NASCAR Draft Kit: 2025 Driver Rankings

Below are our driver rankings and outlooks for the 2025 NASCAR season.

1. Kyle Larson – Larson tallied six victories last season with two of them coming in the last 10 races (playoffs). Still, he didn't win the championship due to the fickle nature of NASCAR's championship crowning. It was the second highest total of wins in a season for his career. The Hendrick Motorsports star also led a whopping 1,700 laps for the campaign, which was the highest total among all drivers and the second highest total of his career. When combined with Larson's body of work dating back to 2021, he's been the most dominant driver in NASCAR's top division for the last four years running. He'll stay paired with crew chief Cliff Daniels and the two should continue to post the type of performance that will continue to make the No. 5 Chevrolet team a championship contending outfit. Larson has averaged over five wins per season during his current run of dominance and we believe that's a good expectation for 2025.
2. Ryan Blaney – The past two seasons Blaney has posted nearly identical three-win and 18-Top 10 campaigns. It's led to a Cup Series championship in 2023 and runner-up in the points in 2024. The consistency has been pretty remarkable and Blaney has proven he can win on both big ovals and short tracks alike. His one win and seven Top 10's during the playoffs showed when the pressure is on, Blaney and the No. 12 Ford team can perform. This is why we've seen this driver and team advance into the Championship 4 round of the playoffs the last two seasons. If anything, we expect Blaney to continue getting better and more consistent as we move forward. Penske Racing will team him with crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, once again and the two will look to add more wins and more Top 10's to their totals in the upcoming season.          
3. William Byron – Byron has been quite impressive the last two campaigns. He's racked up an average of 4.5 wins and 21 Top 10's in both 2023 and 2024. It's been good enough to get him into the championship-crowning race of the NASCAR Cup Series, but he's yet to come away with his first title. That could change in the upcoming campaign. The No. 24 Chevrolet team has incredibly strong down the stretch run, posting five Top 5's and seven Top 10's in the last seven events of 2024. That streak should carry Byron through the short off-season and into the 2025 season. The lack of timely victories during the playoffs is the only thing that has prevented Byron from cashing in on his first championship. From a fantasy racing side, you have to love his utility and ability to dominate not only ovals but road circuits as well.
4. Christopher Bell – While he didn't make the cut for the championship race last year, Bell had another blockbuster season in the No. 20 JGR Toyota. He cemented his spot among the elite in the Cup Series with his second three-win campaign in the last three seasons and he racked up a career-best 23 Top-10 finishes, which led the series. Bell's 1,145 laps led in 2024 were second only to Kyle Larson and his 12.8 average finish was among the best in NASCAR's top division. In a lot of respects, he has replaced Denny Hamlin as Joe Gibbs Racing's most dominant driver. Short tracks and intermediate ovals seem to be this driver and team's niche, however, Bell can still mix it up with the best on the superspeedway ovals and some road circuits. This versatility will make him a star for years to come and a championship contending driver for the foreseeable future.  
5. Denny Hamlin – He's fallen into a somewhat predictable groove over the past three seasons. Hamlin has averaged 2.67 wins, 12 Top-5 and 17.67 Top-10 finishes during the span, and that's almost exactly on the head of what he posted last season (3-12-18). The veteran Joe Gibbs Racing driver is nearly always in the championship discussion, but after 19 seasons of full-time Cup Series competition he has yet to cash in on that first title. Still, Hamlin and the No. 11 Toyota team are proven producers and have not had a "turkey season" since 2018. One new thing to note is that Chris Gayle has moved into the crew chief position for Hamlin, replacing longtime chief Chris Gabehart. Gayle brings 214 Cup Series starts of experience and two victories with Erik Jones. He also boasts a titanic Xfinity Series resume with one championship, 37 victories and 198 starts of experience in that division of NASCAR. Could this be the change that spurs Hamlin to a first championship in 2025? We'll soon see.
6. Tyler Reddick – Reddick made it into the Championship 4 last season for the first time ever and he also won a regular season crown in 2024 as the first seed entering the playoffs. The 23XI Racing star accomplished with career-best marks of three wins, 12 Top-5 and 21 Top-10 finishes. As far as averages go, he's gradually improved his performance over the past three seasons and is average 2.67 wins, 10.67 Top-5 and 17.33 Top-10 finishes. Those are elite level marks and reason for his high pre-season ranking. We believe he'll be in the championship battle again in 2025. Reddick also led nearly 600 laps last year, which was another career high for the driver of the No. 45 Toyota. While we believe he's yet to reach his full potential, the gains could only be marginal in the upcoming campaign. His team's lawsuit against NASCAR casts a shadow of uncertainty over Reddick's situation and makes him a bit riskier than the other top tier drivers as a result.
