Fansided

Bubba Wallace already congratulated Chase Elliott for winning the NASCAR Most Popular Driver award

ByNick Tylwalk|
BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 14: Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #43 STP Chevrolet, talks with Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Mountain Dew Baja Blast Chevrolet, during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 14: Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #43 STP Chevrolet, talks with Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 Mountain Dew Baja Blast Chevrolet, during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 14, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Even though voting just opened for Most Popular Driver, Bubba Wallace leaned into the idea that the winner is a foregone conclusion.

The NASCAR Most Popular Driver award is one of the cooler one in sports from a pure fan perspective since it’s voted on by the fans themselves. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had a stranglehold on the honor for some time, winning every year between 2003 and 2017, so hypothetically, this year should give a bunch of NASCAR Cup Series drivers the chance to win.

We say hypothetically because most people feel that Chase Elliott will win the fairly easily. There’s no way to be 100 percent sure until the votes are actually cast, but Chase Elliott’s combination of talent, multi-generational NASCAR pedigree and charisma is right from the Dale Jr. playbook, and it would be a bit of a shock if any other driver claimed the award.

With that in mind, Bubba Wallace couldn’t help but jab his buddy about the consensus that the award is already in the bag.

Commenters on Bubba’s tweet also pointed out that the Most Popular Driver award is sponsored by Hooter’s, who also sponsors Chase Elliott. The fix is in!

We kid, we kid. It’s not like the award has changed hands many times for decades anyway. Except for 2001, when Dale Earnhardt was named the posthumous winner following his tragic passing that season at Daytona, Bill Elliott and Earnhardt Jr. have combined to take the award every year since 1991 (Bill Elliott also won five straight between 1984 and 1988). If Chase Elliott gets the trophy as expected, that will mean no one other than an Earnhardt or Elliott will have won for nearly 30 years, as Darrell Waltrip was the last driver outside those families to get the nod all the way back in 1990.

Wallace knows all of this, of course, which makes his tweet that much funnier. Whether you’d like to support the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet or someone else, you can vote now at NASCAR.com and share your vote via Facebook or Twitter so that it counts double.

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