Dale Earnhardt Jr. is gone, so who will be the most popular driver in NASCAR?

3. Jimmie Johnson

There was a time when Jimmie Johnson was too Hollywood (meant literally since he’s from California) and not cut from the sport’s original cloth for many NASCAR fans. His success also bred it’s own form of backlash, as people inevitably start rooting against you when you’re winning the championship every year.

Things have changed, though, and maybe in a way that means even more people will support the 48. Johnson suddenly finds himself very much the old guard in a sport where new, younger talent is flooding in. Incredibly, he could be an underdog story in 2018 as well considering the way he and Chad Knaus failed to conjure any of their typical fall magic this year. He was never truly a threat to win it all come playoff time and won’t be the favorite next season.

Johnson is also very much a family man and represents traditional values in that part of his life. We’re not saying that he’ll become the de facto choice of all those displaced Earnhardt Jr. fans, but he could pick up enough of them that it elevates him from top-10 status to No. 1.