7. Joey Logano – He would march to a third Cup Series championship and after a bit of an uneven season in 2024. Logano would heat up during the playoffs and capture three of his four victories during the 10-race playoff. While his Top-10 totals and average finish were off the mark last year, the Penske Racing star would walk away with his third title since the 2018 season. We've ranked Logano at number seven in the pre-season rankings due to his inconsistency in production. Over the past three seasons he's averaged three wins and 15.67 Top 10's per campaign. The veteran driver hasn't crossed the 20-Top-10 plateau since the 2020 season and it seems his Top-10 totals drop almost every year. Logano still possesses race-winning potential, but his week-to-week consistency seems to be faltering with age. Paul Wolfe returns at crew chief for the upcoming season and the duo will look to defend their 2024 Cup Series championship title.
8. Chase Elliott – Elliott churned out a more characteristic 19-Top-10 campaign last season after an injury-plagued and performance-plagued 2023 season. The Hendrick Motorsports star would also return to victory lane, albeit just one win. He'd collect that victory at Texas Motor Speedway last April, but Elliott couldn't seem to corner another win in 2024. The superb consistency would advance him well into the playoffs but the inability to win would keep Elliott from advancing too deep into the playoffs. From a fantasy racing perspective, the week-to-week consistency is a very nice and desirable thing. The 11.7 average finish across the 36-race schedule was among the elite in the series and a three-season best mark for Elliott. This driver and team have the most potential to climb the pre-season rankings. If Elliott can rediscover his winning touch, it will certainly happen.
9. Alex Bowman – The 2024 season was a rebound campaign for Bowman and one that few would see coming. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet would post one win (Chicago Street Course) and a career-best 17 Top-10 finishes last year. It would be his best performance since 2021 when he racked up four victories and 16 Top-10 finishes. We expect this driver and team to hold onto most of these gains in the upcoming season. Even with this amount of performance, Bowman is still arguably the lowest on the four-driver Hendrick Motorsports totem pole. He'll be paired with crew chief, Blake Harris, for another season and the two will look to see if they can climb further and drive deeper into the NASCAR playoffs. Last season's ninth-place ranking in the final driver standings was the second-best mark Bowman has achieved. We'll see if he has more performance in him in 2025.
10. Brad Keselowski – Keselowski would get back to victory lane for the first time since 2021 last year with his big win at Darlington Raceway. The owner/driver of the No. 6 Ford would have arguably the best campaign of his three since leaving Penske Racing at the conclusion of the 2021 season. In addition to his Darlington win, Keselowski would post nine Top-5 and 14 Top-10 finishes. His consistency would be at issue at times and that would ultimately be what prevented this veteran driver from advancing deep into the playoffs. As Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing continues to grow and improve, we expect incremental gains for Keselowski in the upcoming season. He may well find victory lane again in 2025 and slightly increase his Top 10 totals. Jeremy Bullins comes into the crew chief role and brings 11 seasons of Cup Series experience and 10 victories. He'll be reunited with Keselowski and revive a relationship that dates back several years and across several races and wins.  
11. Chris Buescher – Despite missing the playoffs, Buescher would have another good season with the No. 17 Ford team. The veteran driver posted a win late in the season at Watkins Glen and that would be one of the major highlights of his 2024 campaign. Buescher would also collect 15 Top-10 finishes and continue to establish high expectations for this driver and team. His three-season average is 14 Top-10 finishes, so he's currently making the mark and looking to improve it. He's good through 2026 on his current contract with the team, so this is not a contract season for Buescher. However, he'll again be paired with crew chief, Scott Graves, and the two will look to continue their good work as a duo. Once again, we expect some of Buescher's best tracks to be road circuits and intermediate ovals. They have rewarded him greatly over the past couple seasons.
