The primary quarter of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Sequence season is within the books and a few pre-season questions are being answered whereas others nonetheless loom following the trek to Bristol Motor Speedway.
With Talladega Superspeedway on the horizon Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the unknowns will set the stage for the following 9 races because the circuit barrels towards the midway mark of the marketing campaign. However what we do know is {that a} handful of story traces have emerged from the primary quarter, so let’s check out among the hot-button subjects earlier than motion resumes in NASCAR’s premier collection.
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1. Which driver of the present ‘Massive 4’ is rising because the championship favourite?
A pair of Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers have stood above the remainder up to now in 2025 as William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson look like the highest candidates for a deep playoff run and championship bid in November.
All 4 rank inside the highest 10 in each key metric from NASCAR Insights (passing, protection, velocity, restarts, pit crew) moreover Bell’s Twelfth-place slot in protection.
The driving force that’s stood out on the stat sheet essentially the most has been the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver Byron. After Bristol, he ranks first in protection, velocity and restarts, and is the one one of many group of 4 to steer in anyone class. Regardless of not being a multi-time winner this yr like his counterparts, he’s been essentially the most in keeping with a median end of 9.1. That has paid dividends as he leads driver’s factors by 30 over Denny Hamlin.
2. When does Chase Elliott rating his subsequent victory?
A head-scratcher during the last 18 months has been the restricted quantity of journeys to Victory Lane of the 2020 Cup Sequence champion. Elliott’s final two wins got here at Texas Motor Speedway over a yr in the past, and it’s important to return to the Talladega playoff race in Oct. 2022 for his second-to-last win.
Two of Elliott’s teammates, Byron and Larson, have gained a mixed 22 races within the span the No. 9 driver has gained only one race. You even have to return to the Charlotte Roval playoff race in 2022 for the final time Elliott led essentially the most laps in a Cup occasion.
Trying into the long run, the place may we see the No. 9 lastly return to Victory Lane?
The subsequent six weeks are going to be pivotal in how Elliott’s season performs out with favorable tracks at Talladega and Texas developing subsequent. A mean end of 10.1 at Kansas Speedway will make him a sure-fire favourite heading to the Sunflower State in Might and was within the image of the thrilling picture end final spring on the 1.5-mile oval. Following Kansas, Elliott is a two-time runner-up within the Coca-Cola 600 and gained at Nashville in 2022. Michigan is the final of actually strong tracks for the No. 9 crew because the Dawsonville, Georgia native led 29 laps within the Irish Hills final yr.
3. When does Group Penske break by in 2025?
It’s not for a scarcity of effort, however Group Penske has but to seize a checkered flag by the primary 9 races. Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric are within the prime six in laps led within the collection with a mixed 617 circuits led within the early portion.
Blaney appeared to have a win at Darlington within the bag after shaving off a large hole to Tyler Reddick and passing him within the closing laps. Nevertheless, an premature warning nipped the No. 12 crew after a gradual cash cease, leading to fifth place as a substitute. With back-to-back top-five outcomes, the 2023 Cup titleholder is due for a win quickly, but it surely’s troublesome up to now to say the identical for his counterparts.
Logano solely has one prime 10 this season regardless of sitting ninth in factors, and whereas the 70 stage factors are among the many most gathered by any driver at this level, 2025 is trending towards one other win-or-miss-the-playoffs sort of yr for the defending champion. It’s a spot they might not be comfy with, however have develop into accustomed to during the last two title campaigns for the No. 22 camp.
For all three, Talladega must be circled this weekend because the one the place the group nets its first assured playoff bid.
4. A brand new and acquainted period set to shake up the summer time stretch
As we close to June and July, a handful of goodies await the NASCAR group highlighted by Prime Video’s first Cup Sequence races and the return of TNT Sports activities to the broadcasting household.
Not solely does a brand new mixture of TV companions carry the early parts of summer time, however June will even see the introduction of the in-season match. With seeding of the 32-driver bracket to be determined at Michigan, Mexico Metropolis and Pocono, Atlanta kicks off the five-race tourney and can be carried by TNT’s complete window to its conclusion at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the ultimate Sunday of July.
Talking of Mexico Metropolis, it will likely be the Cup Sequence’ first trek to the two.42-mile highway course and the primary worldwide points-paying race since 1958.
RELATED: Particulars on in-season match | NASCAR expands international attain with upcoming Mexico Metropolis race
5. Will Ryan Preece be the primary RFK Racing driver to win this season?
In his sixth full-time Cup Sequence marketing campaign, Preece is starting to return into his personal along with his new dwelling at RFK Racing. He’s already trending towards setting a brand new excessive in prime 10s with three within the first 9 races at Las Vegas, Homestead and Martinsville.
Because it stands after 9 races, Preece is presently in a playoff spot sitting 14th in factors and trailing teammate Chris Buescher by simply two spots and 26 factors within the standings.
