The National Motorsports Press Association and Sprint announced today at Darlington Raceway that voting for the Most Popular Driver Award will open Sept. 6. Fans can begin voting at 12:01 a.m. Sunday at www.mostpopulardriver.com and can also submit votes via the NASCAR mobile application. Voting is limited to one vote per person per email address each day. Voting ends on Nov. 22 to coincide with the last Sprint Cup race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The NMPA is encouraging fans to share their votes on Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter, the official hashtag is #SprintMPD.
The NMPA Most Popular Driver Award is the only major NASCAR award that is determined by fan vote. In the 63 years since the award’s inception in 1959, there have been 19 different drivers who have won the award.
Bill Elliott, NASCAR Hall of Famer, has won 16 times, more than any other driver. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has captured the award the last 12 years in a row and “The King” Richard Petty, with nine awards, has won it the third most times.
Any driver who has declared to compete for the Sprint Cup Series championship is eligible and this year that gives the voters 41 drivers from which to choose.
“The Most Popular Driver Award is one of the NMPA’s most significant awards, and I’m very pleased to partner with Sprint again this year,” said NMPA President Brian Nelson. We expect the 2015 vote to be one of the biggest yet.
The winner of this year’s Most Popular Driver award will be announced during the broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards on Dec. 4 in Las Vegas. A donation of $10,000 will be made to a charity designated by the winning driver.
