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The time has come for NASCAR fans to weigh in on an important ballot. Voting is now open for the National Motorsports Press Association’s 2025 Most Popular Driver Award.
The NMPA Most Popular Driver Award goes to the driver who generates the most votes between now and Monday, Nov. 3. Fans can vote for their favorite drivers across the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series up to five times per day per unique email address.
To be eligible for the award in one of the respective national series, drivers must have declared for points in those series. So, someone like Kyle Busch could not win Most Popular Driver in the Xfinity Series considering that he competes full-time in the Cup Series.
Curtis Turner was the first driver to win the Most Popular Driver Award, doing so in 1949. Bill Elliott holds the record for the most wins at 16. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the award 15 times during his Hall of Fame career.
Chase Elliott first won Most Popular Driver in 2018 after Earnhardt Jr. retired. Elliott has won the award every season since. He remains the favorite to repeat in the Cup Series.
Justin Allgaier won Most Popular Driver last season in Xfinity, the same year he won his first championship. Allgaier has won the award five times since 2019. The only driver who snapped his streak was Noah Gragson, who won in 2022.
Rajah Caruth won Most Popular Driver last season in the Craftsman Truck Series. This marked the Spire Motorsports driver’s first time winning the award. Hailie Deegan, who competed in the Indy NXT Series last season, won the award three times between 2021-2023.
NASCAR will not reveal the winners in the three series until the championship banquet on Tuesday, Nov. 4. However, it will reveal the top 10 in each series on Oct. 15. NASCAR will then reveal the top five drivers receiving votes on Oct. 22.