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Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has won the National Motorsports Press Association's (NMPA) Most Popular Driver Award for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. The #9 driver earned the honor during Thursday night’s NASCAR Awards ceremony at the Music City Center in Nashville. He won this award through a fan vote.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion was named the Most Popular Driver for the fifth consecutive season and became just the fifth driver to win the award five or more times in the Cup Series since 1984. He joined the likes of Richard Petty (8 times), Bobby Allison (8 times), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15 times), and his father, Bill Elliott (16 times).
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The Dawsonville, Georgia native turned in one of his finest seasons, becoming one of the most dominant drivers with five wins, the most in the 2022 season. He also scored 12 top-five, 20 top-10 finishes, and three poles with 857 laps led. He also earned the regular season Championship this year.
Chase Elliott reached Championship 4 for the third year in a row and ended the season by finishing fourth in the Championship standings.
Elliott won the Most Popular Driver award for the Cup Series, but the award also went to two-star drivers in the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series. Noah Gragson, who scored eight wins, was named the Most Popular Driver award for Xfinity Series while Hailie Deegan won the vote for Most Popular Driver in the Truck Series for the second year in a row.
“Thanks to all the fans” - Chase Elliott after winning the Most Popular Driver award
After winning the Most Popular Driver award for the fifth consecutive year, Chase Elliott thanked his fans for voting for their valuable vote and for supporting him. After a moment of recognition on the awards ceremony stage as a contender of this season’s Championship 4, Elliott said:
“Thanks to all the fans for voting and coming out and supporting us. For me, obviously, I came into a very fortunate situation. 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.”
The 2022 NASCAR Awards will stream on Peacock on Saturday, December 3rd, at 8:00 pm ET.
