NASCAR Power Rankings: Where All 36 Cup Drivers Stand After Atlanta

Toby Christie, Joseph Srigley, Zach Evans | Jun 30, 2025

HHP/Blake Harris

Elliott Finally Breaks Through: Third at Mexico City, fifth at Pocono, it was bound to happen. Chase Elliott finally broke a 43-race winless drought with an electric win in the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway. With the win, Elliott also moved to P1 in our weekly rankings. The theme this week is momentum. Brad Keselowski (2nd) at Atlanta and Erik Jones (5th) climbed seven spots this week, more than any driver on the list, due to their recent string of great finishes.

Big Crashes Shake Up the Rankings: A lot of drivers saw their race come to an end on Saturday night as there was a massive 24-car melee in the second Stage of the race. That crash sent shockwaves through our weekly power rankings this week, but Ryan Blaney, who crashed out prior to The Big One, dropped six spots (most of anyone this week) due to his sixth DNF of the season.

RACE RESULTS: Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway

Using an average of rankings between Racing America On SI's Toby Christie, Joseph Srigley, and Zach Evans, here's where all 36 full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers stand heading into this weekend's race at the Chicago Street Course.

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

1. Chase Elliott

Sound the si-reen again, Dawsonville. Chase Elliott moves to the top spot in the weekly rankings after collecting his first win since the ninth race of the 2024 season. With finishes of third, fifth, and first over his last three races, Elliott heads into the Chicago Street Course on a high note. (Previously: 2nd)

2. Chris Buescher

Chris Buescher was in the mix, but the Cinnamon Toast Crunch afficianado was hung out in the fierce battle for the win and separated from his teammate Brad Keselowski. Still, Buescher secured a ninth-place finish, and he has momentum building heading into some road races, which he has shown a penchant for in recent years. (Previously: 3rd)

3. Denny Hamlin

EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) continues to be unkind to Denny Hamlin, knocking the No. 11 out of the race after a 23-car accident at the beginning of Stage 2. The finish outside of the top 30 also knocked him out of the in-season challenge, despite being the No. 1 seed. (Previously: 1st)

4. Erik Jones

Don't sleep on Erik Jones and the No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team. Their Playoff hopes were on life support as Jones was 29th in the championship standings seven races ago. After his latest great finish, a season-best tying fifth-place result, Jones is now 16th in the championship standings and closing in fast on the Playoff cutline. (Previously: 11th)

5. Kyle Larson

Considering he essentially crashed twice, but somehow didn't actually, finishing 17th wasn't a horrendous result for the driver, who has never really been much of a drafting track racer. With misfortunes of others, that 17th-place run was enough to move Larson forward this week. (Previously: 8th)

6. Christopher Bell

Although he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Spring, that provided no advantage to Christopher Bell, who wrecked in the first incident of the evening, leaving him many, many laps down after damage repair. (Previously: 4th)

7. William Byron

The Daytona 500 champion looked to have a car potentially capable of winning Saturday night's Quaker State 400. However, Byron was one of the many, and I mean many, drivers, who were swept up in The Big One in Stage 2. Byron is now also feeling pressure in the regular season championship fight with eight races to go as Chase Elliott cut into his lead this past weekend. (Previously: 5th)

8. Chase Briscoe

There’s not much to say about Chase Briscoe’s evening at EchoPark Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was involved in a massive melee in Stage 2, which never really gave James Small the chance to fix early-race handling issues. (Previously: 7th)

9. Tyler Reddick

Stage Two winner Tyler Reddick finished fourth, the first Toyota across the line, to knock out Kyle Larson in the In-Season Challenge. This sets up a classic #23 vs. #26 showdown between Reddick and Carson Hocevar at Chicago. (Previously: 13th)

10. Alex Bowman

Alex Bowman delivered the race-winning shove to William Byron in the 2024 Daytona 500, and he did the same for Chase Elliott Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway. One of these days, Bowman will get the race-winning shove from one of his teammates in one of these races. Still, a third-place finish was great for Bowman heading into the site of his most recent win -- the Chicago Street Course. (Previously: 16th)

11. Ryan Preece

Any time we exit a superspeedway race and Ryan Preece didn't look like he was auditioning for an Apollo mission, it should be considered a success for the RFK Racing driver. Preece exited Atlanta with yet another top-15 finish as he came home in 15th. (Previously: 9th)

12. Ryan Blaney

Before “The Big One” on lap 69, Ryan Blaney got the worst end of a multi-car incident on lap 57. Unable to continue after a hard shot into the outside wall, Blaney finished last in the 40-car field at EchoPark Speedway. (Previously: 6th)

13. Brad Keselowski

He was so damn close to completely reversing his season. However, a runner-up finish at Atlanta continues the positive momentum for Keselowski and the No. 6 team. There's a chance that Keselowski nukes the Playoff cutline with a previously unexpected win, and if he makes the Playoffs... he could be dangerous. (Previously: 20th)

14. Ross Chastain

The speed has been there more for Ross Chastain and Trackhouse Racing, but the finishes just aren’t playing out for the No. 1 Chevrolet. For a second straight week, Chastain finishes outside the top-25. (Previously: 10th)

15. Joey Logano

Joey Logano led 51 of the race’s first 54 laps before being collected in the massive lap 69 incident, ending his night. Logano finished 36th, losing to Alex Bowman in the In-Season Challenge. (Previously: 12th)

16. AJ Allmendinger

Allmendinger improved on his 14th-place finish at EchoPark Speedway in the spring with a 12th-place effort on Saturday night. Since the bitterly disappointing engine failure just six laps into the race at Kansas, Allmendinger hasn’t finished worse than 21st. (Previously: 19th)

