Sam Kelly, 26, was driving on the M6 when his car crashed with a flatbed lorry between junctions 19 and 20 near Lymm in Cheshire on Saturday.
Mr Kelly, from Northwich, was airlifted to hospital and later died.
Paying tribute his family said "Sam the Man" was a "beautiful, fun loving, go getter" who "will be sadly missed".
A man who died in a crash that closed a motorway for five hours "lived and loved life to the full", his family has said.