NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Earnhardt Most Popular Driver Again
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his seventh consecutive NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted December 03, 2009   Las Vegas, NV
Dale Earnhardt Jr. greets fans before a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in 2009. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. went winless on the Sprint Cup season in 2009, but he’s still red hot in the eyes of his fans, who voted him the NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver for the seventh year in a row.

Although Earnhardt struggled on the track this year, his second season with Hendrick Motorsports, his fans were not deterred at all in voting the third-generation driver in. “I can't thank them enough, so I guess I'll just keep showing up,” Earnhardt said Thursday in Las Vegas, where he picked up the honors during the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards event at The Venetian Las Vegas Hotel Casino.

The result was determined by online voting during the course of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Earnhardt joins Bill Elliott and Richard Petty as the only drivers to win the award at least seven times. His seven in a row trails only Elliott, who won 10 straight from 1991-2000. Earnhardt now is third behind Elliott (16) and Richard Petty (9) for most total awards.

“I’m extremely honored to win this award again, and I’m happy for Brad (Keselowski) to be able to win it again in the Nationwide Series,” said Earnhardt. “As always, I want to thank the fans. They’ve stuck with us, and I’m always humbled by that. We didn’t have the year we were expecting on the Cup side, but Brad and (crew chief) Tony Eury Sr. and everyone at JR Motorsports did a great job this year on the Nationwide side, scored a bunch of wins, and I’m proud of all of them.”

Keselowski, who drives for Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports team, earned his Most Popular Driver honor during the Nationwide Series banquet at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Nov. 23rd. He is only the fourth racer to win consecutive Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver Awards.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of "Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED," and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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