3 top contenders for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship

The first five races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season are done & dusted with a few drivers showing the potential to take home the championship. The first five races included a road course and four ovals, giving a baseline of what the drivers and car performance are like.

While there's still a long way to go in the season, fans have started selecting their favorites to win the championship this time around. Let's have a look at the Top 3 contenders for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship, detail their performance in the first five races, and look at their potential in the remainder of the season.

#3 Joey Logano

Joey Logano, just like the 2024 Cup series season is arguably going to be the dark horse for the current season. The Team Penske driver is currently P8 in the championship and is 71 points adrift of the NASCAR championship leader with only 1 stage win.

NASCAR: Cup Practice and Qualifying - Source: Imagn

However, Logano has led more laps than any other driver on the grid at 247 laps. The 2024 championship hasn't scored a single Top 5 result yet and crashed out at the Daytona 500. But the 34-year-old had a similar start to the 2024 season and delivered the result and won the races when it mattered.

Rick Mast explained how Team Penske has oriented their NASCAR program to perform when it matters as he said,

“We know what the playoff rules are all through the season. And it all gears towards the last four, the last few races. Penske, at the end of these deals, their cars turn and they hook up the gas. They're just dominant cars, you know, at the last few races of the championship, it's the way it is now.”

“I think Joey personally, I think as a driver, I think he steps it up a level. And I think the team probably understands maybe that it does. So the team has to step it up a little,” he added

Logano won only one race during the regular season which was enough to qualify him for the playoffs, and then the Team Penske driver went on to win three races in the playoffs and took the championship home.

#2 William Byron

William Byron came out as the NASCAR championship leader after the first five races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series. The Hendrick Motorsports driver currently sits on 207 points and has scored the most stage points of all the drivers on the grid (58).

Byron has led 110 laps, has one win, one stage win, three Top 5s, and four Top 10 finishes in five races. This points to the fact that the HMS driver is consistent, has the pace to run in the lead pack and prioritizes a good haul of points rather than recklessly pushing for a win.

This is arguably the reason why William Byron is leading the championship despite Christopher Bell having more race wins than the HMS driver.

#1 Christopher Bell

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver shook everyone with his form in the first five races as Christopher Bell won three consecutive races, that too on different styles of circuits. The #20 Toyota crossed the chequered flag in P1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas, and Phoenix Raceway.

NASCAR: Shriners Children's 500 - Source: Imagn

Christopher Bell is currently 2nd in the NASCAR championship behind William Byron. The JGR driver has struggled with the qualifying this year, but his Toyota has the pace to pass the cars, get in the lead pack, and then take the win by the end of the race. As a result, Bell hasn't scored enough stage points and is behind Byron in the championship.

However, when it comes to the playoff races, winning the overall race is all that matters, and the raw pace in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will go a long way for Bell.