Chase Elliott has been for many years now, NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver. Before him, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who dominated in this category, but it didn’t take long for the #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver to inherit that place from Junior once he established himself in the sport.

However, if you think Elliott would go on to be as dominant as Earnhardt Jr., you could be wrong.

Because a driver who could challenge his popularity is on the rise, on a quick rise either. The driver who goes by the name of Hailie Deegan.

The Truck Series driver is the most followed personality from NASCAR on social media with a following in millions. She was awarded her series’ most popular driver award last year, and by all accounts, she could win it again this year.

Deegan’s career is also on a rapid rise as she recently announced her forthcoming Xfinity Series debut at Las Vegas, something which should suggest that it wouldn’t be long before she makes the step up to Cup.

It’d still take some years, yes, but if there’s one name who could dethrone Chase Elliott from his spot, it’s Hailie Deegan for sure.

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Chase Elliott uses his platform to amplify the general voice against a common enemy

In a recent interview, Chase Elliott furthered the cry of his fellow competitors against the Next Gen car’s controversial safety aspect. Yet despite doing so, Elliott also made it pretty clear what the reality is with everyone asking for urgent measures.

“They wanna get together and talk this weekend, which is good. You hope that we can find a path forward. There’s still some racing left this year, so I think it’s a bit unreasonable to ask for a fix that can happen overnight in the closing month of our season,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. “That’s a tall ask.”

“Is that reasonable to do with all the logistics it would take to do at this point? Probably not.”

Having expressed his frustrations and what he feels is an unreasonable ask, Chase Elliott also confessed that they shouldn’t be in this position they find themselves in, in the first place.

“We should not have been in this position to have needed this type of change,” he said.

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