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With three races completed in the NASCAR Cup Series 2025, the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix looks to deliver further excitement and fierce competition. The season has already given the fans thrilling moments and unexpected performances, and this weekend is expected to provide the same.
Multiple racers have defied expectations in the season so far. Racers like William Byron and Ryan Blaney have started strongly, as expected. The No. 24 Chevrolet became only the fifth racer to win at Daytona 500 in back-to-back seasons, joining racers like Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough. While the 2023 NASCAR Cup winner, Ryan Blaney, is arguably the best racer this season, yet to win. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has also quietly found himself in the top 10 with a strong finish at Atlanta and deserves to be mentioned.
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But the five drivers who have impressed the most in the opening races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series are:
#1 Christopher Bell - Joe Gibbs Racing
With two back-to-back wins in the Ambetter Health 400 and at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Christopher Bell has had the strongest start to the 2025 season. He started in the worst possible way with a DNF in the Daytona 500. He was part of a multi-car crash that ended his race in LAP 192 after going into the barrier from the high line while leading the race.
The JGR No. 20 bounced back with two wins. In Atlanta, he managed to escape last-lap chaos, winning under a caution speeding through on the high line, which was the only lap he led in the race. COTA saw a cleaner win for Bell as he went past Kyle Busch with six laps to go and finished 0.433 seconds ahead of second-placed William Byron. He will look to do the trifecta at Phoenix Raceway, having already won at the raceway last year, and continue his bid to win the maiden Series title this year.
#2 Tyler Reddick - 23XI Racing
Tyler Reddick has superseded expectations, as 2025 is likely to be his best season in the NASCAR Cup Series. He survived the last-lap wreck in Daytona, which took out the leader, Denny Hamlin, and finished second behind William Byron to start the season on a high. In the next race at Atlanta, he finished 19th but bounced back in COTA with a third-place finish behind Bell and Byron.
The No. 45 sits in his Toyota Camry XSE and is 23XI Racing's best bet at the playoffs this season despite being winless at Phoenix in ten starts. After finishing in sixth and fourth in the final NASCAR Championship Standings in the past two years, the 23XI racer will be hoping to reach the final four again this season and win the fall race at Phoenix.
#3 Alex Bowmann - Hendrick Motorsports
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has surprised everyone with his start in the first three races of the season. He has started with a strong sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500 despite the chaotic multi-car crash on the last lap. He also followed it up with a ninth-place finish in COTA, his fifth consecutive top 10 finish at the venue.
The No. 48 driver ended last year on high with a ninth-place finish in the final championship standings and has done exceedingly well to continue that so far. While Bowman has started 19 times at Phoenix Raceway, he has managed to finish in the top 10 twice. He will be looking to better that record and carry on the momentum from the early season on Sunday, March 9.
#4 Michael Mcdowell - Spire Motorsports
Veteran driver Michael McDowell has been racing in the circuit for 17 years and started the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series in excellent form. The No. 71 for Spire Motorsports was expected to be past his prime but remains the only racer who has finished in the top 15 in all three NASCAR Cup races.
McDowell started the season with top 10 finishes in the exhibition races at Bowman Gray and has not looked back since. Few expected the 40-year-old veteran to be eighth in the overall standings ahead of the Shriners Children’s 500. He also begins at a favourable seventh position in Phoenix after hitting the fastest speeds of the evening - 132.523 mph in qualification.
#5 Bubba Wallace - 23XI Racing
Few expected Bubba Wallace to have a satisfactory start in the 2025 NASCAR season after three races. He began poorly in a wreck-filled encounter at the Daytona 500 and finished 29th but rebounded in Atlanta by finishing ninth. He continued his momentum to Austin, where he started in the front row with teammate Tyler Reddick at pole position.
The No. 23 started well, finishing Stage 1 in first position, but had to settle for a P20 finish. Wallace currently sits comfortably at sixth place in the overall standings with 94 points, showing promise for the rest of the season. He will look to match his last race in Phoenix, where he finished in seventh place, and keep fighting for his playoff spot in the remainder of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
