Elliott wins eighth NCS Most Popular Driver award

By NASCAR.com /

A trio of familiar faces prevailed as the 2025 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver Award winners, as Chase Elliott earned the honor in the NASCAR Cup Series, Justin Allgaier won in the Xfinity Series, and Rajah Caruth got the nod in the Craftsman Truck Series. All three are the reigning winners in their respective series.

The 29-year-old Elliott has won the award for an eighth consecutive season, while Allgaier earned the Xfinity honor for the sixth time in the last seven years. It was Caruth’s second honor.

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Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, is one of only five drivers at the Cup level to win the award five times or more, joining Richard Petty (eight), Bobby Allison (six), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15) and Chase’s father, Bill Elliott (16). Chase additionally won the Most Popular Driver Award twice in the Xfinity Series (2014-15).

Allgaier, 39, saw his three-year streak snapped in 2022 by Noah Gragson before winning the Xfinity award the last three seasons. A JR Motorsports driver has won the Xfinity honor every year dating back to 2012.

The 23-year-old Caruth took home the Truck honor in his best national series year to date, winning at Nashville Superspeedway in the spring and placing sixth in the final standings.

Formed in 1965, the National Motorsports Press Association consists of qualified media members who report on the sport of auto racing through affiliations with print, radio, television and/or Internet news-gathering organizations. In addition to the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award, the NMPA presents an array of auto-racing honors, including the Richard Petty Driver of the Year Award, the Myers Brothers Award, the NMPA Pocono Spirit Award and the Wood Brothers Award of Excellence.