NASCAR ROTY RANKINGS 1998: Ranking the Rookie of the Year Classes Through the Years

Kenny Irwin in his rookie year

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.

1998

Winner: Kenny Irwin Jr. (RYR).  Runners Up: Kevin Lepage (LJ/AER/Roush), Jerry Nadeau (Elliott-Marino/Melling), Steve Park (DEI).  Aborted Attempts: none

How their careers turned out: This class is really a case of “what might have been”—winner Kenny Irwin Jr. was a poor fit at Robert Yates Racing, and was just adjusting to his new home at Team Sabco when he was killed at New Hampshire.  Both Jerry Nadeau and Steve Park won races in Cup, only to have their promising careers cut short by what were ultimately career-ending injuries.  And maybe we’d look back on Kevin Lepage more-fondly had he not swerved in front of the entire field at Talladega.

“Fun” “Fact” about the winner: Irwin was the first developmental driver for Brad Daugherty’s Liberty Racing Truck Series team, thus setting in motion the chain of events that led to Brad poking people with a giant novelty fork on ESPN.

Ranking: #35 out of 50

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