NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS 1979: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

 

Dale Earnhardt

Join me as we take a look at every NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year class from 1972 (the start of the modern era) through 2021, going from the worst to the first in terms of overall careers of each year’s rookie class.

1979

Winner: Dale Earnhardt (Osterlund) Runners Up: Joe Millikan (DeWitt), Terry Labonte (Hagan), Harry Gant (Race Hill)

How their careers turned out: Really, what more can you say?  You have nine Cup Series championships, 116 race wins, and two Hall of Famers (with Gant a likely third in the future).  The only sore-thumb here is Joe Millikan, a journeyman whose career fizzled out by the mid-80’s, but when Handsome Harry is the third-best in a class, how do you compete?

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Dale Earnhardt’s public image has become so warped by online weirdos that I’m starting to wonder if he ever actually existed.

Ranking: #1 out of 50

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Does this track have lights?

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