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The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year competition will be exciting.
It features two NASCAR XFINITY Series champions in Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher, proven talent in Ryan Blaney and Brian Scott, and a man with a legendary last name: Jeffrey Earnhardt.
NASCAR.com's Kathy Sheldon and Jessica Ruffin make their picks for which driver will rise above the other yellow-stripers in his first full-time Sprint Cup Series season.
SHELDON: Ryan Blaney's ready to roll as Wood Brothers Racing gets back to a full-time Sprint Cup schedule in 2016. Admittedly, I'm a bit biased in that the Wood Brothers' status as ground-breakers, legends, gentlemen competitors and sort of lone wolves in the era of mega teams endear them to me. (I voted for Glen Wood as the best driver ever of the No. 16 car, for instance.)
But Blaney's reputation stands on its own, too. He brought the famed No. 21 car home in fourth place in the 2015 spring Sprint Cup race at Talladega -- a place that rattles the teeth of even seasoned veterans like Jeff Gordon. He had another top 10 in the Sprint Cup fall race at Kansas, and who knows how much better his premier series performance would have been in 2015 had he not been denied the chance to race his way into several events because rain canceled qualifying?
RUFFIN: This year's rookie class is one of the best we've seen in years. And there's no doubt in my mind that Blaney will showcase his talent again this year on the race track -- he may even nab a couple wins.
But I've got one rookie in my mind who's also driving a legendary car number: Chase Elliott, who will be piloting the No. 24 Chevrolet for his first full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series. Elliott may only be 20 years old, but he's got the voices of veterans in his head. From his famous father Bill Elliott to seasoned crew chief Alan Gustafson to the former No. 24 wheelman himself Jeff Gordon, Elliott has no shortage of assistance in his budding career. The stakes are high for the young driver and the Hendrick Motorsports shop employees won't let him onto the track without the proper tools to succeed. After all, they do know how to win.
SHELDON: No question, this will be a heated battle, Jessica. Elliott certainly is set up for success. But I believe Blaney's Sprint Cup experience will pay dividends in 2016.
Take away four engine failures and a crash in his 16 Sprint Cup starts last season, and Blaney's average finish is 17.8 -- nothing to sneeze at. Given the team's technical alliance with Team Penske, I have no doubt equipment problems will be minimized. And none other than Edsel Ford II is pushing for this team to succeed.
Blaney will also be aided by crew chief Jeremy Bullins, who is no stranger to success from his three-year run as the crew chief for Team Penske's XFINITY Series entry (from 2012-14). The combined power of Ford, Penske and Wood Brothers can compete with a Hendrick Motorsports superstar on the rise. It's pretty exciting to think we're witnessing the birth of the next generation of Sprint Cup heavyweights.
RUFFIN: With all the young talent arriving into the series, this truly is an exciting time in the sport. It will be fun to watch the young guns of NASCAR earn their stripes this season. The Wood Brothers have certainly put together a force to be reckoned with this season -- between Blaney's raw talent, Sprint Cup experience and all-star partners on the race track with Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, Elliott will have quite the competition this season both for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title and for Victory Lane.
But Elliott's a triple-threat, too -- groomed to be a racer from his childhood and already the owner of the 2014 XFINITY Series championship title, the young driver received a small taste of Sprint Cup competition during his five starts in 2015 in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports ride. Apart from his crash at Darlington -- a track christened "The Track Too Tough to Tame" for a good reason -- and 38th-place result at tricky Martinsville, Elliott's trio of top-20 results at Richmond, Charlotte and Indianapolis show that he can hang with the big boys of NASCAR. And Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne will certainly be there to help their newest teammate out during any growing pains.
SHELDON: What makes this argument so fun is Elliott and Blaney are such good friends. That pair alone is enough reason to use Periscope -- bowling video gold. Maybe we should really be debating who will win the most championships in his long, glorious Sprint Cup career?
RUFFIN: I absolutely agree, Kathy. And let's not forget reigning XFINITY Series champion Chris Buescher -- his success last season proved that he could throw a wrench into the Rookie of the Year contest this year. Each of these drivers is primed for an extraordinary career -- no matter who comes out on top, we're likely to witness history in the making.