17. Ty Gibbs

Gibbs is the only driver from Joe Gibbs Racing to not visit Victory Lane in 2025, and Saturday was definitely one of his better opportunities. However, after getting shuffled out late in the going, Gibbs could only snag a 14th-place finish. (Previously: 21st)

18. Bubba Wallace

Just when it looked like Bubba Wallace was going to get back in the mix after damage from the lap 57 incident, he spun on lap 185 after getting back on the lead lap. Wallace finished 22nd and finds himself precariously on the playoff bubble with a pair of road course races looming on the horizon. (Previously: 15th)

19. Josh Berry

Berry tied for fast time in qualifying, starting second to Joey Logano on the tiebreaker. They both ended up in the same place - crashed on lap 69 (you’re probably tired of reading that at this point) and finishing 32nd. (Previously: 14th)

20. Carson Hocevar

The Carson Hocevar Experience left the station 30th in the starting lineup, mixed it up with the leaders by the end of the first stage, lost laps behind the wall after the lap 69 melee, raced its way back onto the lead lap and finished 10th. No one has ever accused him of being boring, but this was arguably the most impressive drive of the night in the field of 40. (Previously: 23rd)

21. John Hunter Nemechek

Ran well, but didn't finish there after being caught up in an incident with Shane van Gisbergen late. It was the polar opposite of the good days for JHN in 2025, where you don't hear his name all race when suddenly he appears in the closing laps. Nemechek will look to right the ship this weekend in Chicago. (Previously: 18th)

22. Austin Cindric

Like the rest of his Team Penske teammates, Cindric’s day ended in a DNF. Like Logano, Cindric was collected in the 23-car pile-up on lap 69 and finished 38th. He won the first stage before being tangled up in the massive crash. (Previously: 17th)

23. Zane Smith

The best of the Front Row Motorsports drivers, and the only one to finish on the lead-lap, Zane Smith put together a solid seventh-place finish, after having a shot to win the race in its final laps. A couple of moves made differently, and we could be talking about the No. 38 in the Playoffs. (Previously: 28th)

24. Kyle Busch

Was swept up in The Big One, but was able to finish the race out. However, the damage hampered his car, and Kyle Busch was never really much of a factor. The Richard Childress Racing driver finished, where he's been for seemingly a month, in 21st. (Previously: 24th)

25. Michael McDowell

Michael McDowell and A.J. Allmendinger leaned into the In-Season Challenge during driver intros, getting into a playful scrap before “weighing in” ahead of the race. McDowell didn’t recreate his seven-lap-down rally from earlier this year in Atlanta, but did bounce back from a lap down to finish 18th - although Allmendinger landed the knockout punch in their bracket matchup. (Previously: 22nd)

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

It looked like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was in for a disastrous result after the HYAK Motorsports driver broke a toe link in an incident with Erik Jones. But, his No. 47 team got things fixed, the Mississippi-native got back on the lead lap, and Stenhouse did what he’s done well in the Cup Series: compete for a superspeedway win. A sixth-place finish considering everything that happened? Not bad. (Previously: 30th)

27. Cole Custer

Another great qualifying result for Haas Factory Team, and all things considered, a solid top-20 result. This is another notch in the belt of the No. 41 team, as they look to get their feet under them as a brand-new NASCAR Cup Series team. (Previously: 27th)

28. Shane van Gisbergen

It’s a superspeedway, but Shane Van Gisbergen actually contended for a spot inside the top-five and top-10 for much of the event, until a late-race incident with John Hunter Nemechek broke the toe link on the No. 88 – thus ruining a great finish. (Previously: 25th)

29. Austin Dillon

A top-20 wasn't a bad result considering Austin Dillon was involved in The Big One. However, Saturday's race at Atlanta was a big-time missed opportunity for Dillon. (Previously: 31st)

30. Daniel Suarez

The beacon of optimism that was this weekend’s race at EchoPark Speedway diminished rather quickly when the No. 99 got caught up in that massive wreck at Lap 72. Now, Suarez heads to Chicago and Sonoma hoping to pull a win out of his bag of tricks to get into the playoffs. (Previously: 26th)

31. Ty Dillon

Ty Dillon showed speed earlier in the year at both EchoPark Speedway and Daytona, but didn’t quite have the results to show for it. On Saturday night, the pieces came together and Dillon finished eighth, his first top-10 finish of the year. (Previously: 34th)

32. Justin Haley

Justin Haley was one of the wild cards in contention until flat-spotting his tires spinning down the backstretch after contact from Ty Dillon. Haley lost multiple laps as he was towed back to the pits, and ultimately finished 23rd, three laps down. (Previously: 29th)

33. Noah Gragson

Another driver taken out in the massive wreck at Lap 72, the only reason Noah Gragson scored a top-25 finish was because his Front Row Motorsports team got him back out there on the racetrack. A missed opportunity for Gragson to get a much-needed good result. (Previously: 32nd)

34. Cody Ware

Cody Ware kept his nose clean all race, in what was a carnage-filled event at Atlanta, and at the end of the day, he was rewarded with a season-best finish of 13th. Ware will look to keep pushing forward this weekend in Chicago. (Previously: 35th)

35. Todd Gilliland

Todd Gilliland made it through the major wreck on Saturday night, but the Front Row Motorsports driver found himself getting caught up in the melee later in the race with Riley Herbst. After extensive repairs, the No. 34 finished 27th. (Previously: 33rd)

36. Riley Herbst

Man, just when it looked like Riley Herbst caught a break by missing the huge pile-up on lap 69 and would be poised for his first top-10 finish of the season (maybe even better?), he spun out of turn four and finished 28th, nearly 40 laps down. (Previously: 36th)