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Chase Elliott withdraws his name from NASCAR Most Popular Driver voting

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Elliott is pushing for fans to vote the late Kyle Busch as the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver

NASCAR Most Popular Driver Voting is now open, and Chase Elliott has opted out of the voting for 2026.

Elliott is among those pushing for the late Kyle Busch to win the award. Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion with a record 234 wins across all three national divisions, died suddenly at the age of 41 this past May. Just days after his final victory in a Truck Series race at Dover, Busch died as a result of pneumonia that progressed into sepsis.

He left behind his wife Samantha, 11-year-old son Brexton, 4-year-old daughter Lennix, as well as brother Kurt and parents Tom and Gaye.

Elliott has been voted as the NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver for eight consecutive years since 2018. Previously, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the award every single year between 2003 and 2017.

Kyle Busch Memorial rock at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Photo by: Dan Trobaugh (LVMS) of Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Chase's father, Bill Elliott, holds the record with 16 MPD awards. Voting will remain open until 12pm EST on Monday, November 9, and you can vote every day HERE.

Chase's decision to remove his name from the ballot is reminiscent of what his father did in 2001 following the death of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, also removing his name so Earnhardt could posthumously win the award. It was the Richard Childress Racing driver's only Most Popular Driver award.

Online, there are several drivers who have posted about casting a vote for Kyle Busch this year, as has Chase's long-time sponsor NAPA.

After Busch's death in May, Elliott said: “I think he’s a guy that has had a lot of fans throughout the course of his career. I know the boos and it was fun, and all those things, but (he) had a lot of supporters, a lot of really passionate fans. I just feel like he deserves to win the award, truthfully ... I don’t know what was going to happen with that this year, but I just wanted to throw my support (for KB)."