Ranking Every NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year (1950s)

Originally published on Apr. 18, 2023

By Zane Miller

4. Blackie Pitt (1954)

Pitt earned the inaugural Rookie of the Year award in 1954, getting six top-10s in 27 starts and finishing a career-high 11^th in the final standings after missing 10 races. He would proceed to follow this season with a successful sophomore campaign with seven top-10s in 20 races, eventually ending his Cup Series ride after the 1958 season with 19 top-10s in 81 attempts.

3. Ken Rush (1957)

Rush earned the RotY award in 1957, finding his way to one top-five and six top-10s in only 16 starts, taking a career-best 39^th place points finish with 37 races missed. However, his time in the limelight would be brief as he only made a select number of starts per season after his rookie year. While he would no longer be a working man in the series after the 1972 season, Rush finished his career with a total of five top-fives and 16 top-10s in 56 races.

2. Shorty Rollins (1958)

The first Rookie of the Year candidate to win a race in their opening campaign, Rollins took the award in 1958 on the strength of one win, 12 top-fives and 22 top-fives in 29 starts, as he claimed his lone career win at the only race in Cup history held at Stateline Speedway. This statement gave Rollins a fourth-place result in the final standings, however, he would only make a handful of starts after 1958 before his retirement following the 1960 season. In all, Rollins made the most of his quick stint in Cup, securing one win, 12 top-fives and 27 top-10s in just 43 starts.

1. Richard Petty (1959)

In what very well may be the easiest #1 selection for any top five list I’ve ever written, Petty picked up the 1959 award with six top-fives and nine top-10s in 21 starts, ending up 15^th in the final standings after missing 23 races. Petty then followed up this humble beginning by essentially dominating for the next two decades, getting runner-up points finishes in three of his next four seasons before breaking through with his first of seven championships in 1964. His next title in 1967, in an authoritative display of strength which will likely never come close to being touched again, saw him claim 27 wins (including 10 in a row), 38 top-fives and 40 top-10s for a gap of over 6,000 points to the nearest competitor.