Rookie of the Year Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Many female drivers have come and go in NASCAR’s touring series, but for NASCAR K&N Pro Series West’s young star Hailie Deegan, her first full season in the sport has been a goal setting dream. After wrapping up Rookie of the Year honors last Saturday at Kern County Raceway in Bakersfield, California, the 17-year-old from Temecula has her eyes set on next season, hoping to run another season in K&N West and win the series championship. “This has been my dream season,” Deegan told the pressRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was the first chance for the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to play the role of spoiler in the Playoffs. All five of the ROTY contenders have had previous experience at Chicagoland. Daniel Suarez was the best rookie in the No. 19 STANLEY Toyota Camry, finishing 12th. Suarez was the only ROTY contender to finish on the lead lap after running inside the top-15 all dayRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Ryan Blaney is off to a solid rookie season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, already scoring two top-10’s in the opening eight races. However, there is one thing missing for the 22-year-old this season and that has been the chance to race against Tony Stewart. Although Blaney competed against Stewart for several races prior to his official rookie year in 2016, there has been no opportunity this year due to Stewart’s injury that was sustained prior to the start of the season. That all changesRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Since 2000, only two drivers have produced five top-10 finishes through the first eight races of their Sunoco Rookie of the Year seasons. One is six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The second, current first-year sensation Chase Elliott. Elliott will try to keep pace with Johnson’s mark when he goes for his sixth top 10-showing of the season in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway (1 p.m. ET on FOX). “Richmond has been a special place for me,” Elliott said. “We hadRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Team owner Joe Gibbs sees Daniel Suárez as a big part of the future – not only for NASCAR but for his team. Part of the equation is about the 23-year-old’s talents as the driver who just earned Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Suárez moved up to fifth in the final series standings with his sixth-place effort in Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But a lot of it is about howRead More