NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Finalists Announced And Denny Hamlin Is On The List
Could the guy that’s been beating your favorite driver actually be NASCAR’s most popular driver?
The National Motorsports Press Association has revealed the top five vote-getters for NASCAR’s most popular driver award, which will be announced on Nov. 4. and, as the clickbait headlines say, number five may shock you.
Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and perennial winner Chase Elliott are all finalists in the Cup Series along with … Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin has embraced the role of villain in recent years and has fed off of the negative energy he gets from crowds to win six races this year including the 60th of his career, which cemented him on the all-time top 10 list and propelled him into the Championship 4.
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“I think that sometimes things are in the moment, as well. Like, I think that one of the defining moments in my popularity was Martinsville 2017. That was with Chase. That was a negative moment for the popularity,” Hamlin said during his press conference ahead of the championship weekend at Phoenix. Hamlin put Elliott into the wall with three laps to go during the playoffs race to deny him his first career win and get the fans booing him at what is usually a friendly environment for the Virginia native.
“I don’t care about that,” Hamlin said at the time. “I’m just trying to get to Homestead.”
“I think races like Vegas [his 60th win] could sometimes have the opposite effect. I do think that people can only understand you for what they see on TV. Sometimes you rub ’em the wrong way, and sometimes they connect with you. I think those were two moments that maybe turned the pendulum. I’m not sure. Certainly it’s super unusual to see my name on the list.”
Hamlin recalled that he was more of a fan favorite earlier in his career, but overshadowed by the biggest stars of the sport.
“I was at the tail end of the top 10. I mean, I’m talking about souvenir sales, that kind of thing. Again, when I started, though, you got to realize I was in there with Jimmie and Tony and Jeff Gordon. These guys, they had taken up 95% of the fan base before I even got there. There really wasn’t much room for the people to connect into the new drivers, which is, generally speaking, what I feel is some of the problem today,” he said.
He thinks their departure was something of a rug-pull for NASCAR.
“Those guys that all retired in that short window, that was the large part of the fan base’s connection. They all retired. Well, I don’t really feel any of these news guys. It’s taken a while to kind of get some of that traction back. It will take some time to get some of that traction back. But yeah, I was always one of the others when it comes to popularity, considering the time I came in.”
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Elliott has won the award every year since 2018 and his father, Bill, holds the record with 16 career wins. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came up one short a 15, but they were all in a row, giving him the longest streak.
The Xfinity Series finalists are Justin Allgaier, Sheldon Creed, Matt DiBenedetto, Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, while Toni Breidinger, Rajah Caruth, Matt Crafton, Corey Heim, Layne Riggs are the final five for the Truck Series.
The fan vote is opened until Monday, Nov. 3 and winners will be announced at the awards banquet in Phoenix on Nov. 4.
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