Teammate and co-owner Brad Keselowski is off to a gradual begin in 2025 and presently sits thirty first in factors, but it surely seems the group is on track regardless of not getting a single automotive inside the highest 10 at Bristol.
Like Group Penske, Talladega appears like a pivotal level for RFK, particularly for somebody like Keselowski who may flip his season round with a seventh win on the superspeedway, which might surpass Corridor of Famers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.
With the velocity Preece and Buescher have constantly proven this season, Kansas and Nashville might be favorable for the 2 because the No. 17 driver tries to actual his revenge after ending up on the fallacious slide of the closest end in NASCAR historical past, whereas a slower-paced, concrete oval might be the breakthrough race for Preece.
6. Which monitor produces the following shock winner?
Often, this can be a simple reply with Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta computerized right here, however that didn’t occur within the first two races of the season as Byron and Bell gained these respectively. The primary actual shock of the season got here at Las Vegas, of all locations, as Josh Berry claimed his first profession Cup Sequence victory.
In the event you have a look at final season, Gateway (Cindric), Richmond (Austin Dillon) and Darlington (Chase Briscoe) all produced surprises, and that would very properly be the case once more this yr at non-superspeedway tracks.
Again-to-back avenue/road-course occasions at Chicago and Sonoma stand out on the schedule in July. Shane van Gisbergen gained Chicago in his Cup debut in 2023 and gained Stage 1 in 2024 earlier than a crash shortly after. Buescher and Michael McDowell almost gained at Sonoma final yr earlier than Larson offered a masterclass within the last stage. After all, Atlanta and Mexico Metropolis will definitely be highlighted to provide a shock, however don’t overlook tracks like Charlotte, Texas or Nashville to supply the following twist within the Cup season.
7. May AJ Allmendinger level his method into the playoffs?
One of many extra missed story traces within the first half of the season has been the efficiency of longtime veteran Allmendinger and the No. 16 Kaulig Racing crew.
In the previous couple of years, it’s no secret that Kaulig’s Cup ventures have lacked and their vehicles have been removed from playoff-contending, however the group seems to have discovered one thing in 2025.
Each Allmendinger and Ty Dillon have proven commendable velocity by the primary 9 races. Allmendinger’s scored three prime 10s this season and is coming off a ninth-place run at Bristol, the place he additionally put down the Xfinity Quickest Lap to pocket an additional level within the standings. In the meantime, Dillon has completed sixteenth or higher in 4 of the primary 9 races in 2025.
Coming into Talladega, Allmendinger is the primary driver exterior the playoff image as a consequence of Berry’s win, however the 43-year-old wheelman trails Kyle Busch by simply two factors for the provisional sixteenth spot.
We aren’t far off from a stretch that features three avenue and highway programs (Allmendinger’s bread and butter) this summer time, and with the top-10 velocity proven on ovals, he could not have to depend upon a highway course to hold his method to a postseason bid.
8. Which winless previous champion visits Victory Lane first?
Minus Larson, the 5 Cup winners up to now this season haven’t gained a Cup Sequence title. The energetic champions nonetheless chasing their first trophy of 2025 embody aforementioned names like Elliott, Logano, Blaney, Keselowski and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch.
From Daytona to the Southern 500, to the Kansas playoff race final season, Busch simply couldn’t discover the correct facet of luck when he was in rivalry to win these races.
Enter 2025 and fortune nonetheless hasn’t favored the two-time Cup champ as Busch led late at Circuit of The Americas earlier than getting swarmed by Bell, Byron and Tyler Reddick within the last laps earlier than Bell gained his second of three races in a row. Busch has simply two prime 10s since and is coming off a 14th-place run at Bristol.
2023 champion Blaney appears to be like to be the closest to discovering Victory Lane. Blaney is a two-time Talladega winner and as the most effective drafting-track opponents on the Cup degree, search for the No. 12 to strike pay dust on Sunday.
9. Will Bubba Wallace hold tempo with 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick all season lengthy?
In 2024, Wallace narrowly missed out on the playoffs whereas Reddick punched a ticket to his first Championship 4 look. 9 races into 2025, each 23XI Racing drivers seem able to making deep postseason runs.
Wallace scored back-to-back third-place finishes at Homestead and Martinsville that turned heads, and crew chief Charles Denike has seemingly gotten the No. 23 crew targeted for fulfillment.
Following Bristol, the No. 23 pit crew ranks first within the Cup Sequence in response to NASCAR Insights whereas Wallace sits within the prime 10 on pure velocity and restart success.
It’s straightforward to capitalize on momentum early within the yr, but it surely’s a taller activity because the season begins inching shut towards the postseason. That’s the purpose of the yr the place the contenders and pretenders start to separate, however as of now, Wallace sits eighth in factors, instantly behind Reddick, who’s seventh in factors and 23 tallies forward of his teammate.
