Dale Junior Wins Most Popular Driver Award…In a Landslide

Junior greets fans during driver introductions prior to the 2013 running of the Ford Eco-Boost 400

Anyone who follows the sport of NASCAR knows that the driver known simply as “Junior” is a pretty popular guy.  Go to a race, and you will see “Junior Nation” fill the stands.  You can hear the roar of the crowd over the engines (even on televsion) when the 88 car makes a pass for the lead.  This popularity that we all are aware of was reiterated on Thursday with the awarding of the National Motorsports Press Association’s annual Most Popular Driver Award.

Danica Patrick waves to fans before the 2013 Ford Eco-Boost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Junior took home the prize for the 11th consecutive year, breaking Bill Elliott’s record of winning 10 years straight.  Some thought Danica Patrick, despite a dispointing rookie season in the Cup Series, may challenge for the spot.  Her performance on the track may have been lacking, but she is certainly popular among female fans (and some young male fans…I wonder why that would be?).  That was not to be the case, though, as Junior brought in 700,000 of the just over 1 million ballots submitted by fans…not even close.

Hendrick Motorsports held the top three positions in the voting with Kasey Kahne coming in second and veteran driver Jeff Gordon in third.  The rest of the top ten, in order of votes received, were Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

While Junior did break one Bill Elliott record, he still has a way to go if he hopes to pass Elliott’s all-time “Most Popular” record.  Awesome Bill from Dawsonville won the award 16 times before withdrawing his name from voting in 2002.

When accepting the award, Junior paused to recognize Elliott, who withdrew his name only so that Dale Earnhardt (who had finshed second to Elliott for many years) could take home that prize in the year he was killed.  “I don’t really keep track of the stats or the score, but Bill was a great driver and ambassador for the sport,” Earnhardt Jr. told USA Today. “He represents the sport really well to this day, as does his son Chase, who’s coming up and carrying on the family name. But, I’ve always looked up to Bill as a driver so it’s pretty neat.”

Will Junior ever break Elliott’s record?  Many would answer yes, but I am not so sure.  In a couple of years, another Elliott, Bill’s son Chase, will likely make an entrance into the Cup Series.  With the success the younger Elliott has had and his father’s demeanor, I see him picking up right where his father left off once he enters the big league.  That’s my opinion.  I welcome yours in the comments below.