Chase Elliott steps aside from Most Popular Driver vote to honor late Kyle Busch

Chase Elliott has opted to remove his name from consideration for NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award, saying the honor should go to the late Kyle Busch, ESPN reports.

The National Motorsports Press Association announced the start of fan voting on Friday, and Elliott — the award's perennial winner — chose not to be on the ballot, according to the report. Voting runs through November 9, the day after the Cup Series season finale.

Busch died in May after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, causing what ESPN described as rapid and overwhelming complications. His death stunned the NASCAR community and beyond.

Elliott has won the award every year since 2018, succeeding Dale Earnhardt Jr., who took it 15 consecutive times before retiring. Elliott said in May that he hoped Busch would be this year's winner, ESPN reports.

"I just think it's one of those things that Kyle is a guy who really deserves an award like that," Elliott said, according to ESPN. "He's a guy that's had a lot of fans throughout the course of his career."

The move echoes family history: Elliott's father, Bill Elliott, was voted the sport's most popular driver a record 16 times and similarly withdrew from consideration so Dale Earnhardt could receive the honor posthumously, ESPN reports.

Whether Busch wins the award now rests with the fans; the result will be confirmed when voting closes.