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Chase Elliott was named the winner of the 2022 Most Popular Driver for the NASCAR Cup Series season. The 27-year-old driver received enough votes to beat 2022 Cup Series Champion Joey Logano and earned this honor for the fifth year in a row.
The 2020 Cup Champion received the award at the NASCAR Awards ceremony at the Music City Center in Nashville on Thursday night. He became the fifth driver to win the award five or more times in NASCAR’s top series since 1984 when the fan’s vote concept was introduced. His father, Bill Elliott, holds the record for winning the maximum number of Most Popular Driver awards with 16, followed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 15 from 2003 to 2017.
After NASCAR announced that Chase Elliott won the 2022 Most Popular Driver award on their official Twitter account, there were mixed reactions from NASCAR fans. While some accused Hooters, the sponsor for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, of fixing the award, others were impressed by Elliott and were quick to congratulate him for winning the award again.
Here are some of the fan reactions:
“That’s nice but that was not the trophy he was looking for this year.”
“Congrats on most popular driver and an amazing year! Cant wait to see what next year brings for you!”
“How someone with the personality of a 2x4 wins a popularity contest is beyond me”
“Ain’t nothing but a popularity contest”
“Shocker. He needs to take his name out of the running so someone else has a chance”
“Hell yea man!!! Amazing driver and down to earth guy, he deserves it!!!!”
“If only the most popular driver every year didn’t have the personality of a rock. Though it is kinda hard to have another most popular driver when the drivers with the best personalities are usually most hated”
“Looks like we found the new Dale Jr. when it comes to MPD awards.”
Chase Elliott dominated the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season
Chase Elliott, the driver of the #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, was the most dominant and consistent driver during the 36-race campaign. He scored five wins, the most by any driver this season, including 12 top-five, 20 top-10 finishes, and three poles, while leading 857 laps.
The Dawsonville, Georgia native also clinched his first regular-season championship this year. He reached Championship 4 for the third consecutive year and ended the season by finishing fourth in the Championship standings.
