With just days remaining for nationwide fan voting, Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to lead the Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award – but fans and fan clubs for other drivers appear to have picked up their support. Fan clubs and web sites for several drivers have urged their fans to vote regularly at www.mostpopulardriver.com, as votes have tightened to determine which drivers will finish in the top 10 of the final tally. Jeff Gordon is second in the voting, followed by Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson. The most coveted NASCAR award behind only the national driving championship itself, the Most Popular Driver is determined by an online vote by fans at www.mostpopulardriver.com. The winner will be announced during the NASCAR Nextel Cup Awards Banquet weekend, Dec. 2, in New York City. A record 4 million votes have been cast, and Earnhardt Jr. has led since voting began in February. The driver standings may change this final week, however, as fans hope to move their favorite drivers into the top spot before the balloting ends at 11:59am/ct [12:59pm/et], Monday, Nov. 21, the day after the final race of the season at Homestead, Fla. Bill Elliott’s 16 most popular wins tops all drivers. He is followed by Richard Petty, who has won nine times. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win last year made him the fifth driver in NASCAR history to win the award in consecutive seasons, while his win in 2003 made him and his father, the late Dale Earnhardt, the only father-son combination to have won. Other past winners have included such notables as Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip.(Williams Company)(11-14-2005)
UPDATE one day left to VOTE: been told some drivers can move up in the resutls if enough votes come in…..supposedly drivers with best chance of moving up in the Chex NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver voting if their fans jump on it before voting ends Monday are:
Rusty Wallace from fifth to fourth
Kevin Harvick from sixth to fifth (outside shot at fourth)
Michael Waltrip from seventh to sixth (outside shot at fifth)
Dale Jarrett from ninth to eighth
Jimmie Johnson from 10th to ninth
Elliott Sadler from 14th to 13th
Ken Schrader from 16th to 15th
Jeff Burton from 19th to 18th
John Andretti from 24th to 23th and 22nd.(11-20-2005)
