With three days remaining in the 2023 NASCAR Most Popular Driver voting period, there is still time for fans to help their favorite driver surge to the top of the polls for the Award (click here to cast your vote). On Monday, NASCAR revealed the top five drivers (in alphabetical order) in all three of the NASCAR National Series MPD Award votes.
The top five for the NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award contains Chase Elliott, which is no surprise as Elliott is seeking his sixth consecutive Most Popular Driver Award. However, Elliott missed seven races in 2023, six due to injury and one due to a suspension. You have to wonder if the missed races coupled with his first winless season since 2017 could potentially put the Award up for grabs.
Ryan Blaney, who won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series title, is also in the top five of the NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award voting, and he is joined by Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Larson.
It’s a stout four-driver list, which will look to dethrone Elliott as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver in 2023.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series ranks, Justin Allgaier who finished second in the championship standings and won three-consecutive MPD Awards from 2020 to 2021, finds himself once again in the running for the NXS MPD Award.
Josh Berry, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, and Josh Williams are also on the list, and it would be a first-career Most Popular Driver Award win for any of the other four drivers on the list.
In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Hailie Deegan, who has won the last two Most Popular Driver Awards is one of the current top five drivers in voting for the 2023 Award.
Deegan is joined by Matt DiBenedetto, who made the Playoffs in the Series this season, Stewart Friesen, Championship 4 contender Carson Hocevar, and Series Champion Ben Rhodes.
If Deegan is dethroned, it would mark the first MPD Award for the driver that takes home the Award. If Deegan scores the win in the voting, she will be a three-time Truck Series Most Popular Driver.
To participate in voting for the Most Popular Driver Awards, head to NASCAR.com/mostpopulardriver.
