Where would you rank these rookies?

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

If Dale had won 2000 ROTY with the exact same stats as Matt, I think Iceberg woulda put it in the A tier 😂

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.

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

Denny #11 also won the Bud-Shootout in his rookie year, out of no where. He has the best followed by Harvick a close second.

Here's how the pre-2000 ROTY's stack up IMO. 1999 Tony Stewart: A tier, arguably S. Better than Hamlin's '06, though admittedly Hamlin had a stronger class. 1998 Kenny Irwin, Jr.: Straddles the border between C and D. Has four top tens like Byron, but was a full *25* positions behind his teammate. 1997 Mike Skinner: Suzuka might bump him up to C. But for the overall season, D. 1996 Johnny Benson, Jr.: Easy C, despite winning by default. 1995 Ricky Craven: C 1994 Jeff Burton: C. On the plus side he showed genuine speed several times. On the downside, he was less consistent than his predecessor and his sucesser. 1993 Jeff Gordon: B 1992 Jimmy Hensley: High C. Best average finish Cale's car ever had. 1991 Bobby Hamilton: C. Great year by Tri-Star's abysmal standards. 1990 Rob Moroso: Arguably F. His lone top ten was a plate race. 1989 Dick Trickle: B 1988 Ken Bouchard: D 1987 Davey Allison: A 1986 Alan Kulwicki: C. I'd like to rank him higher for beating Michael Waltrip while not running full-time, but I can't justify giving four top tens a B. 1985 Ken Schrader: C 1984 Rusty Wallace: C 1983 Sterling Marlin: D 1982 Geoff Bodine: B. The #50 actually finished in the top ten in owner points, which almost qualifies him for an A. 1981 Ron Bouchard: B 1980 Jody Ridley: B 1979 Dale Earnhardt: A 1978 Ronnie Thomas: C 1977 Ricky Rudd: I'll give him a B based on double-digit top tens. 1976 Skip Manning: C 1975 Bruce Hill: B, surprisingly. 1974 Earl Ross: A 1973 Lennie Pond: B 1972 Larry Smith: C 1971 Walter Ballard: I'll be nice and give him a B since he got a top ten points finish, even if it's kinda by default. 1970 Bill Dennis: C (Absolutely should have been Benny Parsons, but NASCAR had an asinine rule that ARCA champions were ineligible for ROTY) 1969 Dick Brooks: B 1968 Pete Hamilton: I've been doing these off the top of my head, and I honestly can't remember how many top tens he had that year. Probably B tier. 1967 Donnie Allison: B I think. 1966 James Hylton: A. Winless or not, you can't ignore that many top fives. 1965 Sam McQuagg. Another stupid one, since Dick Hutcherson's easy A season was ineligible because of IMCA championships. Sam's year was kinda borderline B/C. 1964 Doug Cooper: C 1963 Billy Wade: C for '63, massively improved in '64. 1962 Tom Cox: For the sheer number of top tens, I gotta give him a B. 1961 Woodie Wilson: F. Total fail on NASCAR'S part. The ROTY should have been Nelson Stacy (ineligible because of ARCA, or more accurately MARC championship) and if not him Wendell Scott. Giving it to a guy who ran all of five races is absolutely ridiculous. 1960 David Pearson: The pole pushes him to an arguable B. 1959 Richard Petty: B 1958 Shorty Rollins: I'm giving him an A. Top five in points, won a race (albeit a northern race that most teams skipped). 1957 Ken Rush: C. I really don't know what NASCAR was smoking with this one. L.D. Austin probably should have won. If we could retroactively give out ROTY's before the award was first given, Ralph Moody, Junior Johnson and Hershel McGriff would each get easy A's, Elton Hildreth should get a C, and B's for Ray Duhigg and Dick Rathman. Fireball Roberts and Lee Petty could both get A's for '50 and '49 respectively (Red Byron had won the '48 Modified championship, while Lee didn't race at all, so Lee could count as a true rookie in '49).

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

Tbh Tony Stewart had a rookie year tht will be hard 2 beat

I remember some people were saying Austin Dillion would have a better career than Larson. 🤣

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.

Need an early 90's all-rookie tier system. Just start at C on down. I mean...Steve Kinser. Ooof.