12. Ross Chastain – He would remain winless until the Kansas race late in the season and as a result would miss the playoffs in 2024. Chastain would still post a respectable 14 Top-10 finishes, but his laps led and Top-5 totals would take a hit. It meant much less racing at the front last season for Chastain and the No. 1 Chevrolet team. The three-season trend line is pretty clear and after a banner 2022 campaign, it looks like Chastain has finally found his bottom line in terms of performance. It makes this driver and team a borderline playoff team and it depends on when Chastain can wrangle his single victory in the schedule as to whether he makes the playoffs or not. For the moment it looks like the middle teens are a reasonable target for Top-10 finishes, so that's the expectation heading into the upcoming season. Per recent trends, road circuits and intermediate ovals seem to be Chastain's sweet spot.    
13. Ty Gibbs – The young driver took some nice steps in his second full-time season of Cup action. Gibbs doubled his Top-5 totals to eight and increased his Top-10 totals to 12. Good progress from his rookie campaign of 2023. The Joe Gibbs Racing youngster is now a much more seasoned 87-start veteran of NASCAR's top division. Now is the time to take a big step forward and post even more production and performance. That first Cup Series victory is still lurking for the 2022 Xfinity Series champion. Gibbs could fetch that in the upcoming 2025 season and increase his Top-10 totals to new career highs. He'll be paired with a new crew chief, Tyler Allen, at the No. 54 Toyota team. Allen has had a lot of success in the Xfinity Series (8 victories last season) but he's a relative newcomer to the Cup Series. Hope and expectations abound for Gibbs in the upcoming season.
14. Kyle Busch – Last season was nothing short of a disaster for Busch and the RCR No. 8 Chevrolet team. The veteran driver was held winless for the first time in his full-time Cup Series career. Busch also struggled to a career-low 10 Top-10 finishes. It all added up to a distant 20th-place finish in the driver point standings, which was Busch's worst points finish since his rookie season of 2005. He and Richard Childress Racing will look to regroup in the offseason and hit the rest button in 2025. Intermediate ovals and superspeedways were his best tracks in that struggle-filled season, so they will be the stronghold that the team builds around to improve. Busch mysteriously struggled on the short tracks last year, which is a form of racing he's very well known for and had tons of success. We expect a rebound performance for this driver and team in 2025, but a return to 3+ victories and 17+ Top 10's seems like a bridge too far.
15. Chase Briscoe – In his last season with Stewart Haas Racing before their closure, Briscoe would step things up a notch in 2024. He was rebounding from a poor 2023 campaign and looking to get back into the NASCAR playoffs. Briscoe did just that by snagging an impressive win in the cutoff race at Darlington and collecting nine Top-10 finishes throughout the season. He wouldn't advance out of the first round of the playoffs but would register a respectable 14th-place final position in the driver standings. That was a nice improvement over his lean 2023 campaign. Briscoe gets a pretty good upgrade in teams for the upcoming season. He'll move into the No. 19 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing that the retiring Martin Truex Jr. just vacated. He'll be paired with James Small at crew chief and look to get a big bounce in performance. We believe he'll do just that, but we will take a tempered and measured approach to expectations for 2025 as Briscoe adjusts to a new team and driving Toyotas instead of Fords.
16. Bubba Wallace – Wallace returns to 23XI Racing for 2025 but he'll be paired with a new crew chief for the upcoming season. Charles Denike takes over calling shots for the No. 23 Toyota team and will look to form chemistry with Wallace early in the season. Wallace had decent consistency last year, collecting a career-best 14 Top-10 finishes and posting a career-best 15.3 average finish, but he lacked the ingredients necessary to grab wins. It was his second-straight winless campaign after scratching the win column in both 2021 and 2022. Superspeedways and short tracks were Wallace's best venues last season and they should be again in the upcoming season. Intermediate ovals are not terrible for this driver and team, Wallace just doesn't have the success on them that he does the really big and really small ovals. This could be the ceiling for his performance and we really don't anticipate any big bumps or surprises for this driver and team in 2025.
17. AJ Allmendinger – Allmendinger shifts from full-time Xfinity Series driver back to full-time Cup Series driver in 2025. He'll still make a handful of lower division starts in a part-time schedule for Kaulig Racing but this veteran driver is back to trophy and championship hunting in NASCAR's top division. Trent Owens will serve as Allmendinger's crew chief. He brings 384 starts of Cup Series experience to the position and will help this veteran driver to get re-acclimated to full-time competition at NASCAR's top level. Allmendinger is a three-time winner on road circuits and always dangerous on those, but he also has the ability to post Top-10 finishes on ovals, especially superspeedways. He's a driver to watch closely in the upcoming season and he could approach the 10-Top-10 finish plateau for Kaulig Racing.
