NASCAR energy rankings: Third win retains Christopher Bell on high

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 successful 4 of the primary 5 races. 

(Final week: 2)

Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver William Byron in the course of the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

A poorly-timed yellow flag whereas Byron was on pit highway saved the No. 24 group 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 sphere’s finest guess to interrupt Bell’s successful 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 needs to 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 in the course of the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

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 progressively picked his method by the pack en-route to a seventh-place end on Sunday. The No. 48 group 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 pace after going winless in 2024. He’ll look to snap a 61-race winless streak at his house observe of Las Vegas on March 16.

(Final week: 13)

Mar 9, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Collection driver Chris Buescher in the course of the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

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 competition when it mattered most. Whereas he wasn’t capable of outduel Bell on the race’s last restart, Phoenix was a transfer in the proper path for a No. 11 group 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 in the course of the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

Saturday’s observe and qualifying periods had been worrying for the 2021 champion, who was Twenty sixth-fastest in observe and solely certified in seventeenth. Like he at all times does, nevertheless, Larson discovered a strategy to be within the combine late, and had he been extra aggressive when given the chance, he might have earned his first win of 2025. 

(Final week: 5)

A tenth-place end isn’t a nasty consequence by any means, however Elliott’s lack of pace within the first standard race of the season is barely alarming. For a group 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) in the course of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Jamie Harms-Imagn Photos

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, not like the March 2 race at COTA during which he divebombed his method into the primary nook of the race. Las Vegas ought to provide the No. 1 group 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 pace 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 towards driver Ryan Blaney (12) in the course of the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

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 nasty race at Phoenix. For no matter purpose, Penske doesn’t have the identical pace at Phoenix within the spring because it does within the fall, although Blaney probably doesn’t thoughts. 

(Final week: 9)

For the primary time this season, McDowell and the No. 71 group 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 sphere. After two blown tires, the No. 71 limped house in twenty seventh. Regardless of his poor consequence 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 Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

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 pace each weekend to date, and is a strong darkish horse choose because the circuit heads to Las Vegas. 

(Final week: Not ranked)

By means of 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 useless final in factors amongst full-time drivers in 2024, the No. 42 group has come out of the gates robust 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) in the course of the Shriners Youngsters’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Photos

Berry is simply 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 pace this yr. One other good run at Las Vegas could be an ideal signal because the No. 21 group makes an attempt to claw itself into the playoff image.