“Vote Kyle Busch!” Carson Hocevar Urges Fans to Not Vote for Him in the 2026 Most Popular Driver Award

NASCAR has opened the 2026 Most Popular Driver Award ballots with a surprising announcement alongside it. Chase Elliott, who has been the regular receiver of the honor since 2018 has decided to withdraw himself from the ballot. He wanted to make sure he won’t be a road block to late Kyle Busch winning the award.

Now Spire Motor Sports Carson Hocevar has done the same in his own way. Ahead of the Talladega race, he sent a clear message to his growing fan base, don’t vote for him and instead support the two times champion who passed away this May over severe sepsis and pneumonia. He asserted that he would be disappointed if any of his fans voted for him instead of Rowdy.

Most Popular Driver Voting opened today. I’d appreciate my fans to NOT vote for me. Vote Kyle Busch. I’d be very disappointed if they voted for me. We can try and win it another year.

Carson Hocevar said at Talladega.

Carson Hocevar on Most Popular Driver voting: "I’d be very disappointed if they voted for me. We can try and win it another year." Says he was told Kyle Busch wouldn’t have wanted to win it by default so he kept his name on the ballot and is just urging his fans to vote Kyle.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 24, 2026

Further talking about the point, Carson Hocevar explained why he didn’t pull out from the ballot like Chase Elliott did, following his father Bill Elliott footsteps as the former champion withdrew from the ballot after Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001. He revealed that Kyle Busch entourage told him not to withdrew as they told him the champion driver would have wanted to win it straight up.

I could pull my name off. But the people close to Kyle told me he would wanna win it straight up.

Carson Hocevar added.

Carson Hocevar takes a cheeky dig at Zane Smith

In a separate media session, Carson Hocevar talked about his beef with Zane Smith after last week’s clash. The Front Row Motorsports driver hit the No:77 Chevy driver from the back in retaliation over a misunderstanding. He highlighted how the incident was unexpected and he was confused in the moment he got hit from the back.

I mean for me I was it was just unexpected. I was looking around, and I think I was like looking down and like I hit, and I mean my mindset was like, ‘Oh shit, who did I just run into?’…Because I thought somebody stopped in front of me, and then I looked around in front of me and there was nobody in front of me. I was like, okay, and I looked behind me. I was like, ‘Oh, I got hit.’

Carson Hocevar said.

Later in the same conversation, he highlighted how he doesn’t care much about the beef between them. Hocevar called it nothing but one-sided beef, asserting he is not wasting anytime thinking about the Ford driver.

No, it seems pretty one-sided to me a little bit. So, I don’t really care. I mean, yeah, I don’t, I don’t care.

Carson Hocevar added.

The comments from the star driver are not surprising, considering he is infamous for his nonchalant attitude. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the upcoming days, considering the comments is going irk Smith more.

Also Read: “Pissing Off the Keyboard Warriors!” Bubba Wallace Takes a Cheeky Shot at Haters Before Talladega Race