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NASCAR power rankings: Denny Hamlin surges after third win of 2025
Denny Hamlin saved just enough fuel to grab his third win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan. With 15 of 36 races complete, here’s where the Cup Series field stacks up in our latest power rankings.
1. William Byron
While fuel mileage didn’t break Byron’s way on Sunday afternoon, the Daytona 500 champion led 98 laps and earned 19 stage points. His 28th-place result isn’t at all indicative of how fast he was, and the No. 24 team’s second win of 2025 is coming sooner rather than later.
2. Denny Hamlin
Hamlin’s impressive 2025 campaign continued with his third win of the season in a fuel-saving masterclass. At 44 years old and in his 701st Cup Series start, Hamlin made it clear that he’s still at the top of his game. The victory ties him with Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell for the most wins in the Cup Series this season.
3. Kyle Larson
Larson finished fifth at Michigan, but didn’t seem to have the same speed he and the No. 5 team usually have at intermediate tracks. Still, when a top-five effort is considered to be part of a slump, that’s a good sign. Keep an eye out for Larson in the Cup Series’ inaugural trip to Mexico City on June 15.
4. Ross Chastain
Chastain and the No. 1 team are beginning to unload better cars and continue to put together good runs. A sixth-place effort on Sunday moved Chastain up to eighth in the Cup Series standings. He’s another driver to watch in Mexico City.
5. Tyler Reddick
A 13th-place finish may not sound like the necessary criteria to move up a spot, but Reddick ran inside the top five and top 10 for the majority of the race. However, the little mistakes continue to pile up for the No. 45 team, which is keeping them out of victory lane.
6. Christopher Bell
Bell finished 16th at Michigan on a day when the No. 20 team didn’t have much speed to speak of. Bell only qualified 25th on Saturday, and the race itself was an uphill climb. Bell was the winner of the only road course race so far this season - Circuit of the Americas on March 2 - and will likely be near the top of the favorites list for Mexico City.
7. Bubba Wallace
If not for a less-than-stellar final restart, Wallace could’ve been in contention for the win on Sunday. Nevertheless, he notched his second straight top-10 effort with a fourth-place finish that has him 61 points above the playoff cut line - a buffer that could be needed as the Cup Series travels to a road course, a track type Wallace has notoriously struggled at in his career.
8. Ryan Blaney
A spin late in Stage 2 relegated Blaney to a 32nd-place finish. A week after he won his first race of the season at Nashville, Blaney’s trip to Michigan was a classic example of how quickly racing can bring you back down to earth.
9. Chase Elliott
Elliott is still fifth in the Cup Series standings, but another 15th-place finish on Sunday is a frustrating result. Elliott led 19 laps and had one of the fastest cars, but a strategy call gone wrong and two pit road penalties dashed any hope of the No. 9 getting to victory lane. A road course date in Mexico City is a welcome sight for Elliott as he tries to snap a winless drought that dates back to Texas in April of 2024.
10. Kyle Busch
Busch quietly put together a solid race en route to an eighth-place finish. He’s tied with Ryan Preece for the final provisional playoff spot at the moment, and given how well he performed at COTA in March, another road course race could be an opportunity for Busch to break a winless streak that is now two years old.
11. Chris Buescher
Buescher had one of the fastest cars at Michigan and drove through the pack in Stage 1 to earn the stage win. He ultimately came up one spot shy of his second Michigan win, but a runner-up finish is a massive boost for Buescher in the points standings. Buescher is one of the best road course racers in the Cup Series, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him in the mix for the win in Mexico City.
12. Carson Hocevar
A flat tire relegated Hocevar to a 29th-place finish on Sunday, but he led 32 laps and showed winning speed for the third race in a row. If the No. 77 team can start stringing better finishes together, Hocevar could make the playoffs without having to win a race.
13. Joey Logano
Logano was nowhere to be found on Sunday. The No. 22 Ford had no speed under the hood, as evidenced by a 22nd-place finish on a day where Logano earned zero stage points. Races like Sunday have to be avoided if Logano is to defend his championship.
14. Ryan Preece
A ninth-place finish has Preece tied - and winning the tiebreaker - with Kyle Busch for the final playoff spot. The No. 60 team has been solid through the first 15 races of the season, and without their DQ at Talladega, they’d solidly be inside the playoff picture.
15. Erik Jones
An 11th-place finish at his home track in Michigan makes it three straight top-15 finishes for Jones, who is now 21st in the standings and only 36 points below the playoff cut line. LEGACY Motor Club has improved on the whole this season, and Jones’ recent stretch is proof of that.
16. Brad Keselowski
Keselowski is still 32nd in points and will need a win to make the playoffs, but two top-10 finishes over the last three races is a massive improvement for the 2012 champ. In front of his home crowd, Keselowski finished 10th, marking the first time RFK Racing has had three cars finish inside the top 10 since 2016.
More must-reads:
- Denny Hamlin plays fuel mileage to perfection to win FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan
- Where the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture stands after Michigan
- The 'Active NFL players with 1,000-yard rushing seasons' quiz
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