On Friday, Chase Elliott showcased why he has become NASCAR’s most popular driver over the last eight seasons. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has officially chosen to opt out of a chance to be crowned the most popular driver in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. The reason? To give Kyle Busch, who passed away in May, a clearer path to securing the award posthumously.
Busch, who is featured on the ballot, has never taken home the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award.
If this gesture by Elliott feels eerily familiar, it’s because his father, Bill Elliott, also removed his name from the ballot in 2001, which paved the way for Dale Earnhardt, a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion who was killed in a final lap crash of the Daytona 500 that season, to win the award for the only time in his Hall of Fame career.
Bill Elliott won the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award a record 16 times.
With Chase Elliott removing his name from the ballot, this means for the first time since Darrell Waltrip took home the award in 1990, there will be a driver not named Earnhardt or Elliott taking home the Most Popular Driver Award in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Prior to the Coca-Cola 600 race weekend, Busch fell ill with a bout of sepsis and suddenly passed away at the age of 41. Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, was the winningest driver in the history of the NASCAR National Series, as he had racked up 234 victories between NASCAR’s three National Series divisions.
Busch’s final NASCAR National Series win came at Dover Motor Speedway, a week prior to his unexpected death.
Fans looking to vote for the 2026 Most Popular Driver are encouraged to visit the Most Popular Driver landing page. Fans can vote for one driver per ballot submission with voting being limited to five submissions per day, per email at NASCAR.com/mostpopulardriver or on the NASCAR Mobile App. The five votes per day aren’t limited to a single driver.
