For nearly a decade, Chase Elliott has worn NASCAR’s popularity crown like it was custom-fit for him. Every November since Dale Earnhardt Jr. stepped away in 2017, the fan vote followed the same script. Elliott at the top, and the applause on cue. In 2025, that tradition held firm once again as he claimed his eighth straight Most Popular Driver Award, a streak that felt untouchable. But popularity, as it turns out, is a tricky thing to measure.

While Elliott still reigns in ballots, the marketplace told a slightly different story this year. When Lionel Racing revealed its best-selling die-cast list, one familiar name unexpectedly stole the spotlight. And no, this time it wasn’t NASCAR’s reigning fan favorite.

Die-cast sales rewrite Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s popularity

The biggest surprise on Lionel Racing’s 2025 best-seller list wasn’t just who topped it, but what that name represented. Justin Allgaier’s Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet finishing as the No. 1 die-cast of the year was more than a sales win. It was a statement. Allgaier, a longtime JR Motorsports driver, delivered a historic moment by guiding Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team into its first-ever NASCAR Cup Series entry at the 2025 Daytona 500.

For fans, that car wasn’t just metal and paint; it symbolized JR Motorsports crossing a long-anticipated threshold, blending nostalgia with a new chapter of ambition. Unsurprisingly, collectors rushed in. But that Dale Jr. effect didn’t stop there.

Junior himself claimed the second spot on the list with his Budweiser Speedway Classic Late Model Chevrolet. His placement so high on the list proves that even years after retirement, his pull with fans remains almost unmatched. The result felt like a reminder NASCAR has seen before: some legacies never really fade, they just change form.

Amidst this, Chase Elliott’s placement, however, raised eyebrows. Despite winning the 2025 Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award for the eighth straight year, Elliott landed fourth on the die-cast list. It’s not a bad result by any stretch, but in a season dominated by familiar faces, it’s certainly a new dip for him, hinting at a shift.

Fan voting still favors Elliott, yet purchasing behavior suggests that emotional connection, nostalgia, and milestone moments can outweigh popularity titles when wallets come out.

“Each die-cast tells a story of triumph and tradition, and we’re proud to bring these moments to fans and collectors everywhere,” said Howard Hitchcock, Lionel Racing CEO, a sentiment that fits this list perfectly.

As the official die-cast of NASCAR, Lionel Racing works closely with the sanctioning body and teams to recreate iconic cars with exacting detail, turning race moments into permanent collectibles. In 2025, those stories spoke loudly. And with Dale Earnhardt Jr tipping Chase Elliott, it proved that they didn’t always follow the expected script.

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Dale Jr. stunned by NASCAR’s view on SRX

Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t hide his disbelief when recent court documents revealed NASCAR executives once viewed the Superstar Racing Experience as a legitimate concern. Speaking on The Dale Jr. Download podcast, the Hall of Famer admitted the reaction caught him completely off guard, especially given how modest SRX was by design.

Junior explained that SRX co-founder Ray Evernham’s vision was never about competing with NASCAR at the highest level. To him, it was a nostalgia-driven concept meant to celebrate racing, not disrupt it.

“When he started talking about SRX and what he wanted to do, in his mind, he wanted to re-create IROC,” Earnhardt said. “The initial idea of SRX as a series that would go into these local markets, and you would bring out these retired guys and some unique personalities, different forms of racing, and offer up a car to the local hero.”

He was also candid about his own distance from the project.

“I will say, though, I wasn’t interested in it, personally. Out of the gate, I just didn’t have the bandwidth to get into it. I wasn’t a fan; I didn’t really watch too much of it,” he said, adding quickly, “No offense to anybody out there that was SRX fans or anybody that worked in the series… but I wasn’t into it.”

That context made NASCAR’s internal concerns even harder for him to understand. “To hear that they were even remotely the least bit threatened is so surprising to me because they’re this giant that’s NASCAR, and SRX is just this little thing,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

“They were like 12 cars just barely getting by financially.” He pointed out the high costs and sustainability issues, noting, “They’re tearing up so much shit, they had no idea they were gonna tear up so much shit… In the end, they couldn’t make the money work.”

The lawsuit revelations left him shaking his head. “I am surprised by some of the comments I read from O’Donnell and a couple people of, ‘Man, we gotta put an end to this or we gotta go take a look at this,’” Dale Earnhardt Jr. simply said, “Why are we worried?”

The remarks provided an unusual glimpse into how NASCAR perceived even minor outside projects while navigating mounting legal and business pressures.