Popularity Awards in NASCAR is one of the most debated topics. Like every year, it was Hendrick Motorsports star driver, Chase Elliott, who took home the crown for the seventh straight year. This award is presented by the National Motorsports Press Association, and the winner is determined by a fan vote. It’s fair to say that Elliott has maintained his position as a driver who enjoys massive support year on year. But is he the most popular driver in NASCAR right now?

Well, if you ask the non-Hendrick Motorsports fans, you’ll have a long list of arguments and why they think Elliott isn’t the most popular driver. And this argument has further gained strength with the reveal of the 10 best drivers in NASCAR and their following on social media.

Interestingly, it was Kyle Busch who came out on top with the most followers across the three social media platforms, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Meanwhile, Elliott was placed second on this list, just behind Rowdy.

“Who is the most popular NASCAR Cup Series driver on social media? (Hint: It’s not
@chaseelliott).” Kyle Dalton, the host of the Beating and Banging podcast, shared this list on X. Kyle Busch led the charts with over 2 million followers across the three platforms, with X accounting for almost a million followers for the RCR star driver.

Elliott fell shy by some 93,000 followers. Rounding out the top five places were big-name drivers such as Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski. Comparing awards to social media following certainly opened a discussion among NASCAR fans. It was indeed shocking to see Busch out of all leading the charts; meanwhile, a few HMS fans weren’t convinced by the slight margin and rallied behind Elliott.

NASCAR fans split over the social media popularity of NASCAR drivers

It is not an apples-to-apples comparison when you take into account both Elliott and Rowdy’s racing careers. Of course, the RCR driver is more established with more races and accomplishments under his belt. Not to forget, for the most part, he was perceived as a villain by the fans and was often greeted with boos after his race wins. Surely, he takes the cake if we have a personality comparison between the two drivers. Sharing a similar sentiment, a fan wrote, “Kyle Busch is known more worldwide, apart from him being at NASCAR for longer and his personality helps, everybody is a Kyle Busch fan🤭”

The subtle jabs aimed at Elliott didn’t stop there. Another fan made an interesting argument that Denny Hamlin has a better connection with younger audiences than his rival. Moreover, Bill Elliott’s influence and the family legacy are also the reasons behind Chase Elliott enjoying a massive fan following. “Can tell denny is more popular with younger people and HMS is more popular with old people based on the Twitter vs Facebook numbers lol.”

Well, there were a few Elliott loyalists who weren’t sold on the idea of Busch outscoring their favorite NASCAR star. After all, the margin between the two drivers in terms of followers was only a few thousand. “Both joined Twitter in 2009. Busch was racing full-time in the Cup series at that point. Chase didn’t make his debut until 2015. I’m sure Kyle accumulated far more followers over that six year span.”

Surprisingly, JGR’s newest recruit, Chase Briscoe, also chimed in with a witty response on Reddit. Although the three big social media platforms were taken to know the statistical strength of each driver and their fan following, Reddit wasn’t part of this conversation. And this was rightly pointed out by Briscoe, “What about Reddit Karma though?”

The Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, were perceived as brash and were often at odds with the race fans. However, this sentiment changed as Kurt was nearing his final days as a racer in NASCAR. And something similar has unfolded ever since Kyle Busch made the switch from JGR to RCR. “Kyle Busch’s late career popularity surge is so reminiscent of Kurts. At least for me, I feel like at the exact same moments in their lives/careers they went from being the “heels” in my eyes to the faces.”

Be it awards or social media presence, it is indeed tough to say for certain which NASCAR driver is the most popular. But who do you think deserves the title of the most popular driver in NASCAR? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.