The late Kyle Busch was recognized as the Cup Series’ most popular driver Tuesday at NASCAR’s season-ending awards banquet.
Busch’s widow, Samantha, was on hand to accept the posthumous trophy at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. It was the first time Busch was honored with the award in a 25-year NASCAR career that spanned all three national series.
Related previous coverage in the video player above: ‘Legacy of life’: North Carolina family shares how Kyle Busch’s Bundle of Joy Fund helped them overcome infertility
James Gilbert
MIAMI, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 10: Samantha Busch, the widow of the late NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch poses on the red carpet of the 2026 NASCAR Championship Awards at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on November 10, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
He died at age 41 in May after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications. His death stunned the NASCAR community, which responded with weekly tributes to the two-time series champion (2015, 2019).
Butch Dill
A fan wears a hat to honor Kyle Busch as he takes a tour of the garage before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports had won the previous eight most popular driver awards in the Cup Series, but he asked the National Motorsports Press Association to remove him from consideration in 2026.
Busch became the first driver not named Earnhardt or Elliott to win the fan vote since Darrell Waltrip in 1990.
Bill Elliott won every year between 1991 and 2000. Dale Earnhardt was posthumously awarded the title following his on-track death in 2001.
Elliott picked up the trophy again in 2002, then Dale Earnhardt Jr. started a 15-year run that ended with his retirement from full-time racing in 2017. Chase Elliott took it from there.
Busch won 234 times across NASCAR’s top three national series — the most of any driver in history — and he is considered a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
