Meet Your 2026 NASCAR Rookies

The 2026 season is upon us. Daytona International Speedway hosts the NASCAR national series season openers on Feb. 13-15. In addition to the revamped championship format, new schedules, and new faces in new places, there are newcomers too.

Without further ado, here are the rookies for the NASCAR national series, as well as a prediction of who will take home the honors in each series.

2026 Rookie of the Year contenders:

Cup Series:
•Connor Zilisch

O’Reilly Auto Parts Series:
•Rajah Caruth
•Brent Crews
•Corey Day
•Austin Green
•Lavar Scott
•Patrick Staropoli

Craftsman Truck Series:
•Cole Butcher
•Brenden Queen

*there could be a few more added as… pic.twitter.com/8ip0f1KM8a

— Racing Territory (@RacingTerritory) January 15, 2026

After a historic performance in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, especially as a rookie, Connor Zilisch is now full time in the Cup Series. He is piloting the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet with former Richard Childress Racing crew chief Randall Burnett shepherding the team.

Zilisch is instantly a threat to win at the road courses, with his biggest competition being his teammate Shane van Gisbergen. However, in three Cup starts in 2025, Zilisch only managed one top 20, an 11th at EchoPark Speedway. His biggest drawback is that he is the only rookie, and all Cup drivers are talented.

Nevertheless, the 19-year-old’s road course prowess will aid him in accruing stage points. He slotted in 17th in the Frontstretch power rankings. If Zilisch captures a trophy, contends at road courses, and maintains some consistency, he will be in the conversation to make the Chase.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Rajah Caruth

One thing is certain about Rajah Caruth’s NASCAR career. He has worked hard to get here. He progressively improved through three full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series seasons into a full-time NOAPS ride.

Progression is the perfect word to describe Caruth’s career. Year one in Trucks, four top 10s and 16th in points. Year two, one win and seventh in points. Year three, one win and sixth in points.

Caruth has 22 O’Reilly Series starts. His average finish is 23.1. So watch for his progression as he visits racetracks for the second time, be it his NOAPS career and/or this season.

He is splitting his season between Jordan Anderson Racing and JR Motorsports. How Caruth handles those changes, and learns throughout the season, will make or break his season.

Brent Crews

Brent Crews is an incredibly talented 17-year-old who will contest 29 O’Reilly Series races.

He nearly won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, and he boasts six triumphs in the ARCA Menards Series.
Obviously, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing should place him in Chase contention. Right?

Except his JGR ARCA predecessor William Sawalich endured a tough 2025 O’Reilly rookie season. Sawalich had 27 career ARCA starts prior to his full-time NASCAR career; Crews has 17.

Sawalich’s ARCA predecessor Sammy Smith nabbed a win and a sixth-place finish in his first full-time NASCAR season. So, will Crews’ performance mirror Sawalich’s or Smith’s?

JGR has shown faith in Crews by moving him up the ladder so quickly. Based on his performance in the lower series, he’ll shine with good outings in 2026.

Corey Day has a high ceiling. He’s flashed his talent as well as his inexperience. He has 24 NASCAR series starts and nine in the ARCA platform.

Day’s results thus far have been solid with four top fives, 11 top 10s and one pole award. In that same timespan, though, he has nine races where he has not finished on the lead lap. So, for all that talent, he has made mistakes.

Hendrick Motorsports gives him every resource and fast racecars, so running alongside other contenders certainly is in the cards for him. If Day can put that talent with minimizing his mistakes, he should make the Chase. After all, HMS has won… a lot. Expectations are high for Day.

Austin Green

In 21 career NOAPS starts, Austin Green has eight top 10s. Twelve starts have come at road courses, where he has two top fives and seven top 10s. That’s respectable, but he has not competed at a drafting-style racetrack and his intermediate results are below average with an average finish of 27.2 in six starts.

What are realistic expectations for Green then? Peterson Racing has an alliance with Richard Childress Racing, which dominates at drafting-style tracks and won the championship with Jesse Love last year.

A top-25 points finish is realistic, though a top 20 would be considered an improvement. The 20th-place finisher last year averaged about 18 points per race, a 19th-place finish. If Green improves by five spots on intermediates and scores a few stage points on road courses, then a top 20 is attainable.

Lavar Scott

After three years participating in ARCA, Lavar Scott has ascended full time into the NOAPS. His ARCA results netted him top-five points finishes all three years.

Scott has been remarkably consistent in his career, too, with only three DNFs in three years. In 46 national division starts, he has 36 top 10s. Furthermore, he did not make many mistakes, earning a 7.7 average finish after starting an average of 7.4.
Yet only 260 laps led, or rather 4.2%, in his ARCA career remain his biggest drawback. He hasn’t managed to wheel a racecar to gain an extra spot or two better than its capabilities.

Driving for Alpha Prime Racing, his consistency and ability to smartly drive will keep the team happy. Odds are he will not make the Chase, but his teammate Brennan Poole has back-to-back top-20 points finishes. Given Scott is a rookie, he will likely finish a few spots lower, but a top 25 would be an excellent start to his NASCAR career.

Patrick Staropoli

Patrick Staropoli is a retina surgeon, but he is far from experienced jumping into the series as a 36-year-old rookie.

Imagine being a decent swimmer, then trying to make it competitively, with your competitors experienced and the stakes higher. Yes, Staropoli has a steep mountain to climb.

He has nine NASCAR series starts. All O’Reilly regulars last year made 33 starts.
Staropoli brings funding, but can he replicate Big Machine’s performance from the past few years?

Of those nine starts, he has two DNFs. That should be his goal from the onset – finish races to learn the racetracks, his competitors, and the racecars.

Still, Big Machine has three straight playoff appearances. Staropoli is jumping into fast racecars. Whether he can maintain that speed throughout races to earn respectable finishes is to be determined.

ThorSport Racing has won numerous races and multiple NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championships. Cole Butcher won numerous races and the ASA Stars National Tour in 2025. This is a great pairing.

Butcher is an older rookie at age 29. He made two Truck starts last year, both 29th-place results.

Butcher is no stranger to short tracks. However, it’s every other course that will be brand new to him. How fast can he get acclimated?

Based on ThorSport’s history, the answer is quickly. Jake Garcia and Ty Majeski both made the playoffs last year, and Ben Rhodes is a two-time series champion. With those knowledgeable top-tier teammates, Butcher should firmly be in the Chase conversation. He’s that good.

Brenden Queen

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen has won back-to-back championships in the zMax CARS Tour in 2024 and ARCA in 2025. Now he is one of the drivers for Kaulig Racing and RAM. Can he win a third title? It will be an uphill battle.

Queen won at a variety of circuits in ARCA, thereby showcasing his versatility. His crew chief Eddie Pardue is a NASCAR veteran, including working with Butterbean in five Truck races last year.

Like Butcher, Butterbean is a rarity as a 28-year-old rookie. Nevertheless, Queen and Kaulig will undeniably undergo growing pains. Fortunately, Butterbean’s racecraft ought to benefit him working through those moments as they chase success in RAM’s return to NASCAR.

By default, Zilisch will win Cup ROTY. For the O’Reilly Series, Day will win it, though Crews will make it close. As for the Trucks, Butcher will take home the honors, though Queen, and maybe Mini Tyrrell if he indeed is the final driver for Kaulig, will turn some heads this season as well.

Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site’s ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.