18. Austin Cindric – It will be a contract season for Cindric at Penske Racing. He achieved a career-best of 11th-place in the final driver point standings of 2024. That was thanks in large part to his second-career victory at World Wide Technology Raceway. Cindric would then enter the 10-race playoff and grab two Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes to close the season a successful 11th-place in the final standings. While the driver of the No. 2 Ford lacked some of the counting stats we'd like to see and some of the consistency, he took advantage of the system and made a successful season out of it. Cindric's one win and seven Top 10's left some fantasy players feeling a bit empty and frankly his 19.9 average finish is a bit too high for a high-profile team like Penske. He returns to the same team virtually unchanged for 2025, but with the mandate of earning a contract extension. That could potentially boost his performance.        
19. Daniel Suarez – For the second of the last three seasons, Suarez scratched the win column in 2024. He'd rack up a second-career victory with his win at Atlanta Motor Speedway early last season. That track is fast becoming a favorite of the Trackhouse Racing veteran. He would go onto finish runner-up there during the NASCAR playoffs later in the season. Suarez's efforts would tally one win and nine Top-10 finishes and a respectable 12th-place finish in the driver points. While his and the No. 99 Chevrolet team's consistency were down a bit in 2024, Suarez was still good enough to fetch good counting stats and a good standings finish. The standard seems pretty well established. He'll do exceptionally well at Atlanta, and he'll be competitive on intermediate ovals and some road circuits. The capability to win a race is there and Suarez has potential to push 10 Top 10's.    
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Stenhouse visited victory lane for the second time in the last two seasons during 2024. The veteran driver grabbed a surprising, late-season win at Talladega Superspeedway. It was the fourth-career victory for Stenhouse and underscored his expertise on superspeedway ovals. The team changes names from JTG-Daugherty Racing to HYAK Motorsports in 2025, but that's really the only change. Stenhouse returns and crew chief Mike Kelley returns to the team. The No. 47 Chevrolet squad has the ability to challenge for wins on the big ovals and Stenhouse has the potential to nab 7-9 Top-10 finishes in the upcoming season. Aside from superspeedways, the short tracks also seem to be a strength of this driver and team. That's something to remember in weekly lineup and salary cap-based fantasy leagues.  
21. Carson Hocevar – The 2024 Rookie of the Year returns for a second season at Spire Motorsports. Hocevar will once again pilot the No. 77 Chevrolet and be led by crew chief Luke Lambert. This talented youngster grabbed six Top-10 finishes in his rookie campaign and posted a respectable 18.3 average finish en route to a 20th-place points finish. It was a successful first season for Hocevar and this small race team. He returns for season two at NASCAR's top level and will look to increase his performance. Hocevar had only two DNF's last season so he was running at the end of most races. That contributed to his consistency and to his good average finish. He has a lot of potential and can race well on virtually any style track, including road courses. Hocevar brings a lot of upside to the table as this team grows and improves.   
22. Noah Gragson – He'd show some encouraging steps with his new race team and in his second Cup Series campaign in 2024. Gragson would ride to seven Top-10 finishes at Stewart Haas Racing and wind up 24th in the final driver standings. Unfortunately, SHR disbanded at the close of the season and Gragson had to move on. He's landed in a good opportunity with Front Row Motorsports as they look to expand into three Cup Series teams in 2025. Gragson will be reunited with crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, who led him at SHR in the No. 10 Ford last season. He brings a vast amount of experience at NASCAR's top level and rejoins the Front Row Motorsports team where he led Michael McDowell to a Daytona 500 win in 2021. It will take some time for these two to get acclimated to their surroundings and new team, but we expect Gragson will eventually get his footing and challenge to surpass the Top 10 totals he posed in 2024. The young driver is talented and not to be underestimated.
23. Riley Herbst – Herbst will make the step from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series and become the leading candidate to take Rookie of the Year honors in 2025. He joins 23XI Racing as they expand into three full-time teams in the upcoming season. Herbst is fresh off a two-win Xfinity Series campaign and a respectable seventh-place showing in the driver standings. He'll pilot the team's No. 35 Toyota and partner with crew chief Davin Restivo. Monster Energy will be the chief primary sponsor and foot the bills for this young driver and new team. Herbst has shown the ability to win in NASCAR's lower divisions but hasn't had a lot of time in the Cup Series car (eight prior starts) so his learning curve will be steep. Trying to mirror what last year's ROTY, Carson Hocevar, accomplished is probably a stretch, but we expect Herbst to cash in on around five Top 10's in the coming season.    
