Across the wide world of sports, the power rankings are an institution. They spark notable debate, let the fans know who to watch and sets the baseline on what to expect for the upcoming year.
At the dawn of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, we’re setting our own power rankings for the year. The three hosts of “The Backroad” – Elliot Hicks, Seth Woolcock and Rod Villagomez – have each ranked their top drivers for the year. Each analyst’s ranking has been aggregated together to produce these consensus rankings.
2025 NASCAR Power Rankings (Preseason)
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Driver | Seth | Elliot | Rod | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Kyle Larson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Ryan Blaney | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Christopher Bell | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | William Byron | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Tyler Reddick | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Denny Hamlin | 7 | 3 | 8 | 6 |
| 7 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Chase Elliott | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| 8 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Joey Logano | 5 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Chris Buescher | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | in-betweenmedia | 05/02/2025 04:42 PM | Kyle Busch | 12 | 11 | 7 | 10 |
| Driver | Seth | Elliot | Rod | Average |
29. Cole Custer
The lone ranger at what is now Haas Factory Team, Cole Custer, cracks open the list, ranked by Seth at No. 25. The 2023 Xfinity Series champion has one win and 12 career T10s in Cup. Custer also won five races and earned 28 T5s while dipping back to Xfinity for two seasons.
28. Ryan Preece
Rod ranked Ryan Preece, Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing’s new addition, at P24 on his board. Preece will hope to build on seven T10 finishes in two seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driving the No. 60 Ford. The Connecticut native has four career T5s and 16 T10s in five full-time Cup seasons.
27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The 2023 Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appeared at P23 on Rod’s board. The Hyak Motorsports driver won the fall Talladega race last year and earned three T5s and six T10s in 2024.
26. Riley Herbst
One of two rookies competing in 2025 (perhaps the only true rookie), Riley Herbst just barely missed our top 25. Herbst has run full-time in the last five Xfinity seasons, winning twice last year and once in 2023. Only Elliot had the No. 35 ranked at P22.
25. Josh Berry
The historic Wood Brothers kick off our top 25 with new driver Josh Berry. The No. 21 team will hope the Tennessee native brings better performance than Harrison Burton, who had just five T10s outside of his Daytona win in three seasons with the team. Berry’s 2024 rookie season in the Cup yielded two T5 and four T10 finishes in the SHR camp.
24. Noah Gragson
Part of the new-look Front Row Motorsports features Noah Gragson in the No. 4 Ford. Gragson has 75 career Cup Series starts, earning seven T10 finishes in his lone full-time Cup season with Stewart-Haas in 2024. The Nevada native was ranked 22nd by both Elliot and Rod.
23. Todd Gilliland
The flagship No. 34 at Front Row will be driven by Todd Gilliland, who was ranked on all three of our boards. Gilliland enters his fourth full-time season with 10 career T10 finishes. The 2024 season saw especially impressive midseason performance, finishing 17th or better in 12 of 14 races between April and August.
22. Carson Hocevar
Spire Motorsports is on an upward trajectory, largely helped by Carson Hocevar’s 2024 Rookie of the Year season. The No. 77 had the team’s best performance in its history, ranking P21 in the points standings. The Michigan native earned six T10s and an 18.3 average finish.
21. A.J. Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing continues its trophy hunting (at least on road courses) by returning A.J. Allmendinger to Cup in 2025. The three-time Cup Series winner had five T10s in 16 starts last season. The No. 16 was ranked as high as 16th on our boards by Rod.
20. Austin Cindric
The In-Between Media (IBT) trio has varying opinions of Austin Cindric heading into 2025. Elliot ranked the No. 2 at 18th, while Rod didn’t feature Cindric on his top-25 board at all. Cindric returned to victory lane at Gateway last year and earned four T5s and seven T10s in his third full-time Cup season.
19. Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell makes the jump to Spire Motorsports in 2025 after seven seasons at Front Row. The Arizona native eclipsed 500 career starts last season, earning seven T10s and six pole positions. McDowell has a pair of Cup wins, including the 2021 Daytona 500.
18. Daniel Suarez
The first driver to be ranked in all of our top 20s is Daniel Suarez. The No. 99 had one of 2024’s most exciting victories at Atlanta’s three-wide thriller. The Mexico native has earned a pair of victories and 32 T10s in the last three seasons with Trackhouse Racing.
17. Shane van Gisbergen
The 35-year-old rookie Shane van Gisbergen is far more of a competitive threat than your average Cup rookie. The Supercars superstar embarks on his first full-time Cup season in the No. 88. SVG will look to add to his resume, which includes his 2023 Chicago victory and trio of Xfinity Series wins, all on road courses.
16. Bubba Wallace
The first Toyota driver in the rankings is Bubba Wallace, ranked in both Elliot and Seth’s top 15. The No. 23 earned a career-best six T5 and 14 T10 finishes in 2024. Wallace has gone 79 races without a win but pairs with new crew chief Charles Denike in 2025, coming from the Truck No. 19 team.
