Ranking Every NASCAR Rookie of the Year Since 2000
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- Опубликовано: 20 дек 2023
- Rookies far too often are given overly lofty expectations when it comes to their debut season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Others are not even remembered and some even excel to level that not many others can reach. Today we look back at every Rookie of the Year of the last 24 years and put them in a tier list and see who really went above and beyond and who flat out failed. This is ranking every NASCAR rookie of the year since 2000.
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Where would you rank these rookies?
where would you put Tony Stewart's 99 rookie season finishing 4th in the points with 3 wins.?
I would make a follow up video observing their career as a whole:
A. Ryan Newman went from four straight years in the top ten to having three total years in the top ten for the rest of his career
B. Austin Cnidric dropped from 12th in points to 24th after just one year and;
C. Joey Logano??
@@robertdelange2071Dawg, it'd be an easy A tier. It's arguably the best rookie season in NASCAR history
Hey Iceberg heres a question why was Justin Haley not in the 2022 rookie class when thats the year he went full time in the cup series and also he was never in a rookie of the year battle in any year
@@ColtDaBolt85 Haley ran all but 5 races in the 2021 season, but he wasn't in the rookie of the year race that year because he was registered for points in the Xfinity Series.
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.
Without a doubt
Probably the greatest rookie season of all-time
“3 wins, 2 poles, and a 4th place points finish. That’ll be a tough act to follow…” Barney Hall, NASCAR Thunder 2004
Definitely would put Tony’s 1999 season in the A tier without question.
As a Gordon fan S
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
@JGR4LIFE yup…
Rockingham
Texas
Dover
Charlotte off the top of my head
especially texas, just a few feet away
I mean he was very inconsistent
Not me. He was always overhyped and could be compared to Casey Atwood. The expectations where too high for him.
Charlotte 2 was the most painful
How Jimmie Johnson didn't win ROTY in 2002 is still baffling to this day
Not really baffling. ROTY was determined by your best 15 races. Newman had 14 top fives to Johnson's 6.
@@seannolan9857Yes, but Johnson led the points at one point, Newman did not.
Had Jimmie scored more rookie points, I could honestly argue that he had the greatest rookie season in NASCAR history.
Jimmie was the better rookie of the two(Ryan Newman) but because of the stupid ROTY point system which awarded the best results more than actual Winston cup point standings,Newman won it even though Johnson had more wins and finished higher in the standings.
Ryan Newman shared The Most Top 10s with Mark Martin in 2002
wouldn’t come close to hamlins year though
@@coolfetus6733 they are pretty damn equal
@jbucktheman
Well Newman had 14 top 5's to Johnson's 6 top 5's, but I think Johnson should have got ROTY because he finished ahead of Newman in points. Wonder if Johnson won the championship and Newman finished 2nd, would Johnson get ROTY even though Newman had more Rookie points. That would be crazy.
As a Byron fan 2018 was so beyond painful
More than relieved he’s turned into a championship caliber driver
He still isn’t lmao, he’s he 3rd best at Hendrick
@@threepea1151 I’m sorry what?
Explain yourself
@@JackCallSports I hate Elliott but he is better than Byron, Larson is Miles better than Byron, and the only reason Byron won 6 races was because of restarts, he only really earned 1 at Las Vegas, not to mention his team cheated for quite a few races
Idk what this guy is talking about but same I have been a Byron since he got in cup
@@threepea1151 and is that his fault for taking advantage of situations where he could win?
Harvick won 1/3 of his races like that
is he not as good as he is because of that?
And Roush in 2005 had 5 championship caliber drivers
Who says Hendrick can’t have 3 championship caliber drivers
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.
If Dale had won 2000 ROTY with the exact same stats as Matt, I think Iceberg woulda put it in the A tier 😂
Ikr the Dale Jr fan in him would kick in. 😅😅
If would have been A-tier. You had guys like Stewart, Kenseth, Martin, Sr., Gordon, Jarrett, Labonte Brothers, Burton Brothers racing and being productive.
@@ethanweeter2732 Yea. I’m saying Kenseth should’ve been A tier. I’m also saying that if Dale had Kenseth’s rookie season, Iceberg would’ve put it at A bcs he’s super biased
2016 had one of the strongest rookie classes ever, now with 2 future champions and one heck of a surging talent in 2023!
For me it's
2013:
Danica Patrick
Ricky spinhouse Jr
2014:
Kyle Larson
Austin Dillon
Alex Bowmen
2015:
Brett Moffitt
Matty D
2018:
Bubba Wallace
William Byron
Daniel hemric
2020:
Christopher Bell
Cole Custer
Tyler Riddick
Quinn Houff
2022:
Austin Cendric
Harrison Burton
Todd Gilliland
2023:
Carson Hocevar
Ty Gibbs
Zane Smith
Buescher, Blaney, and Elliott. 3 guys who could all become champions.
@@ethanweeter2732 They are from 2016
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 would not count 1948 since everybody was rookies, but not everybody had not raced before.
