The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is awarded annually to the racing driver deemed to have been the best performing rookie in the Indianapolis 500.[1] Criteria include drivers' performance during practice, qualifying, and the race, their relationship with fans and the media, their sportsmanship and positive impact on the race.[2] Sportsmanship is a driver's relationship with fellow racers and fans, and media interaction is their availability to spectators and the press during the event.[3] The Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) itself encourages voters of the award to treat each criterion equally.[3][4] Competitors who outperform in their equipment during qualifying and the race, as well as those who led part of the event but retired for various reasons such as a mechanical failure or involved in an accident, can be given leeway by voters.[5] The award is not always presented to the highest-finishing rookie,[3][4] and it is not given if there are no rookie entrants.[6] There is no current sponsor of the accolade; it has formerly been sponsored by Stark and Wetzel, American Fletcher National Bank, Bank One, Chase, and Sunoco.[7][8][9][10]
The rules state that the driver must be a rookie who competes in qualifying and the race.[11] Previous Indianapolis 500 racers and prize money winners are ineligible for the award at future events.[11] According to earlier regulations, drivers were evaluated on their ability to follow United States Auto Club regulations, mental attitude, willingness to listen to advice from experts, actions to improve the welfare and safety of other competitors, and their own performance in qualifying and the race.[12] In 1958, officials amended the regulations to make competitors who paid for or took part in prize money for one of the race's 33 starting spots eligible to compete for the award; this was done by redefining "appearance" in the rules following a two-car collision between Elmer George and Eddie Russo prior to the start of the 1957 race that resulted in differing opinions on whether the former was a rookie driver.[13] The IMS disqualified drivers who crashed before the start of the 1958 Indianapolis 500 from competing for the accolade the following year.[14]
The award was established before the 1952 Indianapolis 500 to reward rookie drivers for their performance in the race.[11][15] Each year, after the race has ended, a small group of current and former media members, along with IndyCar Series and IMS officials, vote. They use a points-based voting system to choose their first and second choices.[3][16] The winners' names are engraved on the Stark and Wetzel Rookie of the Year Award Trophy in the IMS Museum,[16] and they receive $50,000 in cash and a cut glass trophy.[a][23][24] The Herff-Jones company spent $6,000 to create the 40-inch (1,000mm)-tall trophy.[b] It has an onyx base with sterling rest googles and a sterling plate featuring the name and year of each recipient is mounted on a central walnut shaft.[26] A sterling bar in the shape of the IMS official emblem (wings sprouting from a racing tire) adorns the trophy's head. The trophy features the number 500 in gold and a gold race car going through the middle numeral.[26][27] The award is presented after the race at the Victory Banquet in Indianapolis.[c][30] Previous awards have included a plaque, a ring, and a year's worth of meat from Stark and Wetzel.[12][17]
Since 1975, the American Dairy Association Indiana (ADA) has presented the Fastest Rookie of the Year award to the fastest rookie qualifier regardless of starting position or four-lap average speed in order to welcome and celebrate, and honor each rookie entrant in the Indianapolis 500.[104][105] The quickest rookie qualifier receives $10,000,[e] a commemorative poster, and a plaque at the annual ADA Fastest Rookie Luncheon. The driver's name is also inscribed on the IMS Museum's permanent Fastest Rookie trophy.[109][110] There have been 49 winners of the award. The first winner was Bill Puterbaugh in the 1975 race, and the most recent winner was Kyle Larson at the 2024 edition.[111]
↑ The initial prize money award was $500,[17] which was increased to $1,000 in 1968,[18] to $2,000 in 1977,[19] $5,000 in 1979,[7] $10,000 in 1986,[20] and finally to $25,000 in 1999.[21] In 1990, the award winner received a glass replica of the IMS Permanent Rookie Trophy.[22]
↑ $6,000 in 1952 equates to $71,045 in 2025, according to calculations based on the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation.[25]
↑ Before that, a dinner was held the following May to honor the previous year's award winner.[28] A less formal gathering for award winners took place in later years.[29]
↑ Co-winners receive duplicate prizes including equal prize money and separate trophies.[34]
↑ The payout for the fastest rookie qualifier award increased from $1,500 to $2,500 in 1981 and then $5,000 in 1994.[106][107][108]
↑ Scott Brayton was the fastest in qualifying, but his car was taken over by Danny Ongais after he died in a practice accident. This promoted Stewart to the pole position.[130]
↑ Grebner, Meghan (May 22, 2012). "The 2012 Fastest Rookie". Brownfield Ag News. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
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