15. Ty Gibbs
Cracking open our top 15 is Ty Gibbs. The No. 54 driver has yet to earn his first win but improved both his T5 (eight) and T10 (12) numbers in his second full-time Cup season. Gibbs was ranked as high as 13th by Rod.
14. Ross Chastain
The resident “Melon Man” Ross Chastain checks in at 14th on our board. Though the No. 1 missed the playoffs last year, Chastain won the fall Kansas race. The Florida native has won in each of the last three seasons, earning a pair each in 2022 and 2023.
13. Chase Briscoe
The newest Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) driver, Chase Briscoe, takes over for Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19. Briscoe won the Southern 500 at Darlington to put SHR into the playoffs at the buzzer. The Indiana native earned a 10th-place vote on Seth’s board.
12. Brad Keselowski
Though he’s now one of the elder statesmen of the Cup Series, Brad Keselowski showed he hasn’t lost all his mojo in 2024. The No. 6 returned to victory lane at Darlington in May and earned nine T5 and 14 T10s. On our board, Keselowski had votes of 10th, 12th and 14th, averaging out perfectly to his P12 ranking.
11. Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) makes its first appearance just outside the top 10 with Alex Bowman. The No. 48 won at the Chicago Street Course last year, earning career-best T5 (eight) and T10 (17) numbers along the way. Rod ranked Bowman as a top-10 driver at P9, while Elliot ranked the Arizona native at 14th.
10. Kyle Busch
Though Kyle Busch was unable to continue a 19-year winning streak last year, he still is a top-10 driver in our rankings on average. The Nevada native put up career-worst T5 (five) and T10 (10) numbers in 2024. However, the name recognition and recognized success and badassery of “KFB” give him the benefit of the doubt.
9. Chris Buescher
Still perhaps the most underrated driver in the Cup Series is Chris Buescher. Though the No. 17 missed the 2024 playoffs, a win at Watkins Glen showed Buescher still has the mettle to win and do so at any track type. The Texas native has six Cup wins, all at different track types.
8. Joey Logano
The defending champion, Joey Logano, had some variety in our rankings, ranked as high as fifth but as low as 10th. The No. 22 team put up perhaps the worst season of a champion in the modern era, but getting hot when it counts has been their expertise. Three of Logano’s four points-paying wins came in the playoffs, with the fourth coming on a wild fuel-mileage gamble at Nashville.
7. Chase Elliott
The series’ most popular driver, Chase Elliott, has already started off 2025 strong, winning the Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. The No. 9 returned to normal form in 2024, winning at Texas and earning T5 (11) and T10 (19) numbers more along the lines of what we’ve come to expect.
6. Denny Hamlin
Our opinions on Denny Hamlin varied a fair bit, being ranked as high as third but as low as eighth. One of the main actions detrimental to his rankings on our board includes not winning a race after the end of April. Still, 2024 was the sixth consecutive season that Hamlin won multiple races, winning at least twice in nine of the last 10.
5. Tyler Reddick
Cracking open our rankings’ top five is Tyler Reddick, who had a career-best season in 2024. The No. 45 driver earned three wins, 12 T5s, 21 T10s and a 13.2 average finish. One of those victories was an unbelievable never-say-die last-lap pass at Homestead to qualify for the Championship 4 at Phoenix.
4. William Byron
William Byron has officially become one of the stars of the Cup Series and should be a title favorite again in 2025. The No. 24 won three races and was P3 in the final standings for a second consecutive year, with 21 T10s matching a career best.
3. Christopher Bell
Each driver in our top three ranked no worse than fouth on anyone’s board, starting with Christopher Bell. Though Bell’s half-attempt at a Martinsville wall ride kept him out of the title race, he also set career bests with three wins, 15 T5s and 23 T10s. The No. 20 was one of just two drivers to lead over 1,000 laps in 2024, leading 1,145.
2. Ryan Blaney
Perhaps the best driver in the current Cup Series format is Ryan Blaney, coming in as our runner-up. Blaney has been the champion and the runner-up in the standings the last two seasons, winning a trio of races in each. That includes a pair of Martinsville victories in do-or-die races in the playoffs.
1. Kyle Larson
The easiest ranking on the board was Kyle Larson at the top. He was the only driver that all three of us had in the same spot, each ranked first. The No. 5 led a mind-boggling 1,700 laps in 2024 and arguably should have won even more than the six races that ended in victory lane. The California native has been no worse than P7 in the final standings since joining HMS.
Thanks for reading our 2025 NASCAR Cup Series power rankings. Be sure to catch us live every Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. EST on The Backroad!
Also, follow me on Twitter/X @ehicks39 for more NASCAR takes and betting advice.
*Photo Credit: Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean – USA TODAY Sports*