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.
I think it is important to note that Cindric was the first rookie to lead the points in consecutive races
Yes, but Jimmie led after about 27 races.
Man that dont matter big dawg@@ethanweeter2732
And yet we're supposed to believe he will be a bust just because of a sophomore slump. One look at all of the promise he showed in his rookie will show how high his ceiling really is
Tbh Tony Stewart had a rookie year tht will be hard 2 beat
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.
I remember some people were saying Austin Dillion would have a better career than Larson. 🤣
Look where where we are now. Larson is with Hendrick, a champion, and is one of the best talents in NASCAR & dirt racing
On the other hand Mickey Dillon is being mid in the 3 car that he undeservingly got cause he's the grandson of RC, while his teammate Kyle Busch this year was far better than Dillon, and was still out preformed by his old teammate Tyler Reddick, despite him winning at Daytona that in all honesty was one of the biggest mickey mouse wins in NASCAR history.
With hindsight yeah it's laughable. At the time though, Dillon was a Truck and Busch series champion stepping into Harvicks old ride. Were as Larson was, iirc, most know for his wreck at Daytona stepping into a struggling CGR operation.
Even if Larson wasn't dropped by Ganassi (assuming that Ganassi still left the sport of course) and went to Trackhouse or anywhere else but Hendrick he already had more wins and was more consistent then Austin is. Maybe not an championship but still a pretty good career nonetheless.
@@stephenholloway6893Don't get me wrong Larson will always be the better driver. I was just stating 2014 mindset.
@@KanonDaioh I know but I was talking about since then.
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.
Need an early 90's all-rookie tier system. Just start at C on down. I mean...Steve Kinser. Ooof.
Until Tony Stewart most rookies weren't very good.
@@polycube868Jeff won the 125 and nearly the 500.
@@polycube868Davey Allison?
@chrisuncleahmad Davey an exception, then after Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin people expected too much too soon out of rookies
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.
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
Jeff Burton, Ricky Craven, Johnny Benson, Mike Skinner, and Kenny Irwin--ROY's from 1994-98
@@nascarsteveBurton being the only one to win, along with Benson.
How many times did you have to say “good competition like Austin Dillion” without getting it out without laughing
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.
At least regan smith technically won a race, should have put stenhouse in D tier with him.
This was a cool idea, you should do more tier lists
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.
Daniel Hemric differently belongs in the D tear and if you had a F tear then he belongs there as well.
Only because Reddick was so good.
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.
Other than running barely good enough to just eek into the championship 4 then win the final race and the championship he's barely done anything impressive, he's not fought for wins in good equipment, yet he's moving up to Cup...🤔
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.
Congrats on 69K! Nice!
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! 😉
Cindric: C, Hemric: D. I believe Hemric was rushed into that seat, though. He hasn't done an awful lot since.
I have Joey D for being in a title contending car and lucking into the New Hampshire win.
I agree, good job.
I still remember that 2016 Martinsville race very well. SCREW DENNY HAMLIN
Think you are thinking of 2017. It likely cost Chase a title that year as he was in the Chase one of the most consistent cars and drivers.
Crazy how much better rookies and younger drivers were in the early to mid 2000s. Guys came in and started running well and winning .
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!!!!!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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.
He wins if it was 400 miles then destroys the car during his burnout, tire blew exactly on lap 268.
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.
Putting a driver with 2 wins in B and a driver with 0 wins in A is a misstep. At best.
If Jarret did all of the Cup series rookies from 2000-23, this video would’ve been very long
2010, 2011 and 2012 should retroactively be marked "Vacant"
Man rookies have FALLEN off HARD since the early 2000s…
Literally the only good rookies after 2008 were Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Reddick. The rest are mid
@@MikeTheKoopaWarriorKyle Larson enters the chat
I wouldn't say fallen off more so just don't stand out like they used too
@@MikeTheKoopaWarriorBlaney, Buescher were decent rookies.
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.
If 2001 season had 2011-present current points, Harvick did not finished Top 10 and Benson finished 10th in points.
It was harder to finish top ten over a season in 2001 though and he missed a race.
Jimmie led the points his rookie year going into Fall Talladega.
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
Kenseth only driver to win the 600 as a rookie!
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.
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.
Tony was 1999 ROTY
No worries, I guess my NASCAR die-cast packaging confused me
Kyle Larson B tier rookie year is WILD. C tier for sure
Chase should not be A-tier for a rookie season. B tier
you should do this for the xfinity series also.
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
I wouldn't say the talent has fallen off more so the expectations for rookies have gotten too high imo
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.
Chase made the second round on points and finished top ten in his rookie year despite no wins.
You to the best driver to not won rookie of the year
If there was an S tier, Stewart, Hamlin and Harvick would be in it. I also honestly think Gibbs should be in A tier.
In Hemric’s defense, just like HMS in 2018 RCR was terrible in 2019. So being in C tier isn’t that outrageous
Denny top of the RotY chart!?!