24. Michael McDowell – Despite winning a career-high six pole positions last season, McDowell took a couple steps back in performance in 2024. The veteran driver would nab seven Top-10 finishes but would see his consistency suffer and his average finish inflate nearly 2.5-spots over his 2023 campaign. McDowell would possess world class speed on the superspeedway ovals and lead a lot of laps but fail to get the finishes he deserved due to crashes and bad luck. He moves to a new race team in the upcoming season at Spire Motorsports and the No. 71 Chevrolet. Zane Smith would drive this car last year to just four Top-10 finishes and a 30th-place points finish. McDowell will have his work cut out elevating this team, but his 501 Cup Series starts of experience and two-career victories should be up to the task. Expect McDowell's stats to stay flat over 2024, but this team will definitely get a boost from his presence.   
25. Josh Berry – Another of the Stewart Haas Racing expatriates is Berry. The former driver of the No. 4 Ford moves to the storied Wood Brothers Racing and the No. 21 Ford team in 2024. He replaces Harrison Burton in the cockpit of that car. Despite only 48 Cup Series starts of experience, Berry is no young driver. He's 34-years-old and seen a lot of racing action before making it to NASCAR's top level. With close to 100-career Xfinity Series starts to his credit and five victories in that division, Berry has proven his skill in the lower divisions of NASCAR but it hasn't translated to the Cup Series just yet. He'll look to make a big impression racing in the No. 21 Ford in 2025. Despite stealing a win in the summer Daytona race last season, this team largely floundered under Burton for the past three seasons. You have to go back to the two season's Matt DiBenedetto piloted this car to find any real degree of success. We're not certain Berry can get them back to that level, but they should be improved under Berry's driving.
26. Shane van Gisbergen – After a 12-race slate in 2024, van Gisbergen is ready to go full-time Cup Series racing in the upcoming season. In addition to his Cup action last year the Kiwi got in a full Xfinity slate, grabbing three victories and 10 Top-10 finishes en route to a respectable 12th-place points finish. Van Gisbergen will run for Rookie of the Year and compete in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. He'll team with crew chief Stephen Doran and the two will look to make a good bid for ROTY honors against Riley Herbst. Van Gisbergen is a wildly talented road course driver, but he's still learning the ropes on NASCAR ovals. That learning curve will continue to be steep and be the limiting factor in his overall performance. However, the relative newcomer to NASCAR will always be a very dangerous driver in the six road racing events of 2025.
27. Austin Dillon – It was another peculiar season of racing for Dillon and the No. 3 Chevrolet team in 2024. The veteran driver would struggle and only manage five Top-10 finishes in the campaign, but he'd still find the resolve and ability to nab a victory in the summer Richmond race. It was a head scratching season for sure for the veteran Richard Childress Racing driver. It would all add up to a career-worst finish of 32nd-place in the championship standings after his win was penalized for avoidable contact and it would exclude Dillon from the playoffs. This team is trying desperately to get back to 2022 and prior levels of performance for this team. In that direction they have brought in a new crew chief for Dillon this season in Richard Boswell. He is a relative newcomer to the Cup Series crew chief position, but Boswell just led Chase Briscoe to a one-win, nine Top-10 season last year. This team has the potential to forge a rebound campaign in the upcoming season.
28. Ryan Preece – Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing will expand to three teams in 2025 and they're bringing on board Preece to pilot the team's new No. 60 Ford entry. Preece spent the last few seasons racing with the now defunct Stewart Haas Racing team and left that organization upon its closure at the end of this past season. The journeyman driver grabbed five Top-10 finishes en route to a 26th-place finish in the final driver standings with that team last year. Intermediate and especially smaller ovals are Preece's expertise and where he nabs most of his Top 10's. Despite nearly 190 Cup Series starts he's been mired in a certain area of the driver standings and certain levels of performance. Preece will be challenged to break out of that mold with his new race team. That could be a challenge considering the newness of this team, but it could be realized further down the road.  
