Voting for the 2025 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award opened Monday, Oct. 6, 2025.
Voting will remain open until Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at noon ET. The winner will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 4, during the annual NASCAR Awards Ceremonies in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Fans can vote for one driver per ballot submission with voting being limited to five submissions per day, per email at NASCAR.com/mostpopulardriver or on the NASCAR Mobile App. The five votes per day aren’t limited to a single driver.
To be eligible for the award, a driver must have declared for NASCAR Cup Series points. A driver also must have been eligible for championship contention during the 2025 season.
The award was first presented to Curtis Turner in 1949 after NASCAR’S inaugural Strictly Stock (now Cup) season. It has been administered by the NMPA and presented annually by the organization since 1983. It remains the only major NASCAR award determined solely by fan vote.
NMPA Hall of Fame member and 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott possesses the record for Most Popular Driver awards with 16: 1984-1988, 1991-2000, and 2002. Dale Earnhardt Jr., inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame in 2020, won the award for 15 consecutive seasons, 2003-2017.
Chase Elliott has received the honor for the past six years.
Formed in 1965, the NMPA consists of qualified media members who report on the sport of auto racing through affiliations with print, radio, television, and/or internet news-gathering organizations. In addition to the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award, the NMPA presents an array of significant honors in auto racing, some of which are the Richard Petty Driver of the Year Award, the Myers Brothers Award, the NMPA Pocono Spirit Award, and the Wood Brothers Award of Excellence.
Additional information about the NMPA can be found at www.nmpaonline.com.
NMPA PR