CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chase Elliott was named the most popular driver in the Cup Series for the seventh consecutive year at NASCAR’s annual awards ceremony Friday night.
The awards ceremony took place in NASCAR’s hub in Charlotte for the first time, a dramatic change from previous destination host cities like Las Vegas, Nashville and New York. The Charlotte Convention Center hosted a couple weeks after the 2024 season wrapped up at Phoenix Raceway with Team Penske’s Joey Logano winning the finale and becoming the only active three-time Cup Series champion on the top-tier circuit.
Elliott, who competes for Hendrick Motorsports and won the 2020 Cup Series championship, was not even one of the four title-eligible drivers at Phoenix on Nov. 10, and he finished seventh in the final standings after failing to advance from the round of eight in the playoffs this year.
There’s one honor, though, he never seems to have trouble running down.
The only major NASCAR award determined solely by the vote of fans, Elliott earned 266,363 votes to beat out Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson and Penske’s Ryan Blaney for most popular driver, per results released by the National Motorsports Press Association.