29. Cole Custer – After a two-season foray into the Xfinity Series, one championship and five victories later, Custer makes a full-time return to the Cup Series in 2025. With the closure of Stewart Haas Racing a new team rises from those ashes. The Haas Factory team will take to the track in the upcoming season. Custer will pilot the team's No. 41 Ford under the guidance of crew chief, Aaron Kramer, and look to keep Gene Haas' presence in NASCAR's top division active and competitive. Engine and other technical support will come from partners at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. There will be a lot of head winds for what is in essence a new race team. Custer has had struggles in his past Cup Series experience (117 starts) and has shown that the transition to NASCAR's top level isn't easy despite all his success in the Xfinity Series. There is potential in this driver/team situation but we're not completely sold that it will happen in 2025.
30. Zane Smith – A successful rookie season now in the rearview mirror, it's time for Smith to set his sights higher in the upcoming season. He collected four Top-10 finishes in his rookie campaign and finished 30th in the final driver standings. Smith would come up short in the ROTY chase but would prove to be a competitive driver for most of the season. Intermediate ovals and road circuits would prove to be Smith's best tracks last season and that should carry forward to his new team. He parted ways with Spire Motorsports and will join Front Row Motorsports in 2025. The team is expanding to a third entry for Smith and will field him in the full schedule. Smith has a boatload of potential and can move up the driver rankings, but the unsettled and new team situation has us a bit reserved about Smith's chances in the upcoming season. He's a driver to monitor closely early in the campaign.   
31. John Hunter Nemechek – Legacy Motor Club had a struggle filled 2024 season. Between their three different teams and four different drivers they could only muster a total of six Top-10 finishes. Nemechek would account for four of those in the No. 42 Toyota. It would amount to a 25.4 average finish for the young driver and a distant 34th-place finish in the final point standings of 2024. This team is certainly on the trail of improving as we go forward. They have brought in veteran crew chief, Travis Mack, to lead Nemechek in the upcoming season. Mack is a veteran of 156 Cup Series races and he led Daniel Suarez to victory lane in 2022. He'll look to give Nemechek good guidance and put this team on a better trajectory in 2025. Those will be big hills to climb. This young driver has loads of potential and he's showed it in multiple Xfinity Series wins, but that success has yet to translate to NASCAR's top division.           
32. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland improved his average finish position by nearly one spot in 2024 but still only grabbed a scant four Top-10 finishes. He stays with Front Row Motorsports but moves to the team's No. 34 Ford entry with the departure of Michael McDowell. Gilliland will team with crew chief Chris Lawson for the upcoming season and they'll look for better results in 2025. The 25-year-old driver now has three full seasons of Cup Series experience under his belt but no better than a 22nd-place finish in the driver standings. Inconsistency down the stretch run of last season would lead to only four Top-20 finishes during the NASCAR playoffs. Road courses have been really his best tracks, so Gilliland will welcome the schedule expansion to six of those events in the upcoming season. Still, he needs to improve his short track and intermediate oval performance so that are the big areas of work ahead. Gilliland faces an ever-increasingly competitive lower tier of the driver field. Gains are going to be measured in inches rather than feet.    
33. Erik Jones – Another tough season of racing at Legacy Motor Club led to just two Top-10 finishes and a distant 28th-place standings finish for Jones last year. Not only were both of those figures career-worst totals but his 22.9 average finish across the campaign was also a career-worst mark. As the old says goes "there's nowhere to go but up from here" but realize it's going to be a tough road forward for this driver and team. Jones signed a contract extension to stay with this team likely through the 2026 season, so he's not going anywhere anytime soon. It's good to see that level of commitment, but uncertainty in this team and its leadership make for a dark forecast for 2025. Jones' best tracks over the last two seasons with this team have been the superspeedways and short tracks. Those are the lone bright spots in what is likely to be another season filled with struggles in 2025.
34. Justin Haley – Haley spent most of last season competing with Rick Ware Racing in the No. 51 Ford. Performance would struggle, so late in the year the two would part ways and Haley would finish the campaign in the No. 7 Chevrolet of Spire Motorsports. The seven races they would run together would see a Top-10 finish at Talladega and Top-20 finish at Las Vegas, but still lack a lot of punch. However, the team was impressed enough to sign Haley to race this car full-time in 2025. All total, Haley would nab three Top-10 finishes and wind up a distant 31st-place in the driver standings. While the full-time move to Spire is a net positive and partnering with crew chief Rodney Childers should be improvements, this small team's limitations will hold Haley back at least for a time. Corey Lajoie never tallied more than three Top 10's and better than a 25th-place points finish with this team during his time at Spire.   
