Shane van Gisbergen clinches NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year honors

SVG was the only rookie to make the playoffs, ensuring he wins ROTY in 2025

Shane van Gisbergen will be named Rookie of the Year at the end of the 2025 NASCAR Cup season, no matter what happens in the final ten races. SVG is the first foreign-born driver to earn Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series since Juan Pablo Montoya did it in 2007.

SVG's four-win season allowed him to easily make the playoffs, while his only competition [Riley Herbst] failed to make it into the postseason. NASCAR awards ROTY to whichever rookie places highest in the championship standings, which is now guaranteed to be van Gisbergen.

Herbst, who drives for 23XI Racing and is one of only two full-time drivers without a top ten this year, had one last shot to win his way into the playoffs on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, he was among those taken out in a Lap 27 pileup on the frontstretch, leaving him with a last-place finish. SVG went on to lead six laps and place 16th. After the points reset, he enters the playoffs as the sixth seed out of 16 drivers.

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

“It was awesome," said SVG about the Daytona race. "We set out and achieved what we wanted to do. I wasn’t quite a good enough pusher to help the No. 99 [Daniel Suarez, teammate]. I would just get tight and bound up, and I couldn’t stay attached. But when we were out front, it was good. It was good to lead some laps and control some lanes. I learned a lot. We just have to keep building. It’s another solid result for this No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet team.”

Van Gisbergen's first win of the year came in Mexico City, where he won by over 16 seconds in the largest margin of victory we've seen in any Cup race since 2009. He went on to claim victories at Sonoma Raceway, the Chicago Street Course, and most recently at Watkins Glen International.