NASCAR Chevy driver Chase Elliott won over the fans once again, as he was voted 2022 Most Popular Driver in the Cup Series for the fifth straight year.
Elliott, who drives the No. 9 Chevy Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series, joins just five other drivers in NASCAR history who have won the award more than five times. This includes Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, who each won eight times; Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won 15 times; and Bill Elliott (Chase Elliott’s father) who holds the record of 16 wins.
“For me, obviously, I came into a very fortunate situation,” Elliott said on stage during the 2022 NASCAR awards banquet on December 1st in Nashville. “Dad had a great connection with the fans, and beyond him, I look at the connection as really an extension of his career and my uncles and my grandfather and just kind of the path and the work ethic that they had to be able to get to where they did and to achieve the goals they did.
I completely understand that a lot of the folks that supported them and my family over the years have migrated to support me. I’m grateful for it, grateful for the other side of the fence as well, and grateful for the new fans that I feel like I’ve made along the way, too.”
In total, Elliott has been voted Most Popular Driver seven times, including twice while he was driving for Earnhardt’s NASCAR Chevy team, JR Motorsports, in the Xfinity Series.
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang, started a campaign in an attempt to dethrone Elliott’s status as Most Popular Driver, posting a handful of satirical “attack ads” on social media. Blaney’s videos alleged that Elliott ate chicken wings with a fork and knife, which Elliott, of course, denied.
BREAKING NEWS! pic.twitter.com/KVZ0Q2FVsK
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) November 16, 2022
“I had no idea that [Blaney] was doing anything, but I thought it was funny,” Elliott told NASCAR. “I got a pretty good laugh out of it… we might try to come up with something fun to get him back with, I’m sure at some point down the road. Now I know, it’s fair game.”
Additionally, NASCAR Chevy driver Noah Gragson was voted Most Popular Driver in the Xfinity Series.
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Comments
Once again Dale Jr. & Rick pick somebody people like for drivers. Besides his dad was a great driver so it must run in the family. Kind of like Dale jr.