Voting Over Most Popular – UPDATE 3 – IT IS DALE EARNHARDT and the Award to be named after Elliott: the voting for NASCAR’s “Most Popular Driver” award is over. When I hear, it’ll be posted, nothing has been announced yet, usually is around the time of the Winston Cup Banquet, which is Nov 30th(see above for info)(11-21-2001) UPDATE: from a RacingOne column by Monte Dutton – “What could be more emblematic of his legacy than the fact he was named the Winston Cup Series Most Popular Driver more than nine months after his life had ended?”, hmmm…sounds like Earnhardt won?(11-29-2001) UPDATE 2: It was announced that NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award will be named for Bill Elliott, a 15-time winner, after he retires. Elliott took himself out of the running this year in the fan vote in order to make sure somebody else was able to win the honor.(That’s Racin’), no OFFICIAL word on the winner of the 2001 Most Popular Driver yet(11-30-2001) UPDATE 3: it was announced during the banquet and within Teresa Earnhardt’s appearance and speach, Dale Earnhardt was named MOST POPULAR DRIVER for 2001 and from That’s Racin’: Earnhardt was named the winner of the National Motorsports Press Association’s Most Popular Driver Award, getting more than 56 percent of nearly 400,000 votes cast online on or via the mail. Jeff Gordon, with 14 percent of the votes, was second in the balloting.(no futher results posted)(11-30-2001)
