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The third race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season wrapped up this past Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas. Christopher Bell was the victor of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix as the driver of the #20 notched back-to-back Cup victories.
Like Bell, a few drivers are off to a hot start to the 2025 campaign. Here, we'll take a look at the top five drivers heading into this Sunday's race at Phoenix in this week's power rankings.
#5 Ryan Blaney
With a 19th-place finish, Sunday's race at COTA didn't exactly go Ryan Blaney's way. However, the driver of the #12 Team Penske Ford sits second in the points standings and has still been one of the strongest drivers in the NASCAR field through three races.
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Blaney scored a fourth-place finish in the second race of the season at Atlanta. With Phoenix coming up, drivers should surely look out for the 2023 champion. In his last six Phoenix starts, Blaney has finished no worse than fifth.
#4 Kyle Busch
On the heels of leading the most laps in Sunday's race and finishing fifth, Kyle Busch is carrying momentum into Phoenix. While Sunday was his first top five of the campaign, the driver of the #8 Richard Childress Racing has been fast in all three races this season.
Even though he crashed out in the Daytona 500, the two-time Cup Series champion was in contention late in the going. The Las Vegas native also wheeled his way to a seventh-place effort at Atlanta in another strong run. If Busch keeps running like he is, it's only a matter of time before he ends that winless drought dating back to midway through the 2023 season.
#3 Tyler Reddick
With a pair of top-five finishes in the first three races of the season, Tyler Reddick is off to a fast start in 2025. The driver of the #45 23XI Racing Toyota posted a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500 and finished third on Sunday at COTA.
Reddick has put together solid runs at Phoenix in the past as he finished sixth in the championship race last season. He has four top 10s at Phoenix with a best finish of third twice, both in the Next Gen era. With momentum to start the season and a decent track record at Phoenix, Reddick will be one to watch this weekend.
#2 William Byron
Not far removed from his Daytona 500 victory to open the season, William Byron put together a strong performance at COTA and scored a runner-up finish behind Christopher Bell. The driver of the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet leads the points standings after three races.
While the Atlanta race saw Byron get crashed out late in the race, he was up in the top five and in the mix to win when it happened. Byron has shown speed from the beginning of the season and will aim to keep it rolling this weekend at Phoenix.
#1 Christopher Bell
With two wins in the first three races of the season, Christopher Bell is the hottest driver on the Cup Series circuit. Scoring back-to-back victories at Atlanta and COTA, Bell undoubtedly tops the power rankings heading into Phoenix.
Bell's strong start to the 2025 campaign could continue into Phoenix as he's the defending winner of the spring race at the 1.0-mile track. With two victories already in the bag, all eyes will be on Bell heading into the fourth race of the 2025 season.
