NASCAR releases updated power rankings ahead of Atlanta

With the 2025 Daytona 500 in the books, the NASCAR Cup Series Power Rankings have been updated ahead of this weekend’s race in Atlanta, courtesy of NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola.

William Byron was victorious in The Great American Race, winning for the second consecutive season after rain made for a dicey afternoon on Sunday in Florida. The Hendrick Motorsports star survived a massive wreck on the final lap, propelling from outside the top five to the lead on the backstretch, and leading the way to the finish line.

He’s certainly among the top contenders in the Cup Series moving forward, but who will challenge him? With the Ambetter Health 400 on the docket for this coming weekend, check out where the top drivers in NASCAR stand at the moment.

1) William Byron (+5)

Back-to-back Daytona 500 victories for William Byron. An incredible feat for the Hendrick Motorsports star, as he returned to Victory Lane on Sunday evening after surviving a massive wreck on the final lap.

After winning two Daytona 500s in a row, can Byron go back-to-back to start 2025? He won at Atlanta in 2022 and 2023, so it’s not out of the question that the No. 24 could start the season off with two wins in a row.

2) Ryan Blaney (-1)

Ryan Blaney is always a threat at super-speedway tracks, especially Daytona. He won a stage and made some awesome moves throughout the race, but he fell just short of getting a top five, finishing P7 when the checkered flag waved.

Over the course of his career, Blaney has been awesome at Atlanta, and even more so over the last few seasons. The Team Penske wheelman finished P2 and P3 at the track last season, so we’ll see if he can elevate to the top spot in 2025.

3) Joey Logano (-1)

Joey Logano had some beef with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after the Daytona 500, and many aren’t happy with the three-time champion following a wreck that took out some major contenders late in the game. P35 isn’t what the reigning champion had on his bingo card after the season-opening race for the Cup Series, that’s for sure.

The good news for Logano? He’s been awesome at Atlanta over the past couple of seasons. He has wins at the track in 2023 and 2024, the latter coming during the Round of 16 last year. He can clinch a spot in the playoffs with another win this time around.

4) Tyler Reddick (+1)

Tyler Reddick wasn’t exactly a major factor throughout the Daytona 500, but he found himself in the mix at the end of the race. He survived the last-lap crash by following William Byron, riding the wave to a runner-up finish on Sunday evening.

The reigning regular-season champion will be hoping to notch another solid performance to start the season, and Atlanta is on the docket. He finished P6 at the track last season, so there’s some merit to believing he can get the job done.

5) Denny Hamlin (-1)

Denny Hamlin had a shot at his fourth Daytona 500, but he came up short on the final lap of the race. He was battling Austin Cindric for the lead, but Hamlin ended up wrecked and finishing P24 when it was all said and done.

Moving ahead of Atlanta, it’s been a while since Hamlin has been to Victory Lane at the track. He won in 2012, but he hasn’t been able to master the reconfiguration yet. Maybe 2025 will be his moment.

Updated NASCAR Power Rankings — Nos. 6-20:

6) Chase Elliott (-3)
7) Austin Cindric (+5)
8) Kyle Larson (-1)
9) Chase Briscoe (+6)
10) Chris Buescher (–)
11) Alex Bowman (+3)
12) Christopher Bell (-4)
13) Daniel Suárez (+6)
14) Ross Chastain (-5)
15) Bubba Wallace (-4)
16) Ty Gibbs (+4)
17) Brad Keselowski (-1)
18) Shane van Gisbergen (-5)
19) Kyle Busch (-2)
20) Michael McDowell (NR)