MIAMI (AP) — 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.
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).
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.
“There has been so much love for Kyle from this sport over the past several months, and I wish more than anything that he could be here to see it,” Samantha Busch said. "He gave so much of his life to racing and I know it would mean the world to him to see the impact he had on NASCAR and the people who love it.
“Kyle never changed who he was to make people like him. He was passionate, outspoken and fiercely competitive. He was Rowdy through and through. Whether you cheered him or booed him, he gave you something to make noise about and he loved that. To Kyle, that passion is what made this sport so special. Seeing that same passion bring everyone together to honor him has been incredible.”
Samantha Busch thanked all the drivers who encouraged their fans to vote for her husband and said that respect from the drivers he raced against meant so much. She closed her remarks directing her comments toward the fans.
“And to the fans, I wish you knew just how much you meant to him. ... There was no Rowdy without the fans,” she said referring to her husband's nickname. "There will never be another Rowdy because there is truly no one else like Kyle.”
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 Eanrhardt 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.
