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Tag: Most Popular Driver Award

  • Justin Allgaier wins Most Popular Driver Award in Xfinity Series

    Justin Allgaier wins Most Popular Driver Award in Xfinity Series

    By Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    The fans have spoken. Justin Allgaier has been named the NASCAR Xfinity Series Most Popular Driver for the first time.

    Allgaier, 33, takes the mantle from former teammate Elliott Sadler, who had won the fan-voted honor for three consecutive years. Sadler retired from full-time racing following the conclusion of the 2018 season, paving the way for Allgaier’s ascension in the voting this year.

    The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet finished fourth in the final Xfinity Series standings after making it to the Championship 4 for the third time in four years. His victory in the penultimate race of the year at ISM Raceway in Phoenix clinched a spot in Miami, where he finished 14th.

    Allgaier is known for his affable attitude and fan-friendly demeanor. He often is surrounded by wife Ashley and daughter Harper on pit road before strapping in.
    The veteran finished the year with that one win in Phoenix, 16 top-five finishes and 24 top 10s in 33 races. He’s up to 11 wins all time in the Xfinity Series.

    The award for Allgaier continues an eight-year run for JR Motorsports drivers. Other former JRM drivers to earn the honor during that time include Sadler (2016-18) Chase Elliott (2014-15), Regan Smith (2013) and Danica Patrick (2012).

  • Ross Chastain wins Most Popular Driver Award in Gander Trucks

    Ross Chastain wins Most Popular Driver Award in Gander Trucks

    By Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    Ross Chastain, the breakout star of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season, has claimed one final honor: 2019 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Most Popular Driver.

    Chastain didn’t even plan to even be a full-time Gander Trucks driver in 2019, but he quickly became the busiest driver in NASCAR after his 2018 plans fell through, driving as many races as he could in all three NASCAR national series.

    The fans took notice as Chastain won the award for the first time, with the news coming on his 27th birthday.

    In June, Niece Motorsports – which supplies the No. 45 Chevrolet for Chastain – announced Chastain would change his points declaration from the Xfinity Series to Gander Trucks, allowing the driver to compete for the series championship … and the Most Popular Driver in this series.

    While Chastain fell short of lifting the big trophy, he provided a summer stretch for the ages that saw him grow into one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers on any level, and introduced a new celebration in the process – smashing a watermelon to smithereens.

    Chastain won three Gander Trucks races this season (plus one for good measure in the Xfinity Series) while logging 10 top-five finishes and 19 top 10s in 23 starts. He advanced to the Championship 4, finishing second on the season to champion Matt Crafton.

  • NMPA 2015 Most Popular Driver Award Open for Voting September 6

    NMPA 2015 Most Popular Driver Award Open for Voting September 6

    The National Motorsports Press Association and Sprint announced today at Darlington Raceway that voting for the Most Popular Driver Award will open Sept. 6. Fans can begin voting at 12:01 a.m. Sunday at www.mostpopulardriver.com and can also submit votes via the NASCAR mobile application. Voting is limited to one vote per person per email address each day. Voting ends on Nov. 22 to coincide with the last Sprint Cup race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    The NMPA is encouraging fans to share their votes on Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter, the official hashtag is #SprintMPD.

    The NMPA Most Popular Driver Award is the only major NASCAR award that is determined by fan vote. In the 63 years since the award’s inception in 1959, there have been 19 different drivers who have won the award.

    Bill Elliott, NASCAR Hall of Famer, has won 16 times, more than any other driver. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has captured the award the last 12 years in a row and “The King” Richard Petty, with nine awards, has won it the third most times.

    Any driver who has declared to compete for the Sprint Cup Series championship is eligible and this year that gives the voters 41 drivers from which to choose.

    “The Most Popular Driver Award is one of the NMPA’s most significant awards, and I’m very pleased to partner with Sprint again this year,” said NMPA President Brian Nelson. We expect the 2015 vote to be one of the biggest yet.

    The winner of this year’s Most Popular Driver award will be announced during the broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards on Dec. 4 in Las Vegas. A donation of $10,000 will be made to a charity designated by the winning driver.

     

  • Questions, Answers and Conundrums from the SpeedwayMedia Mailbag

    Questions, Answers and Conundrums from the SpeedwayMedia Mailbag

    The 2010 NASCAR season is officially over, well, except for some suspensions and probations issued over the past year. Those are not officially over until December 31st. That’s a whole different article.

    Wire services, official press releases and even news around the sport has slowed to a trickle. It is officially the off season in NASCAR.

    Sitting at my desk admiring the most recent construction of another cobweb, I decided it was time to do some digging through the Speedway Media mailbag.

    The mailbag at Speedway Media isn’t exactly like traditional mailbags, actually, it’s more like a large round Tupperware bowl that’s so worn out it stopped burping years ago.

    Once in a while the staff writers take turns reading and responding to the miniscule amount of fan letters, questions and even occasional suggestions that almost never pour in.

    After spending a few hours of reading and a little consternation, I came across four letters I thought were relevant, topical, well thought out, and begged to be answered.

    Honestly, there were only four letters in the bowl and I needed at least 500 words for this article, so I thought I would just answer them all.

    Mary Anne from Mobile writes:
    Dear Speedway Media: Do you think Jimmie Johnson will win his fifth championship in a row this year?
    Well Mary Anne as you can see it’s been a while since we checked the mail bag. Jimmie Johnson did in fact win his fifth championship in a row this year. Since there is not much change scheduled for next year in the Chase system or in NASCAR, Johnson is certainly the favorite to occupy the podium again.

