Five notable changes ahead of 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season

After a return to its roots in The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, NASCAR's biggest stars head south to Daytona Beach for the 67th running of the Daytona 500 (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, Fox, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

With a new season on the horizon, here are five of the most notable changes ahead of the 2025 campaign:

No. 11 team sees major shakeup

Not long after the 2024 season concluded at Phoenix Raceway, it was announced that Chris Gabehart — crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team since 2019 — would move to JGR's competition director for the 2025 season.

Chris Gayle, who served as Ty Gibbs' crew chief the last two seasons, will be atop the pit box for Hamlin. As Hamlin, 44, enters the 2025 season as the oldest full-time driver in the Cup Series, it will be interesting to see how he fares with a different voice calling the shots. After all, Gabehart and Hamlin won 22 races together including two Daytona 500s and the 2021 Southern 500.

Chase Briscoe takes over the No. 19 ride

With 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. announcing his retirement from full-time racing, 30-year-old and 2024 Southern 500 winner Chase Briscoe was tabbed as his replacement.

It did not take long for Briscoe to make some noise, as he put the No. 19 on the pole for Sunday's "Great American Race." While it is only a pole, you cannot ask for a better start with a new team, especially at the "World Center of Center."

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen enters first full-time Cup season

It has been a whirlwind last two years for van Gisbergen. First, the three-time Australian Supercars champion won the debut Cup Series race on the streets of Chicago in 2023. He followed that up with a full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series in 2024 when he won three races.

As he enters his first full-time season in the Cup Series in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, it would not be surprising to see van Gisbergen contend for a playoff spot, given what he has already accomplished in limited starts.

NASCAR goes south of the border 

For the first time since 1958, NASCAR will have an international points race when it goes south of the border to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on June 15.

With the Xfinity Series scheduled to race the day before, Father's Day weekend should be one to remember as NASCAR goes international.

New broadcast partners join the sport

While Fox and NBC remain in their usual spots on the calendar, Prime Video and TNT Sports join the coverage in an agreement that runs through the 2031 season. Fox and NBC will each have 14 races while Prime Video and TNT Sports will carry five apiece.

Aside from exhibition races and the Daytona 500, practice and qualifying will stream on Prime Video during the first half of the season while TNT Sports will pick up the coverage in the second half.

There will also be a new in-season tournament set to debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway on June 28 and conclude at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27. Once seeding is determined in the three races leading into the tournament, drivers will go head-to-head in a bracket-style format each week until the $1 million prize is won.

With new partners coming aboard and a new incentive during the middle of the season, the 2025 NASCAR season is sure to bring the excitement.