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

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

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 20: Chase Elliott, driver of the #24 Mountain Dew Chevrolet, Daniel Suarez, driver of the #19 ARRIS Toyota, Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, and Clint Bowyer, driver of the #14 Haas Automation Ford, pose with their trophies after qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images) /

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HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 19: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AXALTA Chevrolet, congratulates crew chief Cole Pearn after Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2017 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

2. Martin Truex Jr.

Winning it all doesn’t always mean winning over the hearts and minds of NASCAR fans. If it were that simple, someone other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have captured at least one of the Most Popular Driver awards in recent years.

But we do love people who win the big trophies and good stories, and Truex now has both of them. Not only did he complete the transformation from pretty good talent to consistent winner, but he did it with a girlfriend battling cancer, teammates with plenty of their own personal tragedy and a team that operates far from the NASCAR norm. Truex’s journey is about as intriguing and inspiring as there is in pro sports at the moment, almost of the “you couldn’t write this stuff” variety.

There’s still room left on his bandwagon, and considering he has the personal seal of approval from Earnhardt himself as one of his closer friends on the circuit, we could see enough 88 fans become 78 fans in 2018 to make Truex a different kind of winner.

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