The new Most Popular Driver award on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will pay $500 in a new postseason honor determined by fans and sponsored by Wichita Falls, Texas-based Deatherage Opticians. Voting will open June 1 after among the top 15 in tour points and conclude Nov. 30.

“Our family has been involved in racing for a long time and we wanted to partner with the Lucas Oil Series on some level," said Greg Deatherage, whose late father Terry co-founded the company and was a former Late Model racer and National Championship Racing Association champion. "The Most Popular Driver contest was available, and we really liked the concept and agreed to be the title sponsor of that category and include the fans as part of it.”

Deatherage Opticians will also provide the 10th-place finisher in each series feature a $40 gift card towards the purchase of any eyewear or services.

The Lucas Oil Series season opens Jan. 26 at Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Ga., in the Super Bowl of Racing, the first of 13 Georgia-Florida Speedweeks events among four tracks for the national tour.