As the series formerly known as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West came under the ARCA umbrella for the 2020 season to be rebranded as the ARCA Menards Series East and the ARCA Menards Series West, respectively, it marked the first time three drivers would be able to claim the year-end Bounty Rookie of the Year award.
Sponsored by Procter & Gamble’s Bounty brand of products since the beginning of the 2019 season, a Bounty Rookie of the Year has been selected in the ARCA Menards Series annually since 1964 and 62 times in total dating back to 1957, when Bill Granger was the first honoree. What is now the ARCA Menards Series West began recognizing its top rookie in 1971, and the ARCA Menards Series East has awarded top rookie honors since its second season in 1988. A trio of promising young drivers captured the Bounty Rookie of the Year awards in 2020: Hailie Deegan (AMS), Ty Gibbs (East) and Jesse Love (West).
So what is yet to come in the Bounty Rookie Challenge in 2021?
No driver’s Daytona debut may draw more attention this year than that of Gibbs, an eight-time winner in AMS competition over the last two seasons. Gibbs has proven on the short tracks of the series that he has the potential to win any given race, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to carry that mindset over to the superspeedways in 2021.
Gracie Trotter, the second female winner in West Series history (following Hailie Deegan) and the first under the ARCA sanction, will get the chance to try to make history again as the first female driver to win an ARCA Menards Series race.
Moving over to the perennially strong Venturini Motorsports team, Trotter’s fellow rookie teammates Corey Heim (set to join Gibbs as a full-time AMS competitor) and Derek Griffith should also find themselves at the front of the pack thanks to promising performances in partial 2020 schedules.
GMS Racing will return with California youngster Jack Wood at the wheel, while NASCAR Drive for Diversity member Nick Sanchez and the Rev Racing team will tackle both Daytona and the full AMS schedule together for the first time in 2021, looking to build on last year’s third-place finish in the East standings.
Other stout first-timers to watch for include USAC’s winningest female driver, Toni Breidinger; Win-Tron/AM Racing’s Howie DiSavino III; NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour crossover Andy Jankowiak; and Kyle Sieg, younger brother of current NXS driver Ryan Sieg.
Ahead of the ARCA Menards Series East season-opener at New Smyrna, one easily recognizable name in the field is Carson Kvapil, the 17-year-old son of 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and former ARCA Menards Series race winner Travis Kvapil.
Driving for Cook-Finley Racing, Carson will be attempting to match a rare feat that his father pulled off: a win in his first career series start. While gaining experience as a NASCAR Cup Series rookie in 2005, Travis dominated the ARCA Menards Series race at Pocono in a Penske/Jasper Dodge.
NASCAR Drive for Diversity member Rajah Caruth will take the next step in his development as a driver with the Rev Racing team, allowing the Washington, D.C., native to compete in a full-bodied stock car for the first time after cutting his teeth in legends cars and iRacing.
Sammy Smith will inherit the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 ride that Ty Gibbs won the series ROTY title in one year ago.
International representation will be provided by Mexico City’s Max Gutierrez, running for the No. 30 Rette-Jones Racing team co-owned by Canadian racer Terry Jones.
As the ARCA Menards Series West schedule isn’t set to begin until March at Phoenix Raceway, not all teams have announced their 2021 plans. One name to keep track of in the meantime is Cole Moore, who will join reigning series champion and Bounty Rookie of the Year Love as a full-time driver at Bill McAnally Racing.
Utilizing a simplified and revised set of guidelines introduced ahead of the 2020 season, rookie points are awarded based strictly on a driver’s finishing position in each race, discounting any bonus points that would be earned for leading laps, winning the General Tire Pole Award or winning the race. Bonus points otherwise earned for competing in each designated five-race leg of the schedule are not counted towards a driver’s rookie point total.
All rookie-eligible drivers are automatically entered into the rookie of the year chase, and drivers can claim both the overall series championship and the Bounty Rookie of the Year title should they provisionally win both honors.
Finally, the Bounty Rookie of the Year should be considered a positive example of demeanor, conduct and character, following a code of ethics that best represents the ARCA Menards Series.
Many drivers through the years have gone on to experience success in the top three series of NASCAR by using their Bounty Rookie of the Year-winning season in the ARCA Menards Series as a launching pad for their career. This group includes those such as the late Davey Allison, a seven-time AMS winner before becoming a NASCAR Cup Series star; Charlie Glotzbach, whose track record race-winning average speed mark of over 101 mph at Bristol is often cited as one of the sport’s unbreakable records; and 1973 NASCAR Cup Series champion turned beloved broadcaster Benny Parsons.
Others have used the opportunity to become mainstays synonymous with ARCA racing. Ten-time series champ Frank Kimmel was the 1992 ROTY, two years before he would break through for his first win. Eight-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart became the award winner in 1988 when he arrived from the Pennsylvania dirt track scene. Championship-winning driver & car owner Bill Venturini claimed the prize in 1983 and won his first series title as a driver in 1987.
The ARCA Menards Series Bounty Rookie of the Year for the 2020 season was Deegan, who became the first female driver in series history to earn the nod. Deegan began her season strong with a runner-up finish in the opening race at Daytona, equaling the series mark for the best single-race finish by a female driver. She posted four top fives and 17 top 10s over the course of the season and managed to match her Daytona run when she came home second on the dirt at Springfield. Bolstered by her 2020 performance, Deegan will compete full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2021 for David Gilliland Racing.
The ARCA Menards Series East has produced a number of former Bounty Rookie of the Year winners who have gone on to collect accolades in the upper levels of the sport. 2007 AMSE Bounty Rookie of the Year Joey Logano used the series to get his start and now boasts 26 wins and the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series championship among his accomplishments. Austin Dillon, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman are also among the former East ROTY winners that currently compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Bounty Rookie of the Year for the 2020 ARCA Menards Series East season was Gibbs. The grandson of legendary Super Bowl-winning coach Joe Gibbs and son of Coy Gibbs, Ty Gibbs has established himself as a future star in the sport with his on-track performance since he made his debut in 2019. Gibbs won one East race at 2020, at Toledo Speedway in June, and posted just one finish outside of the top three over the course of the series’ six-race schedule. He added six wins from his ARCA Menards Series exploits and now has a busy 2021 season planned, intending to run the full ARCA Menards Series slate as well as a significant portion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule.
The ARCA Menards Series West has a rich history of successful rookies over the course of its history, having awarded its first Bounty Rookie of the Year title in 1971 to Dick Kranzler. Notable previous ROTY awardees include 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope and former Daytona 500 polesitter and current car owner David Gilliland. 2016 and 2017 AMSW Bounty Rookie of the Year winners Todd Gilliland and Derek Kraus currently compete full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
The Bounty Rookie of the Year in ARCA Menards Series West competition in 2020 was Love, who also doubled as the series’ youngest championship-winning driver ever at just 15. Driving for Bill McAnally’s team, Love won three times and scored top ten finishes all but one of the 11 races, turning heads at each stop along the way.
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