Who Leads? Who Follows? NASCAR drivers on Twitter & Facebook

Which NASCAR driver is the most popular on Twitter & Facebook?
We’re well into the 2011 NASCAR season and for now at least, infamous backflipper Carl Edwards sits on top of the points leading into tonight’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. I thought it would be interesting to see which Sprint Cup driver has the most popular accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

When comparing any social media accounts of celebrities or sports figures, you first have to realize it’s a little like comparing apples and oranges. Not all accounts were started at the same time. Some are maintained by the drivers themselves, others by members by their teams or PR agencies. Some driver’s also have a fragmented presence between personal sites and sites for their foundations or personal racing teams.

NASCAR does maintain a highly sophisticated site with driver profiles but has little official presence on the individual sites and social media profiles of them. This is in stark contrast to the carefully choreographed post race show where driver’s don their sunglasses, caps and take that all important drink with their sponsor’s logo facing the camera.

Without a doubt Dale Earnhardt Jr. is NASCAR’s most popular driver and he’s tops the Facebook list over five-time champion Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

On Twitter (Dale Jr. doesn’t tweet) the outspoken Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya leads by a huge margin (probably leveraging his international appeal) over the equally outspoken Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne. These three driver’s are obviously tweeting through their own accounts and responding to fans questions and comments.

Most Liked Facebook Pages

  1. Dale Earnhardt Jr – 989,093
  2. Jimmie Johnson – 521,000
  3. Jeff Gordon – 327,099
  4. Tony Stewart – 309,360
  5. Carl Edwards – 162,194
  6. Kasey Kahne – 104,865
  7. Ryan Newman – 90,626
  8. Kyle Busch – 70,662
  9. Juan Montoya – 58,463
  10. Denny Hamlin – 48,274

Most Followed Twitter Profiles

  1. Juan Montoya – 326,786
  2. Kevin Harvick – 85,432
  3. Kasey Kahne – 68,635
  4. Kyle Busch – 64,669
  5. Jeff Gordon – 63,226
  6. Denny Hamlin – 63,161
  7. Trevor Bayne – 34,924
  8. Jimmie Johnson – 43,556
  9. Ryan Newman – 40,691
  10. Jamie McMurray – 40,241

And what the heck, who had Klout?

  1. Kevin Harvick – 75
  2. Jimmie Johnson – 75
  3. Jeff Gordon – 74
  4. Kyle Busch – 70
  5. Juan Montoya – 68
  6. Kasey Kahne – 68
  7. Trevor Bayne – 68
  8. Brad Keselowski – 68
  9. Denny Hamlin – 66
  10. Regan Smith – 64

Twitter & Facebook figures collected May 29, 2011 12noon EST

It was difficult in some cases to find the official accounts of some drivers. If I have missed someone please let me know and I will correct the list if needed.