# Best Driver ESPY Award

The Best Driver ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Best Auto Racing Driver ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of motorsports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 1993. The Best Driver ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, has been presented annually to the racing driver adjudged to have performed the best in a given calendar year. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
The inaugural winner of the award was British driver Nigel Mansell who finished the 1992 season with a then record-breaking nine wins and fourteen pole positions en route to winning his sole Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Mansell moved to the Championship Auto Racing Teams the following year, and won the series title at the first attempt, earning him a second ESPY Award in 1994. Mansell is one of six drivers to have won the award more than once. As of 2022, multiple NASCAR Cup Series champions Jeff Gordon (1996, 1998, 1999, 2007) and his teammate Jimmie Johnson (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) have won the most awards with four each. NASCAR drivers have won more awards than any other motorsports series, with nineteen victories, followed by Formula One with five wins. It was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent winner of the award was Formula One driver Max Verstappen who won the award in 2024.

## Winners and nominees

Best Driver ESPY Award winners and nominees :
| Year | Image | Driver | Nationality | Racing series | Type of vehicle | Other nominees |
| 1993 | | Nigel Mansell | GBR | Formula One | Open wheel | N/A |
| 1994 | | Nigel Mansell (2) | GBR | CART | Open wheel | N/A |
| 1995 | | Al Unser Jr. | USA | CART | Open wheel | Dale Earnhardt ( USA) – NASCAR Michael Schumacher ( GER) – Formula One |
| 1996 | | Jeff Gordon | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Michael Schumacher ( GER) – Formula One Jacques Villeneuve ( CAN) – CART |
| 1997 | – | Jimmy Vasser | USA | CART | Open wheel | Terry Labonte ( USA) – NASCAR Damon Hill ( GBR) – Formula One |
| 1998 | | Jeff Gordon (2) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | N/A |
| 1999 | | Jeff Gordon (3) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Dale Earnhardt ( USA) – NASCAR Mark Martin ( USA) – NASCAR |
| 2000 | | Dale Jarrett | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | John Force ( USA) – NHRA Juan Pablo Montoya ( COL) – CART |
| 2001 | | Bobby Labonte | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Gil de Ferran ( BRA) – CART John Force ( USA) – NHRA Buddy Lazier ( USA) – IndyCar |
| 2002 | | Michael Schumacher | GER | Formula One | Open wheel | Hélio Castroneves ( BRA) – CART Gil de Ferran ( BRA) – CART John Force ( USA) – NHRA Jeff Gordon ( USA) – NASCAR Kevin Harvick ( USA) – NASCAR Sam Hornish Jr. ( USA) – IndyCar |
| 2003 | | Tony Stewart | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | John Force ( USA) – NHRA Gil de Ferran ( BRA) IndyCar Sam Hornish Jr. ( USA) – IndyCar Michael Schumacher ( GER) – Formula One |
| 2004 | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar Matt Kenseth ( USA) – NASCAR Tony Pedregon ( USA) – NHRA Michael Schumacher ( GER) – Formula One |
| 2005 | | Michael Schumacher (2) | GER | Formula One | Open wheel | Greg Anderson ( USA) – NHRA Kurt Busch ( USA) – NASCAR Dan Wheldon ( GBR) – IndyCar |
| 2006 | | Tony Stewart (2) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Jimmie Johnson ( USA) – NASCAR Sam Hornish Jr. ( USA) – IndyCar Melanie Troxel ( USA) – NHRA Dan Wheldon ( GBR) – IndyCar |
| 2007 | | Jeff Gordon (4) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Dario Franchitti ( GBR) – IndyCar Kevin Harvick ( USA) – NASCAR Jimmie Johnson ( USA) – NASCAR Tony Schumacher ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2008 | | Jimmie Johnson | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Kyle Busch ( USA) – NASCAR Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar Lewis Hamilton ( GBR) – Formula One Tony Schumacher ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2009 | | Jimmie Johnson (2) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Hélio Castroneves ( BRA) – IndyCar Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar Lewis Hamilton ( GBR) – Formula One Tony Schumacher ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2010 | | Jimmie Johnson (3) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Kyle Busch ( USA) – NASCAR Dario Franchitti ( GBR) – IndyCar Ron Hornaday Jr. ( USA) – NASCAR Tony Schumacher ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2011 | | Jimmie Johnson (4) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Greg Anderson ( USA) – NHRA John Force ( USA) – NHRA Dario Franchitti ( GBR) – IndyCar |
| 2012 | | Tony Stewart (3) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Dario Franchitti ( GBR) – IndyCar Sebastian Vettel ( GER) – Formula One Del Worsham ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2013 | | Ryan Hunter-Reay | USA | IndyCar Series | Open wheel | Tony Kanaan ( BRA) – IndyCar Brad Keselowski ( USA) – NASCAR Sebastian Vettel ( GER) – Formula One |
| 2014 | | Ryan Hunter-Reay (2) | USA | IndyCar Series | Open wheel | Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar Dale Earnhardt Jr. ( USA) – NASCAR John Force ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2015 | | Kevin Harvick | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Erica Enders-Stevens ( USA) – NHRA Lewis Hamilton ( GBR) – Formula One Juan Pablo Montoya ( COL) – IndyCar Will Power ( AUS) – IndyCar |
| 2016 | | Kyle Busch | USA | NASCAR | Stock car | Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar Erica Enders-Stevens ( USA) – NHRA Lewis Hamilton ( GBR) – Formula One Alexander Rossi ( USA) – IndyCar |
| 2017 | | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Formula One | Open Wheel | Ron Capps ( USA) – NHRA Jimmie Johnson ( USA) – NASCAR Simon Pagenaud ( FRA) – IndyCar Martin Truex Jr. ( USA) – NASCAR |
| 2018 | | Martin Truex Jr. | USA | NASCAR | Stock car racing | Brittany Force ( USA) – NHRA Lewis Hamilton ( GBR) – Formula One Josef Newgarden ( USA) – IndyCar Series |
| 2019 | | Kyle Busch (2) | USA | NASCAR | Stock car racing | Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar Series Lewis Hamilton ( GBR) – Formula One Steve Torrence – ( USA) – NHRA |
| 2020 | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | | Lewis Hamilton (2) | GBR | Formula One | Open Wheel | Erica Enders ( USA) – NHRA Chase Elliott ( USA) – NASCAR Scott Dixon ( NZL) – IndyCar |
| 2022 | | Kyle Larson | USA | NASCAR | Stock car racing | Álex Palou ( ESP) – IndyCar Steve Torrence ( USA) – NHRA Max Verstappen ( NLD) – Formula One |
| 2023 | | Max Verstappen | NED | Formula One | Open Wheel | Brittany Force ( USA) - NHRA Kyle Larson ( USA) - NASCAR Josef Newgarden ( USA) - IndyCar |
| 2024 | | Max Verstappen (2) | NED | Formula One | Open Wheel | Ryan Blaney ( USA) - NASCAR Matt Hagan ( USA) - NHRA Álex Palou ( ESP) - IndyCar |

