Chase Elliott named NASCAR's most popular driver for 7th straight season

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Chase Elliott named NASCAR's most popular driver for 7th straight season

2024-11-23 10:11 Last Updated At：10:20

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Chase Elliott was named NASCAR's most popular driver for the seventh consecutive year at the sport's season-ending awards ceremony Friday night.

The only major NASCAR award determined solely by the vote of fans, Elliott earned 266,363 votes to beat out Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, per results released by the National Motorsports Press Association.

The Elliotts are no stranger to the award.

Chase's father Bill Elliott, nicknamed “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville,” was named NASCAR’s most popular driver a record 16 times before removing his name from the ballot.

“I don't think it ever gets old,” Chase Elliott told The Associated Press. “I'm thankful for all of the folks around the country that pull for me and my team and genuinely want to see us do well. That to me is the part that doesn't get old is whether you're in Darlington, South Carolina or Talladega or somewhere out in California, it's just crazy to me that we have been in a fortunate to be in the situation to have the type of support that we have. I don't take that for granted.”

Blaney joked that he doesn't see anyone else winning the award until Elliott decides to retire.

“Obviously he has a great fanbase that he has built on his own and fans who loved watching Bill as well,” Blaney said. “I don't know what it would take to beat him.”

Blaney joked that he will be really excited to see who takes over once Elliott retires.

“That will be a mystery,” Blaney said. “Someday I will have to peak my head back in the door and say, ‘Who won most popular driver?’ I will probably be retired by then, too. So I don't know (what it would take to beat him). It would be tough to knock him off of that spot. He has a lot of people who really love him."

Tyler Reddick isn't sure Elliott will ever lose, either.

“When you're at the racetrack, you think it has a chance to change,” Reddick said. “I think if anyone is ever going to have a shot at it it's Ryan or Kyle. But it always seems like it is Chase's award to lose.”

NASCAR fans are certainly loyal to their drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was awarded the most popular driver in 2001, the year he was killed in the season-opening Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt Jr. then won most popular driver the next 15 years, meaning an Elliott or Earnhardt has won NASCAR’s most popular driver for 34 consecutive years.

Elliott said the award is a reminder of what his family accomplished well before he arrived on the NASCAR scene.

“You always want to try to carry your family name in the proper manner or at least in the manner that they would expect," Elliott said. “I have always tried to do that and I hope I have done that successfully in my time, but for sure it is an extension of a lot of hard work from my dad and his brothers and my grandfather. It was a huge team effort and a huge family effort to have the careers that they had which led to me being here and having the opportunity to carry that forward.”

The awards ceremony took place in NASCAR's hub in Charlotte for the first time, a dramatic change from previous destination host cities like Las Vegas, New York and Nashville, Tennessee.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.