Kevin Harvick casts vote for Kyle Larson as most popular driver over Chase Elliott
When it comes to the Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kevin Harvick isn’t so sure that Chase Elliott deserves the title. In the official vote, every year since 2018, Elliott has won. But is someone else more popular?
Kevin Harvick is here to make the point that Chase Elliott might not be the driver with the biggest fanbase. Not when he has a teammate by the name of Kyle Larson who is able to race and win in almost any car he finds himself in.
After the Michigan race, Harvick brought up the Most Popular Driver topic on his podcast.
“I look at our sport right now and it’s been much different for me kind of looking at it. I’ve always tried to look at it from a broad perspective like you said earlier. I think TV, sitting in that TV booth and sitting in those meetings so early on while I was still driving. Having all the things that happened with the driver council, it gives you a much different perspective.
“Now that I’ve been watching the races as a fan and also having to watch the races so I can do my job currently sitting in this studio. I look at the Most Popular Driver as an interesting debate right now. Because you have Chase Elliott who has won the trophy for however many years, he has won on the race track this year and I think that helps a lot. I think that when you look at the other side of that, you’ve got Kyle Larson. Kyle Larson is at every short track, races every week, he’s engaged with the fans after the races. He’s doing those things. I feel like if it was invoked from what you were seeing on TV, Kyle Larson wins that Most Popular Driver battle currently.”
Kevin Harvick makes a great point. Larson has transcended NASCAR. He has fans from the grassroots and up. While Chase Elliott has the pedigree, he’s Awesome Bill’s boy, he is limited. He doesn’t embrace celebrity. Elliott prefers to show up on Sundays, do his job, and leave.
Kyle Larson is different. He flies across the country for a shot at racing a sprint car. We can’t discount his Indy 500 experience, either. That performance surely earned him more fans.
NASCAR fans will recoil at this at first. Elliott has earned that reaction with how dominant he has been in the fan vote. But is Kevin Harvick right?