Who is going to fill Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s shoes for NASCAR?

NASCAR: KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas Speedway

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been a dominant figure in NASCAR during the last 15 seasons.

He wasn’t the winningest driver, but every year since 2003 he was chosen as the sanctioning body’s Most Popular Driver.

Best known to most auto racing fans as “Junior,” his retirement after last season left a massive void in the sport and in fans’ hearts ahead of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series KC Masterpiece 400 on Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

“It’s lost its appeal a little,” said Sandy Atwood, of Auburn, Kan., who sported a blue “Dale Jr.” shirt and sat along a fence near the pits with her two children on Friday at Kansas Speedway. “I’ve been a Dale Earnhardt fan for 37 years — two different guys, same name — so I don’t have anybody out here. My kids do. That’s why we’re here.”

Atwood also was a fan of Earnhardt’s iconic father, Dale Sr., who died during a wreck at the 2001 Daytona 500.

Now, she’s waiting for another driver to capture her imagination. But can anyone ever really fill Junior’s shoes?

“It’s possible, but the young guys have to get out there — they have to get out of their (motor) homes, come over here to the fans and talk to the kids,” Atwood said. “You hook a kid; you hook a parent. My kids are hooked, so we’re here. If I didn’t have kids, I wouldn’t be here.”

Atwood’s 5-year-old daughter, Ella, adores Paul Menard, and her 9-year-old son, Lane, is a passionate Chase Elliott fan.

The general sense among other Cup Series drivers is that Lane isn’t alone.

“We’re fortunate to have a great fan base, but we probably won’t win (Most Popular Driver),” Kevin Harvick said Friday, a few hours before winning the pole for the KC Masterpiece 400. “I’d say the next guy that’s going to take that reign is going to be Chase Elliott.”

Elliott’s father, Bill, won Most Popular Driver a record 16 times from 1984-2002.

“The bottom line is when you look at our sport there is only a few guys that come through this sport that have the name, the history, the heritage of that NASCAR family and carry that through their career and Chase is one of those guys,” Harvick said. “ … His dad won a few times in the Most Popular Driver, and he’s the next Dale Jr.”

Junior’s grandma, Martha, might disagree. She recently told Dale Jr. — who, in turn, told the Twitterverse — that Harvick was her favorite current driver.

She’s not alone in hoping a veteran driver can succeed Junior as the Most Popular Driver.

“Originally, I was a Tony Stewart fan, but I enjoyed watching Junior just because of who he is and the type of person he was,” Chris Griffin, of Wichita, said as he walked around the infield in a blue “Junior” shirt. “… Part of me wants to think it will be a veteran driver (who becomes Most Popular), but I don’t know who that would be.”