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After picking up his third win of the year in Sonoma, Shane Van Gisbergen has entered the discussion for perhaps the greatest rookie season in NASCAR history. How far up that list has he already climbed? We’ll address that and more while counting down the 10 best rookie seasons in the sport’s history.
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Three wins, a playoff spot, and a legitimate chance at a serious championship run make Shane Van Gisbergen’s 2025 season one of the greatest rookie campaigns in NASCAR Cup Series history.
In doing so, Van Gisbergen enters a list of all-time great rookie years that is chocked full of Hall of Famers and legends of the sport.
10) Austin Cindric (2022)
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Only one rookie in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series has won the Daytona 500. That honor belongs to Austin Cindric, who did so en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award in 2022.
Daytona marked Cindric’s only win of his rookie season. But don’t be fooled, he had an impressive campaign on the whole. Cindric racked up nine top-10 finishes and five top-fives on the way to finishing 12th in the series points.
Cindric hasn’t quite taken the next step in his Cup Series career. But he’s proven to be the solid third driver for Team Penske, reaching the playoffs in three of his four Cup Series seasons.
9) Davey Allison (1987)
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The son of Hall of Famer Bobby Allison and a member of the famed Alabama Gang, Davey Allison entered the NASCAR Cup Series with plenty of hype around him, and boy, did he deliver.
Allison racked up nine top-five finishes, including two victories during his first year on the race track in 1987. Despite competing in just 22 of 29 races, he claimed Rookie of the Year honors.
Allison went on to win 19 times at the Cup Series level before tragically passing away following a helicopter crash in 1993 at just 32 years old.
8) Denny Hamlin (2006) 
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Denny Hamlin burst onto the NASCAR Cup Series scene in 2006, winning both races at Pocono and capturing a jaw-dropping 20 top-10 finishes.
Unsurprisingly, Hamlin ran away with the series Rookie of the Year honors and nearly 20 years later, he’s solidified himself as a Hall of Fame lock and one of the best drivers the series has ever seen.
7) James Hylton (1966)
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We take a step into the wayback machine for our No. 7 entry on the list, James Hylton.
Hylton did not win during his rookie season, which is the only thing that prevents him from being higher on this list. But he racked up an incredible 20 top-five finishes and 32 top-10s.
In doing so, he finished second in the championship behind David Pearson, which stands today as the best points finish in NASCAR history for a rookie. Hylton would go on to finish as the runner-up two more times in his career in 1967 and 1971 (both behind Richard Petty).
6) Ryan Newman (2002) 
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Newman dominated the dirt track racing scene before coming to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2002, and he immediately showed his immense talent.
He quickly earned himself the nickname “Rocket Man” by sitting on the pole six times as a rookie. Newman also collected his first career win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and added 22 top-10 finishes and 14 top-fives.
He finished sixth in the standings and claimed Rookie of the Year honors ahead of yet another entry on our list that we’ll see later on.
5) Dale Earnhardt (1979)
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Dale Earnhardt is widely regarded as one of, if not the, greatest driver in NASCAR history, so it’s not surprising that he didn’t take long to show his talent.
In the 1979 season, he notched the first win of his career at Bristol Motor Speedway and added 17 top-10s and 11 top-fives.
Earnhardt only ran 26 races due to injury, yet still claimed seventh in the point standings and won the Rookie of the Year award. One year later, Earnhardt claimed the first of his seven Cup Series championships.
4) Kevin Harvick (2001)
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Under any circumstances, Kevin Harvick’s 2001 rookie season would be wildly impressive.
Harvick won a pair of races, including his first in just his third career start in Atlanta. He finished the season with 16 top-10 finishes, six top-fives and a Rookie of the Year award.
Add in the fact that he was thrust into the spotlight following the death of Dale Earnhardt at that year’s Daytona 500, and you have one of the greatest rookie campaigns in series history.
3) Shane Van Gisbergen (2025)
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What more can be said about Shane Van Gisbergen? The New Zealander already has three wins this season with 16 races remaining on the schedule, and he’s established himself as one of the greatest road racers the sport has ever seen.
Van Gisbergen is one win away from setting the record for wins in a debut season, and at this point, nobody would be against him picking up that fourth win, if not more.
Yes, the NASCAR schedule looks far different than it ever has before, but Van Gisbergen is more than delivering on the hype he had coming into the year.
2) Jimmie Johnson (2002) 
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Yes, Ryan Newman won the 2002 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award. But it was future seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson who stole most of the headlines.
Johnson, running for famed Hendrick Motorsports, won three races compared to Newman’s lone victory. He added 21 top-10 finishes and six top-fives en route to a fifth-place finish in the point standings.
Johnson’s remarkable poise and consistency as a rookie were just a taste of what was to come, as he’d go on to become a seven-time champion and 83-time race winner.
1) Tony Stewart (1999) 
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By the time Tony Stewart entered the NASCAR Cup Series in 1999 with Joe Gibbs Racing, his reputation had already preceded him.
Stewart, like Newman, was a USAC superstar and also won an IndyCar championship in 1997. So expectations were sky-high in the stock car world.
Not only did Stewart meet those expectations, but he exceeded them. The future Hall of Famer set a record with three race wins as a rookie. He also added 21 top-10 finishes, 12 top-fives, and finished in fourth in the point standings.
Stewart’s immense talent was on display from day one, and it surprised nobody when he went on to become a three-time Cup Series champion.