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LAS VEGAS (AP) – Chase Elliott has been voted NASCAR's most popular driver, ending a 15-year run for superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt presented the award to Elliott at NASCAR's annual end-of-season awards ceremony at Wynn Las Vegas.
Earnhardt won the award for 15 consecutive years until his retirement last season. His series fell to a point in the record of 16 set by Chase Elliott's father, Bill Elliott.
"It's definitely a big hit," Elliott told Earnhardt on stage. "So cool, though, that it's been so long between Elliott and Earnhardt, I'm glad, though, that you left a year before you broke Dad's record, so it's pretty cool." I'm pretty happy with that, we got it back to the right name, I'm a bit biased, sorry. "
The award is based on a fan vote and sponsored by the National Motorsports Press Association. Bill Elliott won the award each year between 1984 and 2002, until he withdraws his name.
Now the price is back to the Elliott family.
Chase Elliott has won the Cup three times in 2018, including two in the playoffs.
"I was in good situations with fast cars and I was able to win some wins, it was a good year," Elliott said. "We could not finish it as hard as those few months out there in the summer, but we can not wait to be in 19 and be excited to come back."
His first journey on the road to victory was years in the making.
Elliott won the Xfinity Series Championship in 2014, at the age of 18 and was finally eligible for a NASCAR full season. Plans were formed in 2015 for his transfer to the big leagues with Hendrick Motorsports, who will replace Jeff Gordon, four-time retired champion. Elliott was instead shortly after his twentieth birthday.
Chase entered the show with an integrated fan base that desperately wanted him, to the extent of his father's success. Because he had driven for the Hendrick engine, in Gordon's old ride, many thought the victories would be immediate.
Elliott took pole for his Daytona 500 debut, but finished 37th. His rookie season was five times second or third, a tenth place in the standings and no win.
Year 2 was similar. The pole again in Daytona and nothing to show for this effort. Even worse? Five finalists and an almost certain victory were won at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott led late in the race on the Virginia track, with only a few laps to go before what would have been both his first win and an automatic spot in the championship final.
Elliott was destroyed by Denny Hamlin. He did not win, did not qualify for the last four, and two weeks later, in Phoenix, he fought back to make sure Hamlin would not run for the title either.
He finally broke through at Watkins Glen for his first win. This August win locks in the playoffs and he reserves the second round of the championship race with wins in Dover and Kansas.
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