NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award
NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award is an award for the most popular driver in a NASCAR series in one season. The award is in today since 1956 Sprint Cup , since 1982 in the Nationwide Series , and since 1995 in the Craftsman Truck Series awarded. In the Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series, the award was given from the start.
In what was then the Grand National, it was initially just a simple driver survey, but sometimes with drivers from all NASCAR racing classes, including the amateur classes. Nowadays, the Most Popular Driver is determined by polling fans.
The award is presented by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) and was sponsored by Chex in 2005 . The ceremony for choosing the Most Popular Driver is called "Myers Brothers Awards Breakfast" and takes place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City . The award winner is usually announced in December.
Bill Elliott is the record winner of this award, winning it ten times in a row from 1991 to 2000 and a total of 16 times. From the 2003 season to the end of his career after the 2017 season, Dale Earnhardt junior won the Tiel of the Most Popular Driver fifteen times in a row, one less than Elliott.
List of award winners
Sprint Cup
- 1956: Curtis Turner
- 1957: Fireball Roberts
- 1958: Glen Wood
- 1959: Junior Johnson
- 1960: Rex White
- 1961: Joe Weatherly
- 1962: Richard Petty
- 1963: Fred Lorenzen
- 1964: Richard Petty
- 1965: Fred Lorenzen
- 1966: Darel Dieringer
- 1967: Cale Yarborough
- 1968: Richard Petty
- 1969: Bobby Isaac
- 1970: Richard Petty
- 1971: Bobby Allison
- 1972: Bobby Allison
- 1973: Bobby Allison
- 1974: Richard Petty
- 1975: Richard Petty
- 1976: Richard Petty
- 1977: Richard Petty
- 1978: Richard Petty
- 1979: David Pearson
- 1980: David Pearson
- 1981: Bobby Allison
- 1982: Bobby Allison
- 1983: Bobby Allison
- 1984: Bill Elliott
- 1985: Bill Elliott
- 1986: Bill Elliott
- 1987: Bill Elliott
- 1988: Bill Elliott
- 1989: Darrell Waltrip
- 1990: Darrell Waltrip
- 1991: Bill Elliott
- 1992: Bill Elliott
- 1993: Bill Elliott
- 1994: Bill Elliott
- 1995: Bill Elliott
- 1996: Bill Elliott
- 1997: Bill Elliott
- 1998: Bill Elliott
- 1999: Bill Elliott
- 2000: Bill Elliott
- 2001: Dale Earnhardt
- 2002: Bill Elliott
- 2003: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2004: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2005: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2006: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2007: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2008: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2009: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2010: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2011: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2012: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2013: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2014: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2015: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2016: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2017: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2018: Chase Elliott
- 2019: Chase Elliott
Nationwide Series
- 1982: Jack Ingram
- 1983: Sam Ard
- 1984: Sam Ard
- 1985: Jimmie Hensley
- 1986: Brett Bodine
- 1987: Jimmie Hensley
- 1988: Larry Pearson
- 1989: Rob Moroso
- 1990: Bobby Labonte
- 1991: Kenny Wallace
- 1992: Joe Nemechek
- 1993: Joe Nemechek
- 1994: Kenny Wallace
- 1995: Chad Little
- 1996: David Green
- 1997: Mike McLaughlin
- 1998: Buckshot Jones
- 1999: Dale Earnhardt junior
- 2000: Ron Hornaday junior
- 2001: Kevin Harwick
- 2002: Greg Biffle
- 2003: Scott Riggs
- 2004: Martin Truex junior
- 2005: Martin Truex junior
- 2006: Kenny Wallace
- 2007: Carl Edwards
- 2008: Brad Keselowski
- 2009: Brad Keselowski
- 2010: Brad Keselowski
- 2011: Elliott Sadler
- 2012: Danica Patrick
- 2013: Regan Smith
- 2014: Chase Elliott
- 2015: Chase Elliott
- 2016: Elliott Sadler
- 2017: Elliott Sadler
- 2018: Elliott Sadler
- 2019: Justin Allgaier
Camping World Truck Series
- 1995: Butch Miller
- 1996: Jimmy Hensley
- 1997: Ron Hornaday junior
- 1998: Stacy Compton
- 1999: Dennis Setzer
- 2000: Greg Biffle
- 2001: Joe Ruttman
- 2002: David Starr
- 2003: Brendan Gaughan
- 2004: Steve Park
- 2005: Ron Hornaday junior
- 2006: Johnny Benson
- 2007: Johnny Benson
- 2008: Johnny Benson
- 2009: Ricky Carmichael
- 2010: Narain Karthikeyan
- 2011: Austin Dillon
- 2012: Nelson Piquet junior
- 2013: Ty Dillon
- 2014: Ryan Blaney
- 2015: John Hunter Nemechek
- 2016: Tyler Reddick
- 2017: Chase Briscoe
- 2018: Noah Gragson
- 2019: Ross Chastain
Web links
- Sprint Cup Page . with a list of the Most Popular Drivers