Question about rookie drivers

[64Comet404]

When did the practice of the yellow stripe/bumper come into use in NASCAR? I have some older cars I would like to model, but want the details to be accurate. TIA.

[SCRWDRVR]

I'm not sure when it started but I do know I have the kit of Tony Stewarts rookie car (1999) and it has rookie stripes.

[MarkJ]

I heard someone say once that it was 1958, but I don't know if that was true. Did you try googling it?

[dwc43]

I know it went back as far as the 60's. The entire bumper had to be yellow, not just striped. But, back then you had real chrome stock bumpers up till the 90's.

[Vietnam Vet67]

A friend reminded me of a story about A.J. Foyt. He had been running at some NASCAR tracks (mainly Daytona and Riverside ) from 1963. But in 1985 he was going to run at Darlington for the first time.. NASCAR made him run rookie stripes on his car and this really made him mad but he did it .

[Vietnam Vet67]

I reached out to the Jayski NASCAR page and they contacted NASCAR.......here is what they said.

We haven’t found anything definite and NASCAR doesn’t seem certain either.  This is the latest from NASCAR:

I’m sorry to say I don’t know the origin of the rookie stripes in NASCAR or when the first stripes appeared. According to Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian, Donald Davidson rookie stripes were first applied for the Indianapolis 500 in 1950. I would imagine that was an influence on NASCAR but have not found the exact start of this tradition.

 NASCAR awarded their first Rookie of the Year title to Blackie Pitt in 1954, then did not present the award again until 1957 to Ken Rush. They have presented the award every year since.

 Some NASCAR tracks had special rookie orientation tests before a competitor can race. For instance, in 1985 4-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt was making his first career start at Darlington. NASCAR gave Foyt the opportunity to opt out of the orientation, but Foyt chose to participate to get the full Rookie experience. Most recently, in 2018 NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott wore Rookie stripes at Road America while making his first career start at that venue.