Btw in terms of overall stats and consistency Tyler reddick would have been ROTY in 2020. Custer only won it because of that lucky win at Kentucky and because of that he made it into the playoffs and got ROTY because reddick didn’t.

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.

Matt Kenseth: B Kevin Harvick: A Ryan Newman: A Jamie McMurray: B Kasey Kahne: B Kyle Busch: B Denny Hamlin: A Juan Pablo Montoya: C Regan Smith: D Joey Logano: C Kevin Conway: F Andy Lally: F Stephen Leicht: F Ricky Stenhouse Jr: C Kyle Larson: B Brett Moffitt: D Chase Elliott: A Erik Jones: C William Byron: D Daniel Hemric: D Cole Custer: C Chase Briscoe: C Austin Cindric: B Ty Gibbs: B But perhaps the closest thing to an S tier rookie is if the list went just one year earlier: 1999, with Tony Stewart.

Pretty good list..... Except that "C" tier. But anyway, it's YOUR channel. It's YOUR list. And therefore..... it's PERFECT!! §mell ya later!! 👃😎👃

1999, Stewart's ROTY was definitely A tier. Beyond that I don't know who got ROTY until back to 1993 with Gordon lol

Tony stewart obviously isn't in this but him and denny hamlin are easily the top two rookies. Allison and busch followed by johnson and newman are next. Edit: forgot Harvick.

I still remember that 2016 Martinsville race very well. SCREW DENNY HAMLIN

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

How many times did you have to say “good competition like Austin Dillion” without getting it out without laughing

At least regan smith technically won a race, should have put stenhouse in D tier with him.

I have Joey D for being in a title contending car and lucking into the New Hampshire win.

Daniel Hemric should be D Teir because he didn't do anything. Most people forgot he even did a season in the Cup series because honestly he didn't do anything to deserve the ride and it showed when he was immediately thrown back into the Xfinity series.

If there was an “S Tier” & going by all Rookies in the last 75 years, James Hylton would already have that wrapped up. Why you ask? 2nd in points in 1966! Can’t beat that! 😉

If Jarret did all of the Cup series rookies from 2000-23, this video would’ve been very long

Actually Kasey should’ve had 4 wins in 2004. Came close at Rockingham, Texas, Michigan in June, & the fall Charlotte race where he was the class of the field before the tire gave up on him.

Cindric: C, Hemric: D. I believe Hemric was rushed into that seat, though. He hasn't done an awful lot since.

Congrats on 69K! Nice!

Crazy how much better rookies and younger drivers were in the early to mid 2000s. Guys came in and started running well and winning .

I would say S tier is entirely possible and a championship is definitely not necessary in the current playoff era. Hamlin and Johnson deserve S tier rookie seasons and Newman just barely fell short as I’d say top 5 and a 5 is S tier.

Such a different time we're in now when it comes to rookies in the Cup Series Edit: 14:07 GRANDPAAAAA, JARET PUT ME IN B TIER FOR BEST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR RANKINGS!!! I SHOULD BE A+ TIER!!!!!!

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

There is no "should have" in Nascar. Nobody deserves to win. You win or you don't. The only time that argument even comes close to being the case is Grant Enfinger in this years Championship 4, and even then the bottom line is he didn't win.

I would kick Gibbs to C tier for not making Playoffs even though Chase and Bowman missed and his biggest competition was Bubba Wallace for that spot.

2010, 2011 and 2012 should retroactively be marked "Vacant"

Putting a driver with 2 wins in B and a driver with 0 wins in A is a misstep. At best.

Man rookies have FALLEN off HARD since the early 2000s…

If 2001 season had 2011-present current points, Harvick did not finished Top 10 and Benson finished 10th in points.

I agree, good job.

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.

I feel like Denny should've been in S-Tier

Jimmie led the points his rookie year going into Fall Talladega.

Don’t forget Newman winning the All Star race before winning at New Hampshire

Next tier list should be championship season

Iceberg: I have no more ideas, but I must post content.

Kenseth only driver to win the 600 as a rookie!

you should do this for the xfinity series also.

I feel Tony Stewart got robbed of Rookie of the Year. Dude had 3 wins. That's impressive, and that was also a Record at the time. I have the 3 wins NASCAR 2000 die-cast on my wall.

I’m still so confused how Joey Logano, with a win, is still in the same category that TheIceberg literally calls “forgettable” for some drivers, and how Chase Elliott is anything higher than B tier.