    Karl from Kalamazoo writes:
    Dear Speedway Media: Has Hendrick Motorsports found a sponsor for Kasey Kahne in 2012 yet?
    Karl, that’s a very good question. As of right now there have been no announcements of any sponsorship deals for Kahne beyond 2011. Given the most recent turn of events at HMS; swapping crews in the middle of a race and a multitude of personnel changes after the final race, except for JJ and Knaus, it’s quite possible a sponsor like Manpower Temporary Services would be best suited for Kahne in 2012.

    Louise from Lubbock writes:
    Dear Speedway Media: Why is Dale Earnhardt Jr. once again NASCAR’s most popular driver? Shouldn’t Jimmie Johnson’s five championships in a row make him the most popular driver?
    Louise I am surprised you are the only one who has asked this question. Johnson has won quite a few awards over the past couple of years, including Athlete of the Year.

    Even though he has won five championships in a row, the answer to your question has two parts and is quite simple.
    First: Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets more attention for not winning than Johnson does for winning.

    Second: Everyone likes Jr.

    Speaking of Jr. and not winning, Robert from Richmond writes:
    Dear Speedway Media: Do you think Dale Earnhardt Jr. will extend his contract with Hendrick Motor Sports?
    Thanks for the question Robert. I doubt it will happen by the end of this year, but who knows, this year has had its share of strange events.

    Macy’s fired Santa Claus, Urban Meyer abruptly resigned, Auburn went undefeated, and Joe Nemechek actually ran a full race.

    The marriage between Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. started off as traditional as unions go. Hendrick brought money, Earnhardt brought his name along with some extra baggage of a cousin. It was consummated quickly with a Duel win at Daytona.

    Since then there hasn’t been much bliss. Hendrick has tried to keep the romance going by supplying Jr. with new equipment and even a new crew chief. It still didn’t seem to be enough. So once again Jr. is getting another new crew chief and also moving in with Jimmie Johnson.

    The move with Johnson could be strategic, or a veiled attempt at marriage counseling.

    I doubt that Hendrick and Earnhardt Jr. will get a divorce at the end of 2012, but it’s possible a trial separation is in their future. This would give both of parties a chance at finding what they did or didn’t have during their union.

    That’s all for this edition of Speedway Mailbag.

    Feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to mailbag@speedwaymedia.com.

    Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect opinions of the management.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Most Popular Driver Award & Talks about his Future

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Most Popular Driver Award & Talks about his Future

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the NMPA Hamburger Helper Most Popular Driver Award for the 8th consecutive year. He accepted the award on Thursday in Las Vegas at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers 2010 Awards Luncheon.

    Earnhardt Jr. began by saying that receiving the award was “a great honor” but first he wanted to congratulate his teammate Jimmie Johnson. He joked about forgetting to congratulate him last year adding that Rick Hendrick had already sent him a text message to remind him to do so.

    [media-credit name=”Dale Earnhardt Jr. accepts his eighth consecutive Hamburger Helper Most Popular Driver Award during the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Ceremony on Thursday. Photo by CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]He went on to congratulate General Mills, NMPA, his sponsors and his team but his most heartfelt thanks went to his fans.

    “They really make everything about this sport, about this very moment here, possible for all of us,” said Earnhardt.

    After the luncheon, Earnhardt Jr. spoke with the media about the 2011 season with new crew chief Steve Letarte.

    He described learning about the crew chief change saying, “It’s like knowing what you’re getting for Christmas, but not being able to mess with it until that morning.”

    But he also acknowledged that the real change will begin with the driver himself.

    “The only person that can truly help me get where I need to go, obviously, starts with me, Earnhardt Jr. said. “Then it goes to Rick (Hendrick), Steve and those guys that are your inner circle every week and that are in your corner every week.

    “My biggest problem, I think, is my confidence. I know what I’ve done in the past. I know that I’ve out run and beat these guys that I compete with each week before and I just have to remember that the potential is there.”

    Earnhardt Jr. also believes “there’s a swagger that you have to have,” and the only way he will be able to get that back is to put together some tops five runs.

    “To convince myself to get back to where I need to be confidence wise, I need to see it happen on the track. I can’t just talk myself into going to the track thinking the way I need to think. I’m going to go there and mash the gas and it needs to happen. When it happens, then I’ll go, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s supposed to be like’ and then you kind of get the swagger back and the confidence comes back and everything is rock solid. You win battles, little battles throughout the day with that confidence that you normally don’t win whether it’s with yourself or your competition out on the race track. There are thousands of battles happen throughout the race.”

    Many believe Earnhardt Jr.’s problems on the racetrack began with the introduction of the COT and he admits that it “has been challenging.”

    “But I think the potential for the car to get the grip and get the feel of the race track that I need is there because I’ve had it before. We just missed it. The cars are just not into the track to get the speed and get the grip that I feel like I need to get. We haven’t been able to find what that combination is, whether it’s a package in the springs or the sway bars, which it probably isn’t. We’re missing something for the car and the feel that I need to feel. It could be anything related to the car even before it comes into the crew chief’s hands, we just have to see.”

    Although the last few years have been difficult for Dale Jr., he’s not looking for your pity. Instead, he is looking ahead to the future and the opportunity to prove himself.

    “I don’t think I should win any sympathy votes. We need to perform. We need to be hard on ourselves to how poorly we ran at times last year. We need to force ourselves and push ourselves to improve and that’s what we try to do every offseason. Physically and mentally it can be kind of tough on you but you just kind of rebound and renew yourself in the offseason and renew your faith in your abilities.”