NASCAR fans have broken their own mark, voting in record numbers for the Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver award. A total of 3,900,523 votes have been cast so far this season (as of end of the day Thursday, Nov. 3), topping the previous mark of 3,852,309 votes cast in 2004. Race fans have been voting at www.mostpopulardriver.com, the official voting site, since February 1. Since General Mills began sponsoring the Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award at the beginning of the 2002 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, nearly 14 million votes have been cast by fans throughout the world. Fans vote at www.mostpopulardriver.com for the only fan-based official award in motorsports. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continues to lead in the voting but is some 200,000 votes behind his pace of last season, when he won for the second straight year. Behind him in the current voting are Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson. Voting for the more than 40 drivers eligible for the Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award continues through 11:59am.ct, Monday, Nov. 21. Fans may vote once each day at the site.(Williams Company PR)(11-4-2005)
