2: Tony Stewart
Stewart was among one of the major celebrity drivers that propelled NASCAR to unfathomable heights. At the height of his popularity, Stewart was featured in a Three Doors Down music video and on the cover of numerous NASCAR video games. His reputation for risk-taking and speed helped to secure the driver a fair amount of championships over his career. Stewart is also heavily involved in dirt track racing and still participates to this day.
After he quietly retired from racing, Stewart carved out a reputation of knowledge and dependability. His NASCAR career is unparalleled and the dream of many is to achieve the same level of popularity. Stewart will undoubtedly go down as one of the most popular drivers.