The Rookie of the Year award for NASCAR's
premier series was first presented to a driver named
Blackie Pitt by Houston Lawing, NASCAR's Public Relations director, in 1954. An official award started with the 1958 season. From the 1958 through the 1973 seasons, NASCAR did not have an official points system to determine the Rookie of the Year, so NASCAR's officials merely gathered together to select a winner. , the rookie of the year points are the same as the championship points. The award is currently sponsored by
Sunoco.
Eligibility Eligibility for Rookie of the Year has changed several times over the history of NASCAR. , a driver must be competing for driver championship points in the series and that the driver must not have competed in more than seven events in any prior season in that series. A driver can also only compete for the Rookie of the Year honors once per series. However, these rules are not officially written in the NASCAR rulebook and NASCAR makes the final decision on eligibility. ==Cup Series==