Through the first five races, two Rookie of the Year candidates have separated themselves from the rest.
After he started from the pole and finished ninth in the season opening Daytona 500, rookie Austin Dillon posted back-to-back finishes outside the top 15.
Now with two consecutive 11th-place finishes, the Richard Childress Racing driver sits inside the top 10 in the standings. Despite the results, he has been relatively quiet to start the season. He has only led one lap, back at Daytona.
Meanwhile, fellow rookie Kyle Larson has steadily recovered from the season opener where he finished 36th after having several problems throughout the race. He has bested Dillon in three of the last four races, including last week at Auto Club Speedway, where he nearly passed Kyle Busch for the win on the final lap.
Both rookies will have a tough challenge at Martinsville, as Larson and Dillon start 28th and 34th, respectively. Larson has yet to compete there in NASCAR’s top three series, whereas Dillon has three Camping World Truck finishes of 16th (twice) and seventh.
The rest of the rookies have had more troubles than the top two. Out of the six, Justin Allgaier’s 17th-place finish at Auto Club is the best finish. They have also combined for eight DNFs, with Parker Kligerman tallying three.
Dillon and Larson have made the rookie race an early two-man competition. Dillon may be ahead in the standings, but Larson (16th) is closing in. Larson showed last week that he can be a force at the intermediate tracks, and he will have many opportunities to get a win there and earn a spot in the Chase.