Christopher Bell beat Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson to earn his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Collection victory on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. With Bell because the clear No. 1, right here’s the place the remainder of the Cup Collection 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 Collection driver William Byron through the Shriners Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
A poorly-timed yellow flag whereas Byron was on pit highway stored the No. 24 crew from battling Bell for the win, however Byron clearly had one of many quickest automobiles in Phoenix. He received at Las Vegas within the spring of 2023, and appears to be the sector’s greatest guess to interrupt Bell’s profitable streak.
(Final week: 3)
A Twentieth-place end on account of energy steering points received’t present it, however Reddick ran up entrance with Bell and Byron for a lot of the day at Phoenix. He must be within the combine once more at Las Vegas, and it appears inevitable that he’ll acquire his first win of 2025 quickly.
(Final week: 6)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver Alex Bowman through the Shriners Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
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 step by step picked his means by means of the pack en-route to a seventh-place end on Sunday. The No. 48 crew 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 house monitor of Las Vegas on March 16.
(Final week: 13)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver Chris Buescher through the Shriners Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
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 in a position to outduel Bell on the race’s closing restart, Phoenix was a transfer in the fitting path for a No. 11 crew trying to assert itself as a championship risk early within the season.
8. Kyle Larson
(Final week: 14)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver Kyle Larson through the Shriners Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
Saturday’s apply and qualifying periods had been worrying for the 2021 champion, who was Twenty sixth-fastest in apply and solely certified in seventeenth. Like he at all times does, nevertheless, Larson discovered a approach 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 foul end result by any means, however Elliott’s lack of velocity within the first standard race of the season is barely alarming. For a crew trying 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 Collection driver Chase Elliott (9) is adopted by NASCAR Cup Collection driver Ross Chastain (1) through the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Jamie Harms-Imagn Photographs
There’s not a lot to say about Chastain’s Eleventh-place end on Sunday. The very best information? He didn’t make any new enemies, in contrast to the March 2 race at COTA wherein he divebombed his means into the primary nook of the race. Las Vegas ought to supply the No. 1 crew 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 strong at Las Vegas with the Subsequent-Gen automobile, and will have sufficient velocity to run contained in the top-10 in Sin Metropolis.
(Final week: 4)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver Kyle Busch (8) drives for place in opposition to driver Ryan Blaney (12) through the Shriners Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
Blaney primarily drops this far again on account of his Twenty eighth-place end because of an engine failure, however he didn’t run a foul race at Phoenix. For no matter purpose, Penske doesn’t have the identical velocity at Phoenix within the spring because it does within the fall, although Blaney doubtless doesn’t thoughts.
(Final week: 9)
For the primary time this season, McDowell and the No. 71 crew had 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 sector. After two blown tires, the No. 71 limped house 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 Collection driver Carson Hocevar throughout qualifying for the Shrines Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
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 to date, and is a strong darkish horse choose because the circuit heads to Las Vegas.
(Final week: Not ranked)
Via 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 crew has come out of the gates sturdy in 2025.
(Final week: Not ranked)
Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver Josh Berry (21) leads driver Ross Chastain (1) and driver Chase Elliott (9) through the Shriners Kids’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photographs
Berry is just 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 12 months. One other good run at Las Vegas can be an awesome signal because the No. 21 crew makes an attempt to claw itself into the playoff image.
