NASCAR Power Rankings shift as Denny Hamlin secures first 2025 Cup win before Darlington

Modified Apr 01, 2025 13:46 GMT

NASCAR: NASCAR Cup Series Race at Martinsville - Source: Imagn

After 500 laps last Sunday at the Martinsville Speedway, seven races in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season have been completed. The seventh race saw Denny Hamlin power his #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory for the first time this season.

Hamlin's Martinsville win prompted a shift in this week's power rankings. However, there are still a few familiar names at the top. Here, let's take a look at who has the momentum heading into Darlington.

#5 Denny Hamlin

After a dominant Martinsville win, there's no denying Denny Hamlin a spot on this week's power rankings. The driver of the #11 led a race-high 274 of 500 laps en route to his first win of the 2025 season.

Hamlin has put together a stretch of solid finishes as he finished fifth at Homestead last week and runner-up at Phoenix three weeks ago. The Chesterfield, Virginia native also won stages at both Homestead and Martinsville. With a new primary sponsor in Progressive on the hood, Hamlin has heated up over the last two weeks.

#4 Bubba Wallace

NASCAR: Cup Practice and Qualifying - Source: Imagn

After a difficult start to the season, Bubba Wallace has knocked on the door of victory in the last two weeks. The driver of the #23 23XI Racing Toyota failed to finish top five in any of the first five races but has since strung back-to-back third-place runs together.

Wallace finished third at Homestead last week and posted another third at Martinsville on Sunday. Sitting eighth in the points standings, Wallace has some of his better tracks coming up, including Talladega, where he won at back in 2021. It could only be a matter of time before Wallace drives into victory lane.

#3 William Byron

William Byron drops back in this week's power rankings after a dismal 22nd-place effort at Martinsville. However, the driver of the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet still remains high on the board given his early-season success.

Byron kicked off the campaign by winning the Daytona 500 for the second straight year. Since then, Byron has finished all but two races inside the top 15. While Martinsville was a setback, expect Byron to find his way back to the top in the coming weeks.

#2 Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell continues to show that he's a championship contender this season. The driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota climbs back up the power rankings after a runner-up finish at Martinsville.

Bell started off the year hot by winning three straight races at Atlanta, CoTA, and Phoenix. Yet, back-to-back finishes outside the top 10 dropped him down in the power rankings. Now, after a second-place effort on Sunday, Bell looks to have found what was missing and is back to form heading into Darlington.

#1 Kyle Larson

On the heels of his first Cup Series victory of the season, Kyle Larson followed up with a fifth-place run at Martinsville. With three top fives in the last four races, the driver of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet tops this week's power rankings.

Sitting second in the points standings, it was only a matter of time before Larson established himself as a championship contender. The 2021 Cup champion might rack off a few more wins in the coming weeks at the likes of Darlington and Bristol, two tracks he's won at before. With momentum on his side, Larson will aim to keep it rolling in the coming weeks.

About the author

John Breeden is a NASCAR content writer at Sportskeeda with over three years of sports journalism experience. His career began back in 2021, when he started writing for The Breeze - a student-run publication at James Madison University that covered a wide variety of collegiate sports. He graduated from JMU in May 2022 with a degree in media arts and design concentrating in journalism. He currently writes for his local publication, the Daily News-Record, in Harrisonburg, VA, where he covers a variety of sports at the high school and collegiate level.

John has been a lifelong NASCAR fan and has followed the sport closely since 2005. He stays informed on motorsports developments through social media, NASCAR.com, and NASCAR podcasts, which help him craft unique and engaging stories. Interviewing Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon at Martinsville Speedway was a career highlight for John, where he wrote about William Byron taking the famed No. 24 car back to the Championship 4.

Beyond motorsports, John enjoys writing about other sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. He believes that NASCAR could reach the global popularity of Formula 1 by expanding its audience with more international races and enhancing its mainstream appeal, just like F1 has done.

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Edited by Shirsh