Chase Elliott follows in his father’s footsteps, steps aside in Most Popular Driver voting

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Chase Elliott’s decision to remove his name from the National Motorsports Press Association’s NASCAR Most Popular Driver voting was spurred by a choice made a quarter-century ago by his father, Bill. Bill Elliott, one of the most popular drivers in the history of the sport, removed his name from the most popular voting in 2001 after the February death of Dale Earnhardt. Elliott won the award 16 times. Earnhardt, clearly another driver at the top of fan lists across the years, perhaps surprisingly, had not won the official award. He won in 2001. Chase Elliott has won the award eight consecutive times. He announced this week his decision to remove his name from the ballot and said Saturday he encourages fans to vote for the late Kyle Busch, who died unexpectedly May 21 after a sudden illness. Voting opened this week. RELATED: Cast Most Popular Driver votes now! Chase was six years old in 2001 when his father decided to end his long MPD streak. “Looking back on that, I just always thought that was a really cool and admirable nod to, frankly, one of his biggest rivals,” Chase said. Busch won two Cup championships, 63 Cup races and 234 races across NASCAR’s three national series. He enjoyed playing the “villain” role through much of his career but attracted a huge fan base with dynamic driving and repeated successes. He is recognized by many as one of the top wheelmen in stock car racing history. “He kind of embraced that villain role, and maybe people totally didn’t like him, but they sure did make a lot of noise for him,” Elliott said. “I felt like because of that, and because of a lot of things that I’ve got the chance to see behind the scenes of things that he did for his fans and how much he cared about the sport and his supporters that he deserved to win that vote.” Elliott stressed that his decision wasn’t based on thinking that Busch might not win the award unless he removed his name from consideration. “That’s not me saying he wasn’t going to win by any stretch,” Elliott said. “But I do think it’s an opportunity for me to encourage the great supporters that I have and the people that have supported my family over the years and to show that love and that energy to Kyle and his family. He has my vote, and I encourage those out there who want to get involved to show him that same love. It would be a really cool honor for him and his family.” Elliott called Busch a “game changer” with his racing style and his drive to win at almost all costs.