# Mike Kable Young Gun Award

The Mike Kable Young Gun Award (also called the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year) is an annual motor racing award honouring the achievements of a rookie driver under the age of 30 who competes in either the Supercars Championship, the second-tier Super2 Series or the third-tier Super3 Series. Tony Cochrane, the chairman of the championship's organising body Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company (AVESCO), instigated the accolade in June 2000. It is named after Mike Kable, an Australian motoring journalist, motorsport publicist, and mentor to young racing drivers. The award is presented to the rookie driver adjudged to have performed the best over the course of their first season in either championship following a vote by a panel of motorsport experts. The recipient receives a sponsorship grant of A$15,000 to help develop themselves. The winner is announced at the series' end-of-season gala in Sydney.
The inaugural winner was Matthew White in 2000. The following year, the Stone Brothers Racing driver Marcos Ambrose won the award. Ambrose, James Courtney, Rick Kelly, Scott McLaughlin and Mark Winterbottom are the five recipients who have gone on to win either the Supercars Championship and/or the Bathurst 1000 in their careers. Australian drivers have won 21 times and New Zealanders twice. No one has won more than once; drivers from the second-tier championship have been honoured 14 times and Supercars competitors have won on 7 occasions. The 2023 recipient was Cameron McLeod, who finished in third place in the Super3 Series drivers' standings.

## Winners

Mike Kable Young Gun Award winners :
| Year | Image | Winner | Nationality | Series | Ref. |
| 2000 | | Matthew White | Australian | Konica V8 Lites Series | |
| 2001 | | Marcos Ambrose | Australian | V8 Supercars | |
| 2002 | | Rick Kelly | Australian | V8 Supercars | |
| 2003 | | Mark Winterbottom | Australian | Konica V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2004 | | Warren Luff | Australian | V8 Supercars | |
| 2005 | | Grant Denyer | Australian | HPDC V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2006 | | James Courtney | Australian | V8 Supercars | |
| 2007 | | Dale Wood | Australian | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2008 | | Karl Reindler | Australian | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2009 | | James Moffat | Australian | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2010 | | Tim Blanchard | Australian | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2011 | | Chaz Mostert | Australian | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2012 | | Scott Pye | Australian | Dunlop V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2013 | | Scott McLaughlin | New Zealander | V8 Supercars | |
| 2014 | | Todd Hazelwood | Australian | Dunlop V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2015 | | Ashley Walsh | Australian | V8 Supercars | |
| 2016 | | Cameron Waters | Australian | V8 Supercars | |
| 2017 | | Will Brown | Australian | Super2 Series | |
| 2018 | | Thomas Randle | Australian | Super2 Series | |
| 2019 | | Tyler Everingham | Australian | Super2 Series | |
| 2020 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2021 | | Matt McLean | Australian | Super2 Series | |
| 2022 | | Matthew Payne | New Zealander | Super2 Series | |
| 2023 | — | Cameron McLeod | Australian | Super3 Series | |
| 2024 | — | Aaron Cameron | Australian | Super2 Series | |

## Statistics

Winners by nationality :
| Country | Winners |
| Australian | 23 |
| New Zealander | 2 |
Winners by series :
| Series | Winners |
| Super2 Series | 15 |
| V8 Supercars | 7 |
| Super3 Series | 1 |