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NASCAR power rankings: 2023 champ Ryan Blaney climbs after big win
Ryan Blaney earned his first win of the 2025 season on Sunday, leading 139 of 300 laps in the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville. Here’s where the NASCAR Cup Series field stacks up.
1. William Byron
Byron wasn’t able to snag his second win of the season at Nashville, but he put together another top-five effort and retains a 48-point advantage over Kyle Larson in the standings. The No. 24 has top-five speed every week.
2. Christopher Bell
After suffering an early spin, Bell battled back all night to come home with a solid 10th-place finish. Without the spin, he could’ve been in the mix for the win, but a resilient top-10 effort is still a solid day.
3. Kyle Larson
Surprisingly, speed was lacking under the hood of Larson’s No. 5 at Nashville. The 2021 Cup Series champion finished 27th in Stage 1 and 21st in Stage 2 before finally ending up in eighth when the checkered flag flew.
4. Ross Chastain
Chastain didn’t have the winning pace at Nashville like he did in the Coke 600, but it was a consistent weekend for the No. 1 team. Chastain qualified fifth, finished 10th and 12th in the stages and finished the race in 11th. His consistency alone is keeping Trackhouse Racing in the conversation weekly.
5. Denny Hamlin
After a rough month of May, Hamlin was back in form with a third-place finish at Nashville. In his 700th Cup Series start, the 44-year-old driver made it quite clear that he’s still near the top of his game.
6. Tyler Reddick
In a similar vein to Larson, Reddick didn’t have the pace he was expected to have on Sunday evening. Still, the No. 45 team made small gains throughout the race, leading to Reddick finishing ninth - his first top-10 since Darlington on April 6.
7. Ryan Blaney
Blaney put together the most complete performance of his 2025 season on Sunday, leading 139 laps and earning 14 stage points en route to a much-needed victory. Don’t be surprised if Nashville is the race that opens the floodgates for Blaney and the No. 12 team.
8. Joey Logano
Logano and the No. 22 team have been much better over the last month of the season than they were right out of the gates. A fourth-place finish at Nashville is his third top-10 finish in the previous four races, and the three-time champion has risen to eighth in the standings.
9. Chase Elliott
Elliott and the No. 9 team can’t find any semblance of speed at the moment. A 15th-place finish at Nashville is a decent result, but for a team with championship aspirations, simply finishing inside the top 15 won’t cut it. Elliott is fifth in the standings, but it seems like a rather hollow mark given the lack of winning pace from the 2020 champ this year.
10. Chase Briscoe
Briscoe won his second consecutive pole on Saturday and led 51 laps, but once he got back in traffic, he was nowhere to be found. A 17th-place finish was a disappointing result, but Briscoe and the No. 19 team are gelling more as the year goes on.
11. Bubba Wallace
Wallace came into Nashville with three consecutive finishes of 30th or worse. An early speeding penalty had the potential to derail a fourth straight race for the No. 23 team, but Wallace battled back to a solid sixth-place finish. He is 10th in the standings through 14 races.
12. Alex Bowman
If it weren’t for bad luck, Bowman wouldn’t have any at all. Damage incurred in a Stage 2 crash relegated Bowman to a 36th-place finish - his fourth finish of 29th or worse over the last six races. He’s slipped to 12th in the standings.
13. Kyle Busch
A 12th-place effort at Nashville has Busch back on the positive side of the playoff cut line (+2) with 12 regular-season races remaining. There’s still work to be done if the two-time champion wants to return to victory lane, but races like Nashville can serve as the building block.
14. Carson Hocevar
After his engine blew up on a late restart at Charlotte, Hocevar rebounded with a strong runner-up effort at Nashville, moving up to 17th in the standings in the process. His speed is no fluke - the No. 77 team is a serious postseason contender.
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse was on the receiving end of contact from Hocevar that damaged Stenhouse’s No. 47 and took him out of the race. The crash slips Stenhouse out of the playoff picture for now and could serve as a major blow as the weeks go by.
16. Chris Buescher
Buescher did what Buescher does, quietly biding his time and clicking off laps en route to a 14th-place finish at Nashville. The No. 17 team hasn’t had outstanding pace this season, but they’ve been consistent enough for Buescher to remain in the mix for a playoff spot.
More must-reads:
- Ryan Blaney breaks through, earns first win of 2025 in Cracker Barrel 400
- Where the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture sits after Nashville
- The 'NBA active leaders in made field goals' quiz
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