Carson Hocevar is telling his fans not to vote for him on the Most Popular Driver ballot. Vote for the late Kyle Busch, Hocevar is urging his fans.
But Hocevar, the Spire Motorsports driver whose fan following grew sharply after his first Cup Series win, is not actually withdrawing his name from the ballot. His reason comes from people close to Busch.
“Most Popular Driver Voting opened today. I’d appreciate my fans to NOT vote for me. Vote Kyle Busch,” Hocevar wrote on Facebook Friday, as quoted by EssentiallySports.
Voting for the National Motorsports Press Association award opened that morning. Fans can submit up to five ballots a day for each email address on NASCAR.com or the NASCAR app, and voting closes at noon ET Nov. 9, according to NASCAR.com. The winner will be announced Nov. 10 at the NASCAR Awards in Miami.
Why Carson Hocevar Is Staying on the Most Popular Driver Ballot
“I could pull my name off. But the people close to Kyle told me he would wanna win it straight up,” Hocevar wrote. In other words, Hocevar was told Busch would want a fan vote, not an honor handed to him by default.
Chase Elliott took the other route. Elliott opted out of the award altogether to steer votes to Busch, according to ESPN. He had won it eight straight years, 2018 through 2025, after Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s run of 15 in a row from 2003 through 2017. Elliott’s father, Bill, holds the record with 16 wins, according to NASCAR.com.
Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Connor Zilisch and John Hunter Nemechek have also urged fans to vote for Busch, according to EssentiallySports.
Busch never won the award. He said in 2019 that he was “pretty sure I’m never going to win” it.
Had Busch not tragically passed away, Elliott would have entered this vote as the heavy favorite. Frontstretch weighed Hocevar’s chances in September and described him as a rising challenger to Elliott’s fan base, but not a 2026 favorite for the award.
Hocevar’s following is real, and other drivers recognize it. “He’s just different and people like different,” Larson said, according to FOX Sports.
“I don’t view that to be frustrating,” Elliott said of Hocevar’s popularity.
Kyle Busch Tributes and Carson Hocevar’s Career
Busch died May 21 at age 41, according to NASCAR.com. His family said severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis caused his sudden and unexpected death.
He won Cup championships in 2015 and 2019 and 234 races across NASCAR’s three national series, including 63 in Cup, 102 in the O’Reilly Series and 69 in trucks.
NASCAR held a public Celebration of Life for Busch at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 9, after the Truck Series race.
“This is not the end of Kyle’s story,” Samantha Busch told the crowd, according to FOX Sports.
Busch’s 11-year-old son, Brexton, closed the program with burnouts in one of his father’s Cup cars, then stood on the roof and took the signature Kyle Busch bow.
Hocevar, 23, was born in Portage, Michigan, on Jan. 28, 2003. He started racing at age 7, and his father, Scott, worked as a crew member and sponsor for local teams, according to his team website.
He won the Winchester 400 late model race in 2020, then took the first of six Craftsman Truck Series wins at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2023. He made his Cup debut at Worldwide Technology Raceway that June and went full-time with Spire Motorsports in 2024, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet.
His first Cup victory came April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway, in his 91st start.
Fans have until noon ET on Nov. 9 to vote. Whether Hocevar’s supporters follow his request will become known Nov. 10 in Miami.
NASCAR’s Carson Hocevar Doesn’t Want Your ‘Most Popular Driver’ Vote: Here’s Why