NASCAR has announced the rookies of the year awards for its three national series. Juan Pablo Montoya snagged the top spot in the Nextel Cup Series, while David Ragan won the honor in the Busch Series and Willie Allen won in the Craftsman Truck Series. The battle for all three rookie of the year honors were close, with no more than 27 points separating drivers in any of the three series. In the truck series, the margin was as low as 8 points between rookie contenders.
It was a better than expected year for Juan Pablo Montoya, the former open wheel driver. Montoya became the first of many drivers to defect from open wheel and move into stock cars and the rookie of the year honors prove that it was an excellent decision. In his first year, Montoya finished a respectable 20th in the driver standings, in a season that was productive with one victory, three top 5’s, and six top 10’s.
Montoya could have competed for a Busch Series Rookie of the Year award if his Busch team wasn’t dissolved mid season. In the Busch series, he had his first NASCAR win in Mexico City, and was only 79 points form the Busch Series Rookie of the Year. That is significant considering Montoya only ran 17 races. Montoya will also be celebrating his Rookie of the Year title because he has netted a record payout of $106,500 from Raybestos for his achievements throughout the season.
David Ragan had a remarkable season in NASCAR this year. In the year of Carl Edwards, Ragan managed to lock down two poles, four top 5’s and nine top 10’s in the final year of the Busch Series, but more importantly, a 5th place finish in the driver standings. On the Cup side, Ragan was only 24 points away from taking the Rookie of the Year award from Juan Pablo Montoya. Ragan’s closest contender for the award was Marcos Ambrose, who finished 27 points beind Ragan. Ragan also brings the 10th Rookie of the Year title to Roush Fenway Racing in the 10 years since Raybestos became the title sponsor of the rookie program.
On the truck side of things, Willie Allen closed out the season as the Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. Allen had the slimmest margin of victory for the Rookie title, with only 8 points separating him from second place Time Sauter. Allen closed out the season with only one top 10, but that was enough in a field of veteran drivers. Allen finished 15th overall in driver standings.
With the influx of open wheel drivers into NASCAR’s top three series, there will be a great deal of competition for the Rookie of the Year title next year in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. One thing is for certain, there is going to be an influx of talent, a few of which will likely mimic the rookie success of Denny Hamlin in the 2006 Nextel Cup Season. Only time will tell what 2008 will bring to rookies in NASCAR’s top series.
Congratulations to the 2007 NASCAR Rookies of the Year.
