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NASCAR Cup Series: 2018 Rookie of the Year prediction

By Asher Fair

JOLIET, IL - SEPTEMBER 16: Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #98 Nickelodeon Green Slime Ford, leads William Byron, driver of the #9 AXALTA/JamesHardie Chevrolet, during the NASCAR XFINITY Series TheHouse.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 16, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
JOLIET, IL - SEPTEMBER 16: Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #98 Nickelodeon Green Slime Ford, leads William Byron, driver of the #9 AXALTA/JamesHardie Chevrolet, during the NASCAR XFINITY Series TheHouse.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 16, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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Which of the three full-time NASCAR Cup Series rookies end up as the 2018 Rookie of the Year when the season concludes in November?

Of the 32 full-time drivers set to compete in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, three are rookies. Those three rookies are William Byron, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Ray Black Jr. Which rookie will end up winning the Rookie of the Year Award after the season concludes?

William Byron, 20, has never driven in a Cup Series race before. The 2017 Xfinity Series champion is set to make his Cup Series debut as a full-time driver for Hendrick Motorsports in the iconic #24 Chevrolet.

Darrell Wallace Jr., 24, has four career Cup Series races under his belt. All four of those races came in the 2017 season when he substituted for the injured Aric Almirola at Richard Petty Motorsports. He is set to replace Almirola in the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports car, which is now a Chevrolet as opposed to a Ford, this season as a full-time driver.

Ray Black Jr., 26, has three career Cup Series races under his belt. All three of those races came in the 2017 season when he drove for Rick Ware Racing in the #51 Chevrolet. He is set to drive the #51 car for the team full-time this season.

As far as a prediction for which driver will end up being the 2018 Rookie of the Year, I think it’s pretty safe to count out Ray Black Jr. In three races for Rick Ware Racing last season, he finished no higher than 34th place. In 55 career Xfinity Series races over three seasons, he never finished higher than 12th place. In 31 career Truck Series races over three seasons, he finished higher than 11th place just once.

There is no reason to believe that Black Jr. will have enough success driving for an underfunded Rick Ware Racing team full-time to put him in the mix to become the 2018 Rookie of the Year.

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The Rookie of the Year battle is likely going to come down to William Byron and Darrell Wallace Jr. While the easy pick here would be the Byron since he has shown all kinds of potential as the 2017 Xfinity Series champion as well as the fact that he is set to drive a Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, one of the sport’s top teams, don’t count out Wallace Jr.

In four races as a substitute driver for a one-car Ford-powered Richard Petty Motorsports team last season, Wallace Jr. finished as high as 11th place and averaged a finish of 17.75. He improved his career-high result every race. With the team now being Chevrolet-powered and having an alliance with Richard Childress Racing, Wallace Jr. should be up front more often than expected in his #43 Chevrolet Camaro.

At the end of the season, I do think Byron will end up being the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year with at least one victory and a playoff appearance. However, don’t expect Wallace Jr. to go down without a hard fight that potentially includes at least one victory and lasts into the playoffs.

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Who do you think will end up being the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year? Will it be William Byron, Darrell Wallace Jr. or Ray Black Jr.? Tune into the 2018 season from start to finish to find out. It is set to begin on Sunday, February 18th with the 60th annual Daytona 500.

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