Earnhardt Jr. won his 
15th consecutive
NASCAR  
Most Popular Driver Award

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who retired from full-time competition in the NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) Monster Energy Cup Series at the conclusion of the 2017 season, was named the National Motorsports Press Association's (NMPA) Most Popular Driver for the 15th consecutive year.

Earnhardt, 43, the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was named on nearly 68 percent of the votes cast by fans - the Most Popular Driver Award is the only major NASCAR award determined solely by fan vote. It has been presented annually since 1953 - the recipients were originally determined by a poll of the competitors but it became a fan-driven program in 1984 under the auspices of the NMPA.

Earnhardt is one of eight drivers to receive the award on multiple occasions. Other multiple-time Most Popular Driver award winners include Lee and Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Fred Lorenzen, and Darrell Waltrip.  

Only one driver, Bill Elliott, has won the award more times than Earnhardt Jr.  Elliott was named the series’ most popular driver 16 times between 1984 and 2002. Dale Earnhardt Sr. broke Elliott’s stranglehold from 1991 to 2001, when he won the Most Popular Driver award for the only time in 2001.

In addition to hosting the voting platform for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver award, fans voted to determine the Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series also hosted on NASCAR.com.

 Elliott Sadler, who finished second in the XFINITY Series championship battle won the NASCAR XFINITY Series Most Popular Driver award and Sunoco Rookie of the Year Chase Briscoe was voted the Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver by fans.

 

Information for this article was provided by NMPA, of which the author is a member.