He beat your favorite rookie, all of them
Except maybe Jimmie or Tony.
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.
Chase could’ve easily been in the round of 8 if he didn’t get screwed at Charlotte and Kansas in 2016
Brett Moffitt has to be DNF Tier
Wished you started at 1999. Stewart had the greatest rookie season of all time.
Most years matt finished a head of jr. plus he has a championship
Sure are being awfully generous with a lot of these drivers.
69 k officially 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
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
Which nascar game was this back track from?
Sad that Ryan doesn’t drive anymore 1:56
Edwards actually won rookie of the year in 2005.
He wasn't eligible in 2005
@@RaleighRyanCorrect, he had run 14 races in 2004 replacing Jeff Burton.
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.
He had more top fives than Hamlin or Busch. Not to mention being the youngest driver to get a top ten points finish since 1952.
Kyle was only 20th, Chase was 10th in points. He also was close to 10th on season long points. Hamlin for sure better rookie season.
Elliott is B tier not A
Golden boy's rookie season wasn't an A tier. No even close.
Kyle Busch is the most successful with 63 wins
Kyle crybaby is sooooo overrated just a sore loser crybaby And dirty racer
Harvick missed a race and won Rookie of the Year. Jimmie Johnson was the better driver in 2002.
Kevin Conway is an easy F.
What about kurt busch
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
Just because he wasn’t the best rookie doesn’t mean he was a B tier. Rather it speaks to how good his season was. He had a mathematical opportunity to win the championship with 2 races to go if I recall correctly.
He finished seven points behind Johnson which was about two spots on the track in 2002. He was 49 points short of 3rd on the overall standings. That’s a maximum of 17 positions in 2002.
If Newman was B tier then the only rookie years eligible for B tier or better since 2000 are Hamlin, Johnson, and Newman. Those three are easily the three strongest rookie seasons since 2000.
Newman had the third best rookie year since 2000. Easily top 10 of the modern era. Quite possibly top 5 of the modern era.
Arguably it is the strongest rookie class of modern era. It’s hard to understand your knock on Newman’s rookie season because he had SEVEN less points than Johnson.
Of course you put Elliot in A 🙄
I like Chase but no, decent rookie season though, no rookies have been truly great since Denny Hamlin, 2007 was when rookie classes started declining, 2010 was down the toilet, and Kyle Larson brought it back from the dead.
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
KFB crashed a bunch of cars lol
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.
Harvick, Almirola and Bowyer all had better overall seasons in 2020 than 2019. That doesn't sound like a team in decline yet. When Almirola has the 11th most points of anyone, the equipment has to be good.
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.
He almost made the Playoffs. You can't put him in the same category as Lally, Leicht, and Conway.
@noahcoleman5556 he's on a team where he should've popped off and atleast won a race he's in a gibbs car when his three teammates all won multiple races.
That’s why he was a rookie 🤡. Guess you expect Noah the NASCAR 🤡 to be the best. 🤣😂🤣😂. Noah did all that happened to him by his self. Should have stayed in Xfinity. Can not wait to see the disappointment post on Noah each week again
@@anncroft7429Gibbs missed the Playoffs even with Bowman and Chase missing and with only having to deal with Bubba Wallace basically.
Dude has double digit top 10s and almost won a couple of races. I'd put him in High C-tier low B-tier
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.
Hot take nascar made the right call at 2008 at Talladega Regan Smith didn’t win that race
Horrible
Matt k Didn't deserve his r.o.y
Dale jr did
Matt finished 2 spots higher in points, had almost 200 more points than jr.
Matt kenseth- 1 win, 4 top 5s , 11 top 10s
Dale jr. 2 wins , 3 top 5s , 5 top 10s
Going by points finish and stats… how does dale jr deserve it? 🤔
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
Keep crying about it 😢 Hendrick fan.
Kevin harvick who won multiple times. Raced all but 1 race in his rookie 2001 year. Enters the chat. If he raced Daytona, he would be higher in points.
Let’s not forget tony Stewart in 1999. 3 wins. Also, enters…
I cannot recall definitively but in 2002 I don’t think poles factored in to the points. As I recall, they only counted your top 18 finishes and bonus points based on finishing order.
Johnson only beat Newman by 7 points and 1 position on point standings. That’s about 2 spots in 2002.
I will admit Johnson had a better year despite loosing ROTY. But Newman had the third best rookie season since 2000. In almost any other year Newman would have won ROTY in blowout fashion.
Poles have nothing to do with it. Newman had more than twice as many top fives as Johnson, and the best 15 races are what counted. If driver rating was a thing in '02, Newman's would have been slightly higher.
@@seannolan9857 I don’t think it would have been higher. Jimmie beat him in the two categories that matter most. Wins and higher points finish. Also led more laps so was out front more. Had less dnf’s. Jimmie got the last laugh in the end. I hated both growing up