Gibbs, Smith, Sanchez win NASCAR rookie of the year honors
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ty Gibbs, Sammy Smith and Nick Sanchez officially earned the NASCAR rookie of the year honors in their respective divisions for 2023.
Smith won rookie of the year in the Xfinity Series. Sanchez won it in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Ty Gibbs won the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
Gibbs started 11th and finished 21st on the lead lap Sunday at Phoenix.
Driving in his first full-time season for his grandfather’s organization, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver accumulated 4 Top-5 finishes, 10 Top-10s, 112 laps led and finished 18th in points.
Gibbs’ only competition for the award was Noah Gragson, who was released from his contract in August after he liked a social media post mocking the death of George Floyd.
Other active former Rookie-of-the-Year winners include Kevin Harvick (2001), Ryan Newman (2002), Kyle Busch (2005), Denny Hamlin (2006), Joey Logano (2009), Andy Lally (2011), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2013), Kyle Larson (2014), Chase Elliott (2016), Erik Jones (2017), William Byron (2018), Cole Custer (2020), Chase Briscoe (2021), and Austin Cindric (2022).
PAST ROOKIE OF THE YEARS
1954: Blackie Pitt
1957: Ken Rush
1958: Shorty Rollins
1959: Richard Petty
1960: David Pearson
1961: Woody Wilson
1962: Tom Cox
1963: Billy Wade
1964: Doug Cooper
1965: Sam McQuagg
1966: James Hylton
1967: Donnie Allison
1968: Pete Hamilton
1969: Dick Brooks
1970: Bill Dennis
1971: Walter Ballard
1972: Larry Smith
1973: Lennie Pond
1974: Earl Ross
1975: Bruce Hill
1976: Skip Manning
1977: Ricky Rudd
1978: Ronnie Thomas
1979: Dale Earnhardt
1980: Jody Ridley
1981: Ron Bouchard
1982: Geoffrey Bodine
1983: Sterling Marlin
1984: Rusty Wallace
1985: Ken Schrader
1986: Alan Kulwicki
1987: Davey Allison
1988: Ken Bouchard
1989: Dick Trickle
1990: Rob Moroso
1991: Bobby Hamilton
1992: Jimmy Hensley
1993: Jeff Gordon
1994: Jeff Burton
1995: Ricky Craven
1996: Johnny Benson
1997: Mike Skinner
1998: Kenny Irwin
1999: Tony Stewart
2000: Matt Kenseth
2001: Kevin Harvick
2002: Ryan Newman
2003: Jamie McMurray
2004: Kasey Kahne
2005: Kyle Busch
2006: Denny Hamlin
2007: Juan Pablo Montoya
2008: Regan Smith
2009: Joey Logano
2010: Kevin Conway
2011: Andy Lally
2012: Stephen Leicht
2013: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2014: Kyle Larson
2015: Brett Moffitt
2016: Chase Elliott
2017: Erik Jones
2018: William Byron
2019: Daniel Hemric
2020: Cole Custer
2021: Chase Briscoe
2022: Austin Cindric
2023: Ty Gibbs
