- Kyle Busch was voted the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver with 261,612 votes, only the second driver to win the award after his death (per Motorsport.com).
- Chase Elliott, who won the previous eight awards, asked to be removed from consideration, and Carson Hocevar urged his own fans to vote for Busch.
- Samantha Busch accepted the trophy at the Miami banquet and told the room there will never be another Rowdy.
The Award Kyle Busch Chased in Life Finally Reached the Stage Without Him
Kyle Busch wanted the Most Popular Driver award so badly that he once phoned NASCAR to ask how close he came. His wife, Samantha, told that story on the red carpet in Miami before the season-ending awards banquet on Tuesday night. “Winning the Most Popular Driver award, he wanted it so bad. He would try to rally the fans, and there was one year I think, he didn’t see Chase (Elliott) out here or maybe Chase didn’t come and he was like, ‘I got it, I got it.’ He was so excited and then he didn’t. And so he called NASCAR and he was like, ‘I want to see the numbers. How far off was I? Was I close?’ Kyle was very competitive, and he took this no differently.”
Later that night, Samantha took the stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts to accept the trophy for Kyle. He died earlier this year, at 41, after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis. In a 25-year career that took him through all three national series, he had never won the fan vote.
Chase Elliott Stepped Aside and the Fans Filled the Space
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports had taken the award every year from 2018 through 2025, eight in a row. When voting for 2026 began, he asked the National Motorsports Press Association to remove him from consideration and urged his fans to vote for Busch. A push to name Busch the winner began immediately after his death.
Hocevar presented a different question. His fan base has grown explosively in recent months, and some wondered if he would win. He did not withdraw his name, but he urged his followers to vote for Busch as well, a stance he laid out when he asked fans to vote for Busch.
The NMPA counted 261,612 votes for Busch. Kyle Larson drew the second most votes, and Hocevar finished third.
Fans booed Busch through much of his career and he divided the grandstands, yet his standing with them rose in recent years.
Only Dale Earnhardt Won It This Way Before
Busch is the second driver to win the Most Popular Driver award after his death. The first was Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup champion who drove for Richard Childress Racing, as Busch did. Earnhardt died in a crash at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500 and took the award that year.
The list of winners explains how unusual this one is. Bill Elliott won every year from 1991 through 2000. Earnhardt was honored in 2001, Elliott came back in 2002, and then Dale Earnhardt Jr. started a 15 year run that ended with his retirement from full time racing in 2017. Chase Elliott took it from there. Busch is the first driver not named Earnhardt or Elliott to win the fan vote after Darrell Waltrip in 1990.
Bill Elliott still holds the record with 16 awards. Earnhardt Jr. has 15, Richard Petty nine, Chase Elliott eight and Bobby Allison seven. Busch now has one.
What Samantha Busch Told the Room About Rowdy
Samantha opened by congratulating the new champion and his wife. “First of all, I’d like to say congrats to Kyle [Larson] and Katelyn [Larson, wife of Kyle] on your championship, and thank you guys so much for everything that you’ve done for our family. There’s been so much love for Kyle from this sport over the past several months, and I wish more than anything that he could be here to see it. He gave so much of his life to racing, and I know it would mean the world to him to see the impact he had on NASCAR and the people who loved it.”
Then she described the man the fans had voted for. “Kyle never changed who he was to make people like him. He was passionate, outspoken and fiercely competitive. He was Rowdy through and through. Whether you cheered for him or booed him, he gave you something to make noise about, and he loved that. To Kyle, that passion was what made this sport so special. Seeing that same passion bring everyone together to honor him has been incredible.”
Busch addressed his critics the same way in victory. After he won the 2019 Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he said after the race: “It’s so much fun to work with these guys, this group, everybody that puts it all together for me.” Then: “There are always your doubters. There are always your haters. You know what, this one’s for Rowdy Nation because you guys are the best.”
Next she thanked the drivers who had stepped aside, then turned to the fans. “I especially want to thank Chase Elliott and all the drivers who encouraged their fans to vote for him. That respect from the drivers he raced against means so much. And to the fans, I wish you knew just how much he meant to him. He loved packed grandstands, meeting families and seeing kids light up when he signed an autograph. He knew you spent your hard-earned money and time watching him race and he never took that for granted. He loved racing, and he loved that you did too.”
What the Trophy Gives Brexton and Lennix
The speech reached its most personal point when she spoke about her children. “What makes this award extra special to me is what it gives to (son) Brexton and (daughter) Lennix. They miss their dad in ways that I can’t even begin to explain, but through this, they get to see another side of the dad that they love so much. How he made people feel, how much he meant to others, and just how special he really was. And as their mom, that means everything to me. Thank you for this incredible honor and for continuing to show Kyle so much love.”
Both children have already honored their father in front of a NASCAR crowd. After the Celebration of Life at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, 11 year old Brexton drove the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet down the frontstretch, did burnouts and climbed on the car to give his father’s signature bow. His four year old sister, Lennix, handed him the checkered flag. Richard Childress said Austin Dillon had worked with Brexton behind the RCR race shop to teach him the burnouts.
Comcast’s Community Champion of the Year Award this fall also benefits the Bundle of Joy Fund that Kyle and Samantha founded. The Most Popular Driver award came from the fans, and Brexton and Lennix now have that vote to point to.
A Rowdy Nobody Will Replace
Busch won 234 times across NASCAR’s top three national series, the most of any driver in history, and he is considered a first ballot Hall of Famer. Seven of those wins came at Homestead, where he also won the 2015 and 2019 Cup titles. His last victory came in a Truck race at Dover, days before he died.
Samantha closed with a line about the nickname. “There was no Rowdy without the fans, and there will never be another Rowdy because there is truly no one else like Kyle. Thank you.”
The story ends where it began, with a phone call. A driver who once asked NASCAR how far off he was now has his answer: 261,612 votes, and a place beside Dale Earnhardt in the record book.
