NASCAR's Rookie of the Year battle taking place in the basement

The NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year battle is one of many intriguing storylines that play out over the course of 36 weeks of competition. 

In 1979, the NASCAR Winston Cup rookie class included Harry Gant, Terry Labonte and eventual ROTY Dale Earnhardt. In 2000, Matt Kenseth beat the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dave Blaney, Scott Pruett and Mike Bliss to earn the award. 

The most impressive rookie class in recent years came along in 2020, when Cole Custer's win at Kentucky and subsequent playoff berth gave him the nod over Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Brennan Poole and Quin Houff. 

This year, the Cup Series Rookie of the Year battle will be fought out between road-course ace and 2023 Chicago Street Race winner Shane van Gisbergen and three-time NASCAR Xfinity Series winner Riley Herbst. Herbst drives for a team in 23XI Racing that made the Championship 4 with Reddick in 2024, while van Gisbergen drives for Trackhouse Racing, which has become a team that is usually good for a couple of wins every year. 

So far, however, the Rookie of the Year battle has taken place in the basement of the points standings and far away from the front of the field. 

Herbst and van Gisbergen weren't expected to light the world on fire this season, but their results — or lack thereof — have still been surprising. 

It's van Gisbergen who holds a five-point edge over Herbst in the standings, accruing 97 points through eight races to Herbst's 92. Stage points — of which van Gisbergen has 14 and Herbst has zero — are another big factor in van Gisbergen holding a slim lead, as is SVG's sixth-place finish at Circuit of the Americas. 

Herbst has arguably been more consistent, though his lack of stage points has kept him below van Gisbergen in the standings. He started the year with three consecutive 17th-place finishes at Daytona, Atlanta and COTA, and picked up another top-20 at Las Vegas. In the three races since, however, Herbst has finished 33rd, 31st and 34th. SVG hasn't been much better, as after collecting a top-10 at COTA, he finished 31st or worse in the next four races before finishing 20th at Darlington on Sunday. 

Van Gisbergen and Herbst currently sit 33rd and 34th in the Cup Series standings, respectively, ahead of only Cole Custer and Cody Ware among drivers who have run all eight races this season. 

There's plenty of time for both drivers to turn things around, but while the ROTY battle is currently a tight one, it's a silent affair taking place in the cold, dark basement of NASCAR.