MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 3, 2016) – Everybody wants to be liked, right? Few of us fall into the category of being beloved, but liked? That’s attainable for most.
NASCAR’s 13-time Most Popular Driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has become much more than liked, according to a Harris Poll conducted in the summer months of America’s favorite athletes. As the only NASCAR driver in the top 10, Earnhardt Jr. ranked eighth in the poll, which was conducted among 2,200 adults online between June 17-22, 2015.
The JR Motorsports co-owner and driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was tied for the spot with NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who earlier this year announced that this would be his final season in the league. The two—Earnhardt Jr. and Bryant—were tied at No. 5 on the list in 2014.
So why the drop in the rankings, you ask? Pretty simple, really, when you consider that the three athletes who moved past Earnhardt Jr. in the rankings were Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (the 2015 NFL MVP), Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (2015 MVP who led the team to the championship) and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (who led his team to a victory in the Super Bowl).
And it’s not like Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t been on the radar for favorite athlete since his Sprint Cup career began back in 1999. The 41-year-old driver first made the list (eighth) in his rookie season in NASCAR’s top division in 1999, the same year he won the second of his two NASCAR Xfinity Series titles and made five NSCS starts for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
In 2004, he’d risen to the top five, a spot he would occupy again in 2006 and 2014 (following a Daytona 500 victory). Over the next eight polls, he was sixth twice, eighth twice and 10th twice, missing the poll in 2011. That’s still pretty rarified air when you take into account athletes like LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning and Brady are in the mix.
Heading into the 2016 season, Earnhardt Jr. is the odds-on favorite to earn another Daytona 500 victory, which would be his third to go along with the 2004 and 2014 triumphs.