Bill Elliott, Most Popular Driver
Elliott Voted NASCAR'S Most Popular Driver
For 10th Straight Year and 15th time Overall
NEW YORK (Dec. 8, 2000) - For the 10th straight year and 15th time in his career, Bill Elliott was voted NASCAR's Most Popular Driver.
The 2000 fan balloting was conducted by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) on its Internet site www.motorsportspress.com in cooperation with www.thatsracin.com, a racing news and information site run by KnightRidder.com, and through a national 900 telephone service.
Except for 1989 and 1990, Elliott has won the award every year since 1984. The only driver close to Elliott with most popular wins is retired great, Richard Petty, with nine.
The announcement was made Friday (Dec. 8) during the NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Breakfast here at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Elliott received 38.8 percent of more than 280,000 votes cast. Dale Earnhardt finished second with 16.2 percent of the vote. Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top five in the vote.
"I've said this over and over -- our fans are the backbone of this sport and they are the reason we are able to do what we do," said Elliott. "A sincere and heartfelt thank you goes out to all of the fans and to our fan club for their dedication and support over the years. It means so much to me that our fans have stuck with me through the good and bad times."
Elliott, a former NASCAR Winston Cup champion (1988), has 40 Winston Cup victories and career earnings of more than $23.5 million.