Two rookie drivers are confirmed to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. β The fight for the 2025 NASCAR Rookie of the Year will come down to a Supercars champion and an off-road racing standout.
We are tracking some of the top things to watch in NASCAR ahead of the 2025 season. Today’s topic is the Rookie of the Year battle. You can see yesterday’s topic here.
Shane Van Gisbergen and Riley Herbst will compete for the honor across the season. Van Gisbergen is driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing while Herbst will command the No. 35 for 23XI Racing. Both drivers’ teams are fielding a third full-time entry for the first time.
Although this is the first full-time campaign for Van Gisbergen and Herbst, both drivers have a wealth of experience on the race track.
Shane Van Gisbergen
Few rookie of the year candidates have won a Cup Series race before their rookie season. Van Gisbergen won the inaugural NASCAR street course race in Chicago in July 2023. He has 14 starts in the series, with two top fives and four top 10s.
Van Gisbergen won three races in 2024 during his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series but lost out on the Rookie of the Year award to Jesse Love. All three of Van Gisbergen’s wins came at road course tracks. He had four top 10s on oval tracks.
The 35-year-old rookie hails from New Zealand and entered the NASCAR circuit after a dominant career in the Australian Supercars Championship. Van Gisbergen is a three-time Supercars champion and is fourth all-time on the series win list with 80 victories.
Riley Herbst
Herbst, 25, has methodically made his way up the NASCAR ladder.
The 23XI Racing driver has four full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series under his belt, with a best-points finish of seventh in 2024. Herbst has three wins in the series, including the 2024 season finale at Phoenix.
Before racing in the Xfinity Series, Herbst was an ARCA standout. He won two races in the series and finished third in the 2018 points standings.
Herbst’s career began in off-road desert racing in the western United States and Mexico. He competed in the coveted Baja 1000 in 2023, finishing second with a family-run team.Β
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NASCAR Xfinity Series
While only two rookie drivers will compete in NASCAR’s highest series, other series will have larger rookie classes.
At least eight rookie drivers will compete for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year award in 2025. Many of these drivers are with high-end Xfinity teams and are poised to eventually compete in the Cup Series.
Daniel Dye (Kaulig Racing), Christian Eckes (Kaulig Racing), Taylor Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing), Carson Kvapil (JR Motorsports), Nick Sanchez (Big Machine Racing), William Sawalich (Joe Gibbs Racing), Dean Thompson (Sam Hunt Racing) and Connor Zilisch (JR Motorsports) will compete for the award.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
An ARCA champion, a rising social media star, and an award-winning actor highlight the six drivers competing for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year Award.
Andres Perez de Lara, who hails from Mexico, won the 2024 ARCA Menards Series Championship without winning a race. He was the series’ first international champion. He will compete for Spire Motorsports.
Toni Breidinger has mostly competed in ARCA during her career. She has over three million followers on Instagram and finished 15th in a truck race at Kansas in 2023, the highest finish for a woman in their truck series debut. Breidinger will compete for Tricon Garage.Β
Frankie Muniz, best known for his starring role in “Malcolm in the Middle,” ran full-time in ARCA in 2023. The 39-year-old continues a strong push for his racing career and will race for Reaume Brothers Racing.
Connor Mosack (McAnally-Hilgermann Racing), Gio Ruggiero (Tricon Garage), and Christian Rose (Niece Motorsports) will be the other rookies.
The 2025 NASCAR season begins at the Daytona International Speedway this weekend. The Daytona 500 will be on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. with the Xfinity and Truck series races on the preceding two days.
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