Last year Spade Racing took a look at the six drivers competing for Rookie of the Year. This year we continue to look at that vaunted class (sans John Hunter Nemechek and Brennan Poole) as they strive to establish themselves while avoiding the “sophomore slump”. Returning for 2021 is the PRETTY grade: Performance Relative to Equating Team’s Typical Year (its pretty much how well each driver is doing considering their equipment). Here’s how things look going into Road America:
1. Tyler Reddick (Richard Childress Racing). Best finish: 2nd (Homestead). PRETTY grade: A. Tyler Reddick has been a model of consistency this year—no sub-20th place finishes since ATLANTA. Not even Ty Dillon himself could take this ride from him now! Well, I mean, I don’t think he could. Oh, no—don’t let this happen next year!
2. Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing). Best finish: 1st (Daytona Road Course). PRETTY grade: B+. How’s this for strange—Denny Hamlin is the only JGR driver without a win, but he’s leading the points standings. However, if the Playoffs were to start today, C.Bell would be seeded ahead of Denny—although the tear in the time-space continuum by shifting our collective narrative would likely render such things meaningless.
3. Cole Custer (Stewart Haas Racing). Best finish: 10th (Talladega/Dover). PRETTY grade: C+. SHR is struggling this year—Kevin Harvick is still winless, and the rest of the team will be lucky to make the Playoffs. Time will tell if its a temporary setback or the dreaded “fall off year” for this powerhouse three-car team.
4. Quin Houff (StarCom Racing). Best finish: 24th (Martinsville). PRETTY grade: D-. Quin is a mere two points ahead of Josh Bilicki for last-place amongst full-time Cup drivers in the points standings. But there’s no Quit in Quin—even though my spell check constantly confuses the two.