## Statistics

Winners by nation represented :
| Nation | Winners | Nominations |
| USA | 23 | 72 |
| GBR | 2 | 17 |
| GER | 2 | 8 |
| NLD | 2 | 3 |
| BRA | 0 | 6 |
| NZL | 0 | 7 |
| COL | 0 | 2 |
| AUS | 0 | 1 |
| CAN | 0 | 1 |
| FRA | 0 | 1 |
| ESP | 0 | 2 |
Winners by series :
| Series | Winners | Nominations |
| NASCAR | 19 | 39 |
| Formula One | 7 | 20 |
| IndyCar | 2 | 29 |
| CART | 3 | 8 |
| NHRA | 0 | 23 |
Multiple winners and nominees :
| Name | Wins | Nominations |
| Jeff Gordon | 4 | 5 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 4 | 7 |
| Tony Stewart | 3 | 3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 8 |
| Michael Schumacher | 2 | 6 |
| Kyle Busch | 2 | 4 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 3 |
| Ryan Hunter-Reay | 2 | 2 |
| Nigel Mansell | 2 | 2 |
| Kevin Harvick | 1 | 3 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 1 | 2 |
| Scott Dixon | 0 | 7 |
| John Force | 0 | 6 |
| Dario Franchitti | 0 | 4 |
| Tony Schumacher | 0 | 4 |
| Erica Enders | 0 | 3 |
| Gil de Ferran | 0 | 3 |
| Sam Hornish Jr. | 0 | 3 |
| Greg Anderson | 0 | 2 |
| Hélio Castroneves | 0 | 2 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 0 | 2 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 0 | 2 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 0 | 2 |
| Josef Newgarden | 0 | 2 |
| Dan Wheldon | 0 | 2 |