NASCAR Power Rankings - Week 25

Honorable Mention: I’m extremely surprised. Shane van Gisbergen was this close to making my list. Not only was SVG somewhat competitive, he was running his own line on Saturday. No one was ripping the top but him. With Daytona this week, SVG could gain some serious momentum. Also Tyler Reddick gets some props. He had speed and won a stage, but got turned by Daniel Suarez. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recover, and a bad race at Daytona along with a new winner could spell doom for his playoffs before they even begin.

10. Had Brad Keselowski not cut a tire late at Watkins Glen, it’s likely he’d have 5 straight top 10s. The rebound for this team has been nothing short of incredible, but if he can’t win at Daytona this week, it’ll be all for naught. He won this race back in 2016, but it’s his only points paying victory at the track. He also pushed his teammate to victory in 2023.

9. Christopher Bell is straight up confusing me. He is by far the most inconsistent driver right now, as he’ll finish top 5 one week and run consistently 15th on pace the next. Daytona doesn’t spread high hopes very much for him, either, but Bell did win at Atlanta earlier this year. 

8. Alex Bowman is on a run right now. He has 4 top 10s in the last 5 races, including 2 top 5s in that span. He wrapped up another one on Saturday night, with a P2 place at Richmond. He seemed to have the fastest car late, but it was too little, too late, as Austin Dillon already had a 4 second lead as Bowman passed Blaney for 2nd. While he’s never won at Daytona, in his 18 starts at Daytona, he’s never finished worse than 25th except for his 500 attempt in 2021. He has 7 top 10s in those 18 starts, including 4 top 6s in his last 5 stars. All Alex Bowman needs is no new winner, and he’s in the Playoffs, but even if he has a one, with a good run, he could knock out Tyler Reddick.

7. Bubba Wallace is in the 7 spot for back to back weeks. He was on his way to his 4th top 10 in a row. Wallace led 123 laps, won stage 1, and finished 2nd stage 2. A miscue on pit road cost him a few laps and a shot at the win, crediting him with a 28th place position. While Wallace won his duel race at Daytona earlier this year, he’s never won a points race here. He’s finished 2nd 3 times, though.

6. Kyle Larson got some track position midway through Richmond and never gave it up. He finished 6th, which was about where he ran. We’re still not seeing race winning speed out of the 5, but at least we saw speed. Larson heads to Daytona, a place he’s quoted as saying, “I have this f***ing place.” Safe to say, I wouldn’t put any money on him this week.

5. Chase Elliott is ice cold right now. He hasn’t had a top 10 since his 6th place at Dover, which was 5 spots worse than he should’ve finished. Any momentum Elliott had, it’s gone. He followed up his worst finish of the year with his first DNF of the year, though it was through no fault of his own. Elliott has a few wins at Talladega, but never at Daytona other than the duels.

4. Denny Hamlin had problem after problem after problem on Saturday…and he still finished top 10. Hamlin had to drive through the field twice, and he didn’t quite finish his mission the 2nd time. Hamlin’s won the Daytona 500 3 times, but he’s never won the fall race here. In fact, he hasn’t finished top 10 in the fall race since 2020. He’ll have speed and help, it’s just whether or not Hamlin makes it to the white, and unlike this year’s 500, through the white.

3. Ryan Blaney is the shining light at Team Penske right now. Since getting wrecked out of a top 5 run at Sonoma, Blaney has not finished worst than 8th, including 3 straight finishes of 6th or better. This looks like it could be another deep Penske playoff run. If you’re superstitious, however, Blaney is in the Advance Auto Parts car, which has seen Blaney take some gnarly hits in. 

2. Chase Briscoe had a quiet day at Richmond, running top 10-15 all day. He didn’t make noise like some others on the list did, and that may be just as much of a good thing as it is a bad thing. Briscoe finished 4th at Daytona in the winter and 15th at Talladega in the spring. He’ll have a lot of Toyota teammates, but more than likely, they’ll all be pushing the 54.

1. The top 2 stay unchanged, as William Byron also had a quiet day, which was exactly what he needed. Byron locked up the regular season title, and all he’s going to try and do Saturday is gain more playoff points or help his teammate, Alex Bowman, into the playoffs. He has a pretty good track record here, as not only did his first win come at Daytona, but he’s won the last 2 Daytona 500s straight.