Kyle Busch won 63 Cup races, two championships and a record 234 wins across NASCAR’s three national series. He never won the thing fans vote on. On Tuesday night in Miami, he finally did, and the part worth chewing on is why the ballot opened up now.
NASCAR announced that Busch, who died unexpectedly on May 21 at age 41, was named the 2026 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver during the NASCAR Awards ceremony. It is the first time the Cup award has been presented posthumously since Dale Earnhardt in 2001. Samantha Busch accepted it on his behalf as the crowd at the Adrienne Arsht Center rose to its feet.
My take: nobody got upset. The seat opened. The award had been functionally locked for most of a decade, and all that moved in 2026 was who agreed to step aside.
The lock came off
Chase Elliott won the award eight straight times, 2018 through 2025, following Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s run of 15 in a row. Elliott’s father, Bill, holds the record with 16. That is three generations of one narrow lane. In October, Elliott pulled his name off the ballot, and we wrote about what that did to an eight-year lock when it happened.
NASCAR’s own account points out that Elliott was following his father, who stepped aside in 2001 after Earnhardt’s death, a year Earnhardt received his first and only Most Popular Driver award. Elliott also told fans he planned to vote for Busch and said it would be a “really cool honor for him and his family.”
What the ballot actually measures
The Cup ballot listed Busch plus 34 other eligible drivers. Fans could submit five ballots per day per email, and the five did not have to go to the same driver, from Oct. 23 until noon ET on Nov. 9. That is a 17-day endurance event, and it rewards sustained organization more than a one-night emotional spike.
My read, and it is an interpretation rather than a confirmed fact: a format like that favors whoever has the most committed, coordinated following, and for years that was a single driver. Take the incumbent off, add public encouragement from drivers, and a fan base that NASCAR itself says had gained considerable steam in Busch’s later years had a clear route to the top. Busch did not need to change who he was. The map around him did.
Why this one lands differently
Busch built a career on being the driver other fans loved to boo, and he seemed to enjoy it. Samantha Busch said as much from the stage, noting he gave fans something to make noise about whether they cheered or jeered. The award is a rare case where the villain’s résumé and the sport’s affection finally share a scoreboard.
It also arrived in a week full of reminders about what a title means. Kyle Larson became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win consecutive Cup championships and the 11th to win three or more. Our stat breakdown of his 2026 wins shows how that title was built. Busch and the late Greg Biffle also shared the Comcast Community Champion of the Year honor, with Busch and his wife recognized for the Bundle of Joy Fund, which NASCAR says has helped nearly 200 families.
What to watch next
Two things. First, whether Elliott’s name returns to the Cup ballot next year, and what a normal, unlocked vote looks like without a moment like this one. Second, whether NASCAR and the NMPA leave the five-ballots-per-day structure alone, since the 2026 result is the best argument yet that the format can produce a result the sport recognizes as earned. For a longer look at how the weekend’s other storylines landed, see Elliott’s Homestead finish.
He spent a career being the driver the grandstands booed, and the room in Miami stood for him.
If Elliott had stayed on the ballot, would Busch have won anyway?
Sources: NASCAR.com, Most Popular Driver announcement; NASCAR.com, NASCAR Awards recap; NASCAR.com, voting announcement.
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