Which nascar game was this back track from?

If there was an S tier, Stewart, Hamlin and Harvick would be in it. I also honestly think Gibbs should be in A tier.

Kyle Larson B tier rookie year is WILD. C tier for sure

You to the best driver to not won rookie of the year

Some of these were definitely being generous but only thing this really shows is how much the talent has dropped off since the Winston and sprint era.. went from Jimmie Tony junior Kenseth Busch brothers to guys like cindric, briscoe, Custer, preece, the Dillon’s oh and a Danica

Denny top of the RotY chart!?! He beat your favorite rookie, all of them

In Hemric’s defense, just like HMS in 2018 RCR was terrible in 2019. So being in C tier isn’t that outrageous

Chase could’ve easily been in the round of 8 if he didn’t get screwed at Charlotte and Kansas in 2016

Chase should not be A-tier for a rookie season. B tier

Wished you started at 1999. Stewart had the greatest rookie season of all time.

Brett Moffitt has to be DNF Tier

Most years matt finished a head of jr. plus he has a championship

Sure are being awfully generous with a lot of these drivers.

Chase should've been B-tier, and lower B-tier at that. Chase doesn't fit in with guys who won races and competed for the title in their rookie years. Winning a race is a must to be A-tier.

Cole is such an anomoly, winning Kentucky his rookie year recently.

Well If you did The Xfinity Chase Elliott would’ve been an S tier because in his rookie year he won the championship

69 k officially 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Sad that Ryan doesn’t drive anymore 1:56

Edwards actually won rookie of the year in 2005.

The only one disagree with is Elliot. The bare minimum requirement to make A tier should be winning a race after that you can look at points finish and other stats. He had a good rookie season but when you put him with the likes of Hamlin and Kyle Busch who both won multiple races in their rookie year it just doesn't add up.

What about kurt busch

Kevin Conway is an easy F.

Elliott is B tier not A

Golden boy's rookie season wasn't an A tier. No even close.

Harvick missed a race and won Rookie of the Year. Jimmie Johnson was the better driver in 2002.

Of course you put Elliot in A 🙄

Very good list but I’d change a few things. - Newman and Elliott should be in B. Newman did have a good 2002 but wasn’t even the best rookie and Elliott didn’t win any races in 2016. -Custer is a borderline B just for the win at Kentucky -Smith should be in C tier just for contending for that one win in an underfunded car

Kyle Busch is the most successful with 63 wins

KFB crashed a bunch of cars lol

I gonna be honest, Denny Hamlin for me is the best Rookie Season, Denny appears of nowhere and saved the Fedex #11. This is true a meteoric ascension

Byron needs to be way lower bc good god he fucking stinker from 2018-2020 he started to get better at the end of 2020 but a decent ‘21 a very mid and poor ‘22 besides of those wins and straight up luck but 2023 he showed he is here (even tho I cannot stand the guy) he straight up won at Vegas, Watkins glen, Darlington was luck with all the cautions, we ALL KNOW Harvick had that win on lock at phoenix, bubba had the Texas win secure but it’s Texas and it fucking sucks, and I can give him credit for Atlanta. Sorry for being a hater but if you actually watch the races instead of looking at stats alone Hendrick lucks themselves into wins and top 5s with late race cautions, example is Richmond 2023 where none of the drivers finished inside the top 10.

I would flip Cole and Gibbs. SHR was already on the decline, and JGR is on top of the sport. Anything short on a win or playoff birth should be considered a disappoint.

Gibbs I would've honestly said DNF because his Rookie of the year contender didn't run a full season and got silverspooned the ROTY because Gragson got suspended. I think if Gragson stays throughout the entire year he probably wins a race at Talladega or Homestead.

is it me or is the video in awful quality

You must have seen the United States presidents discord servers cause they do this with Trump Obama and Biden.

Horrible

Hot take nascar made the right call at 2008 at Talladega Regan Smith didn’t win that race

Matt k Didn't deserve his r.o.y Dale jr did

Jimmie Johnson having arguably the best rookie season ever and not winning ROY bc Newman got a bunch of poles is so fucking stupid. Jimmie had a top 5 pints finish with 3 wins but let’s give it to Ryan Newman bc he’s pole man