35. Ty Dillon – After a one-season hiatus from full-time competition in the Cup Series, Dillon is back for another full ride in 2025. He takes over the No. 10 Chevrolet of Kaulig Racing and replaces Daniel Hemric at the wheel. The journeyman driver has close to 250-career starts in NASCAR's top division. However, Dillon has always been a tough luck driver that races for small, underfunded teams. This opportunity with Kaulig may be about the best thing to come along for him since his days many years ago with Germain Racing. Still, Dillon has always slotted somewhere between 24th- and 32nd-place in the points and that's a pretty predictable indicator for his 2025 campaign with Kaulig. Hemric piloted this same car to four Top-10 finishes last season and a 29th-place standings finish. Those seem like reasonable marks for Dillon to shoot for in the No. 10 Chevrolet.  
36. Kaz Grala – Grala took on a career-high 24 Cup Series starts last season. He would do all that in the No. 15 Ford of Rick Ware Racing. Grala would nab one Top-15 and three Top-20 finishes last year. RWR is contracting to just one car in the upcoming season so his starts won't approach that number in 2025. Grala will likely see split seat time in the team's No. 51 Ford with Cody Ware getting a healthy dose of the action behind the wheel. He is now 26-years-old and been around NASCAR long enough to be considered a veteran driver at this point. Grala's best tracks last season where the larger ovals and superspeedways. That should remain the case in the upcoming campaign. However, limited seat time will really put a cap on Grala's potential and statistics for 2025.  
37. Cody Ware – The veteran driver made just nine starts all of last season in Rick Ware Racing's No. 15 Ford. Ware was splitting that car with multiple drivers and all he could muster was just nine starts. He should be up for a similar schedule in the coming season in the team's No. 51 Ford as RWR will be contracting to just one entry for 2025. Ware was strong on the superspeedways last season and grabbed his first-career Top-5 finish in the summer Daytona race. He also nabbed a Top-15 in the fall Talladega race and Top-20 finish at the Brickyard. The larger ovals were definitely Ware's sweet spot. That should continue to be the case with this driver and team. Ware will see his fantasy racing value limited to mainly the superspeedway schedule that he takes on, and his limited schedule restricts any further value.   
38. J.J. Yeley – Yeley made eight starts last season with the No. 44 Chevrolet team of NY Racing. That slate and this pattern has been the case for this team the past couple seasons. While no official plans have been announced at the time of this writing, it seems safe to assume Yeley will be behind the wheel for NYR again in 2025 and taking on a similar part-time slate. Half the team's efforts ended in DNF's last season, but Yeley was savvy enough to snare at least a Top-25 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway late in the season. We're likely looking at a similar arrangement, similar schedule and similar performance for Yeley and company in the upcoming season. The part-time schedule and resource issues for this team nullify much of any fantasy racing value they might have based on Yeley's 386 Cup Series starts of experience.  
39. Jimmie Johnson – He was able to patch together nine starts in the Cup Series last season with his team, Legacy Motor Club, and their No. 84 Toyota. The results were pretty lean despite increasing his starts over the 2023 season. The seven-time champion would fail to crack the Top-25 in any of his starts and registered a lowly 30.6 average finish with two DNF's. The focus of Johnson's schedule last season was mainly the intermediate and larger ovals, but the results were difficult to come by. With two seasons of part-time competition now under Johnson's belt since his return to NASCAR, it's painfully clear his best days of racing are long gone. Any high aspirations for Johnson's performance are likely misplaced, and he seems to be more exhibition racing than anything at this point in his career.                        
40. B.J. McLeod – McLeod ran a part-time schedule of just seven events last season with Live Fast Motorsports. It was a career-low mark of starts for the veteran driver. McLeod would manage just one Top-20 and two Top-25 finishes in those efforts and accumulate a 28.3 average finish. The team will likely run a similar schedule with the veteran driver in the upcoming season. The emphasis of the schedule will be superspeedways and the spring Charlotte race. With close to 150 Cup Series starts of experience McLeod is a seasoned driver, but his lone pair of Top 10's during that time speak to the headwinds he faces driving for small teams. He'll likely struggle to have much impact in the 2025 campaign with the No. 78 Chevrolet team.