up against each other?
That’s where I come in!
While a “Rookie of the Year” award has been given out in Nascar Cup since 1954, its only since 1974 that some sort of points system was implemented—prior to this it was merely agreed upon by “the media”. So we’re going to only count ROTY award winners from 1974 onward. Also, the previous three Rookies of the Year (Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, and Brett Moffitt) are not going to be considered since their careers are so young. Drivers will only be judged on what they did in the Cup Series, with added weight toward “major” races and season championships.
Now, on with the rankings!
(*—active in Cup; win totals through Chicago 2018)
21. Bobby Hamilton (1991)—4 Cup wins. After making a splash driving “movie cars” for the filming of Days of Thunder, Bobby Hamilton Sr. landed a full-time ride with Tri-Star Motorsports, winning 1991’s ROTY honors award over Ted Musgrave. Hamilton would go on to win four Cup Series races before moving to the Truck Series, where he would win the 2004 season championship in his own equipment.
22. Ricky Craven (1995)—2 Cup wins. Upon winning the 1995 ROTY award, the New Englander would appear to have his career stymied by injuries, specifically post-concussion syndrome. However, Craven would mount a comeback, posting a pair of wins for mid-level PPI Racing late in his career. Craven has since transitioned to a media commentator role with ESPN.
23. Juan Pablo Montoya (2007)—2 Cup wins. A rookie unlike any other, Montoya came to Nascar a seasoned veteran of multiple open-wheel series. In his ROTY-award winning 2007 season Montoya showed his prowess on road courses, winning at Sonoma. Although he would show signs of oval talent—infamously nearly winning at the Brickyard before a pit road penalty ruined his day—he would wind up with only two Cup wins, the second coming at Nascar’s other road course, Watkins Glen.
24. *Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2013)—2 Cup wins. After championship success in the Xfinity Series, Stenhouse Jr. was moved up to Cup by team owner Jack Roush, taking over the 17 car from Matt Kenseth. Despite an up-and-down rookie campaign he managed to beat out girlfriend Danica Patrick for the ROTY award. After a sophomore slump, Stenhouse Jr. has established himself as the lead driver for RoushFenway, posting a pair of Cup victories so far.
25. Johnny Benson (1996)—1 Cup win. In between Busch (now Xfinity) and Truck Series championships the bespectacled Benson had a journeyman’s Cup career, one that started with “winning” the Rookie of the Year award in 1996 as the lone driver to declare for the award. Ironically it was in one of his most-volatile seasons, 2002, in which he captured his lone Cup Series win, battling missing a number of races with injuries before finally winning at Rockingham.
26. Regan Smith (2008)—1 Cup win. Regan Smith won the 2008 ROTY award under strange circumstances—he ran that year for a fading DEI team with little sponsorship but, despite missing both road course races in favor of a ringer, managed to beat out the wildly inconsistent Sam Hornish Jr. Smith became something of a journeyman at the Cup level, his career highlight being scoring Furniture Row Racing’s first-ever win at Darlington in 2011. After a successful stint in the Xfinity Series, he seems to have transitioned to a full-time media role.
27. Mike Skinner (1997) The winner of the first race AND championship in the Truck Series, Skinner was also one of the first Truck Series drivers to advance to the Cup Series, doing so with RCR in 1997. Winning ROTY honors in 1997 was arguably the highlight of his Cup career, as after a solid if not spectacular run with RCR, Skinner raced mostly for mid-to-low-level equipment in Cup before returning to the Truck Series.
28. Jody Ridley (1980)—1 Cup win. Ridley only ran the full-schedule three times but definitely made the most of them—in 1980 he won the ROTY award, and in 1981 he became the only driver to notch a win for longtime team owner Junie Donlavey. Gone from Cup Series racing after 1986, Donlavey would go on to dominate the Nascar Slim Jim All Pro regional series.
29. Ron Bouchard (1981)—1 Cup win. Despite missing a number of races (including the first five), Ron Bouchard (brother of Ken) was Rookie of the Year for 1981 on the strength of his stunning upset win at Talladega. The surprise nature of the win, combining with the relative success of such other rookies that year (including Tim Richmond, Joe Ruttman, and Morgan Shepherd) belie a successful racing career in which he scored 60 Cup Series top-tens—all coming after having made a name for himself on the Northeastern short tracks.
30. Dick Trickle (1989) Famous for his innumerable short-track wins across the Midwest, Dick Trickle came to Nascar Cup full-time in 1989. Despite missing the Daytona 500, Trickle would post the best season of his Cup career that year, posting six top-five finishes for Stavola Brothers Racing. Afterwards Trickle would manage a yeoman’s career in mostly underfunded equipment, showing solid results but never reaching the heights of his rookie run.