Christopher Bell beat Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson to earn his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Sequence victory on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. With Bell because the clear No. 1, right here’s the place the remainder of the Cup Sequence subject stacks up 4 races into the 2025 season.
1. Christopher Bell
(Final week: 1)
Bell’s win at Phoenix on Sunday makes him the primary driver to win three consecutive races since Kyle Larson in 2021 and the primary since Kevin Harvick in 2018 to win three of the primary 4. He’s the clear championship favourite because the circuit heads to Las Vegas, the place he’ll look to match Invoice Elliott’s 1992 mark of profitable 4 of the primary 5 races.
(Final week: 2)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver William Byron throughout the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
A poorly-timed yellow flag whereas Byron was on pit highway saved the No. 24 group from battling Bell for the win, however Byron clearly had one of many quickest automobiles in Phoenix. He gained at Las Vegas within the spring of 2023, and appears to be the sphere’s greatest wager to interrupt Bell’s profitable streak.
(Final week: 3)
A Twentieth-place end resulting from energy steering points gained’t present it, however Reddick ran up entrance with Bell and Byron for a lot of the day at Phoenix. He ought to be within the combine once more at Las Vegas, and it appears inevitable that he’ll accumulate his first win of 2025 quickly.
(Final week: 6)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Alex Bowman throughout the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
Bowman retains placing himself in lower than fascinating conditions, solely to stage thrilling comebacks. After a poor qualifying lap on Saturday put him thirty second on the grid, he progressively picked his method by way of the pack en-route to a seventh-place end on Sunday. The No. 48 group has quietly put collectively three top-10 finishes over the primary 4 races.
(Final Week: 8)
Busch grinded out his third consecutive top-10 end at Phoenix on Sunday, and has come into 2025 with newfound velocity after going winless in 2024. He’ll look to snap a 61-race winless streak at his dwelling observe of Las Vegas on March 16.
(Final week: 13)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Chris Buescher throughout the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
A quiet fifth-place effort for Buescher on Sunday netted him his third top-10 end over the primary 4 races. Buescher has made a dwelling out of consistency over the previous two years, and that appears to be the case once more in 2025.
(Final week: 12)
Hamlin wasn’t dominant on Sunday, however he was in rivalry when it mattered most. Whereas he wasn’t capable of outduel Bell on the race’s remaining restart, Phoenix was a transfer in the appropriate path for a No. 11 group seeking to assert itself as a championship menace early within the season.
8. Kyle Larson
(Final week: 14)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Kyle Larson throughout the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
Saturday’s follow and qualifying classes have been worrying for the 2021 champion, who was Twenty sixth-fastest in follow and solely certified in seventeenth. Like he all the time does, nevertheless, Larson discovered a technique to be within the combine late, and had he been extra aggressive when given the chance, he could have earned his first win of 2025.
(Final week: 5)
A tenth-place end isn’t a nasty end result by any means, however Elliott’s lack of velocity within the first typical race of the season is barely alarming. For a group seeking to get again to the Championship 4, Tenth-place finishes aren’t going to chop it.
(Final week: 11)
Mar 2, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Chase Elliott (9) is adopted by NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Ross Chastain (1) throughout the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Jamie Harms-Imagn Photos
There’s not a lot to say about Chastain’s Eleventh-place end on Sunday. The most effective information? He didn’t make any new enemies, in contrast to the March 2 race at COTA through which he divebombed his method into the primary nook of the race. Las Vegas ought to provide the No. 1 group the chance to contend contained in the top-five.
(Final week: 7)
A damaged brake rotor took Wallace from operating contained in the top-10 to a Twenty ninth-place end on Sunday. Wallace has been stable at Las Vegas with the Subsequent-Gen automotive, and may have sufficient velocity to run contained in the top-10 in Sin Metropolis.
(Final week: 4)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Kyle Busch (8) drives for place in opposition to driver Ryan Blaney (12) throughout the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
Blaney primarily drops this far again resulting from his Twenty eighth-place end because of an engine failure, however he didn’t run a nasty race at Phoenix. For no matter cause, Penske doesn’t have the identical velocity at Phoenix within the spring because it does within the fall, although Blaney possible doesn’t thoughts.
(Final week: 9)
For the primary time this season, McDowell and the No. 71 group have been unable to beat the ocean of obstacles that appear to chunk them on a weekly foundation. A steering rack change earlier than the race pressured McDowell to relinquish his seventh-place beginning spot and drop to the again of the sphere. After two blown tires, the No. 71 limped dwelling in twenty seventh. Regardless of his poor end result at Phoenix, McDowell nonetheless sits fifteenth in factors.
(Final week: 10)
Mar 8, 2025; Avondale, AZ, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Carson Hocevar throughout qualifying for the Shrines Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
A promising weekend for Hocevar was worn out on Lap 99, when a crash on the backstretch knocked out Hocevar and Spire Motorsports teammate Justin Haley. Hocevar has proven velocity each weekend up to now, and is a stable darkish horse decide because the circuit heads to Las Vegas.
(Final week: Not ranked)
By 4 races, Nemechek sits thirteenth in factors. He picked up a 14th-place end on Sunday, and has three top-15 finishes within the first 4 races. After ending lifeless final in factors amongst full-time drivers in 2024, the No. 42 group has come out of the gates robust in 2025.
(Final week: Not ranked)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Josh Berry (21) leads driver Ross Chastain (1) and driver Chase Elliott (9) throughout the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos
Berry is simply twenty first in factors following Sunday’s race at Phoenix, however his fourth-place run makes him deserving of the ultimate spot this week. After a tough three-year stretch with Harrison Burton, the Wooden Brothers and Berry have discovered some velocity this yr. One other good run at Las Vegas could be an awesome signal because the No. 21 group makes an attempt to claw itself into the playoff image.
