NASCAR insider picks Joe Gibbs’ star driver as favorite to win 2025 Cup race at Phoenix

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season heads to the Phoenix Raceway for the fourth race of the season, the Shriners Children’s 500. Ahead of the event, NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass shared his prediction, picking the winner, top-five finishes, and longshot to win the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500.

Pockrass picked Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell to take the checkered flag at Phoenix on Sunday, March 9. He is the defending winner of the event and has scored two top-five and six top-10 finishes at a one-mile tri-oval track. He will start from 11th position in the 37-driver field on Sunday.

Rounding out Pockrass’s top-five predictions are Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott. He also picked Chris Buescher as a longshot prospect. Buescher will start from the 13th position.

Pockrass wrote on X:

“My pick for Phoenix: Christopher Bell ... top-5: Bell Reddick Byron Blaney Elliott ... longshot: Buescher Today ET 2-FS1-NASCAR RaceDay 3:41-FS1-Cup green, stages 60-125-127, 7 sets hard primary, 2 sets soft option, fuel 97-107”

Christopher Bell is in red-hot form as he is coming off a back-to-back win at Phoenix. If he wins, he will be the first driver to win three straight races in the Next Gen era.

Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson are also the top favorites to win the Shriners Children’s 500. Blaney and Larson will start 12th and 17th on Sunday.

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Kevin Harvick also picks Christopher Bell to win the 2025 NASCAR Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix

The 2014 Cup Series champion-turned-commentator Kevin Harvick picked Christopher Bell, the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver, as a favorite to win his third consecutive race this week.

In the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, when his co-host Kaitlyn Vincie asked him to give his prediction for this weekend’s Phoenix Spring race, Harvick picked the #20 JGR driver and said:

“I'm going to go, I'm going to stick with Bell. I just think they're on a heater right now. And, you know, I think they've been rolling through pretty well. And when you have that confidence in a guy like Bell, I think that that just keeps building. And I think that that continuity between the team is going to go a long way for them to start the season.” [1:02:20]

Catch NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams in action at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday at 3:30 pm ET. Fans can witness the 312-mile NASCAR Cup Series race on FS1.