2025 NASCAR Power Rankings, Week 17: Pocono

After a trip south of the border that saw rain and tempers flare, Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen proved his debut Chicago victory in 2023 was no fluke by blistering the field in the final stage, scoring his second career Cup Series victory in Mexico City.

Despite the victory, SVG won’t find himself on our list this week as his body of work is simply not enough to breach the top-10 drivers.

While there wasn’t much of a change at the very top, some familiar names find themselves back on the list for the first time in a few weeks while others fell out the bottom after their international travels went awry.

Without any further ado, let’s get into the rankings!

1. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 1)

Last Four Races: 36th, 16th, 3rd, 1st

Jey: Denny Hamlin did not race this past week in Mexico due to the birth of his third child and first son. Last time we saw Dennis on track, he told us once again how he “beat our favorite drivers”.

Denny will be back behind the wheel of his #11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE at Pocono this weekend, a track where he holds the all-time wins record with seven. He will surely be looking to pick up right where he left off and get back into victory lane for the fourth time this year.

2. Christopher Bell (Last Week: 3)

Last Four Races: 1st, 37th, 8th, 2nd

Tanner: A run of mediocre results for the 20 team saw them slide from the top in our rankings last week, but this team showed why they’re capable of winning a title by flying up from the back of the grid to notch a silver-medal showing on the NASCAR podium in Mexico.

With the wind possibly back in Bell’s sails, this No. 20 squad could be setup well to compete this weekend in Pocono where he’s finished no worse than 12th in the NextGen era.

3. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 2)

Last Four Races: 37th, 8th, 5th, 36th

Jey: Kyle Larson’s bad luck crept in outside of the United States when his day was ruined by Kyle Busch locking his brakes up on the slick track in Mexico City before the race even reached lap 10. The 5 team rallied to get a point for the fastest lap after making repairs, a small return on their trip south of the border.

Larson will look to finally rebound from the terrible luck and lack of winning pace that has plagued the 5 crew since their ill-fated Double run as we head to Pocono.

4. William Byron (Last Week: 4)

Last Four Races: 2nd, 5th, 28th, 9th

Tanner: The traditional summer skid that the 24 team tends to go on this time of year might be subsided for another week as Byron ran quite possibly the most aggressive race of his career. Byron plowed through multiple competitors after starting near the back of the grid in Mexico before finishing ninth.

That said, Byron lost traction in his Valvoline Chevy coming through the tunnel turn on his qualifying lap and crashed into the short-chute wall, forcing him to the back of the grid at Pocono. Byron currently holds the best average finish in the series at the Tricky Triangle, so it should come as no surprise if he finds himself up front.

5. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 5)

Last Four Races: 38th, 1st, 32nd, 14th

Jey: Ryan Blaney flashed great pace in Mexico City, but his team seemed to throw away a possible top-5 finish chasing stage points. Had the 12 team followed the strategy that race winner Shane Van Gisbergen employed, they would have been in a much better position for the end of the race.

Instead, Blaney used up his stuff trying to fight his way through the field and ended up fading to 14th place. Blaney will look to reignite his momentum as we head to Pocono where he got his first career win back in 2017 with the Wood Brothers and a track where he is the defending winner.

6. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 8)

Last Four Races: 6th, 15th, 15th, 3rd

Tanner: Rising from the 12th starting position, Chase Elliott re-established himself as one of the best road course racers in the sport by surging ahead through the rain and chaos to a third-place effort.

The 9 team keep fielding questions about when they will win this season as they currently sit on a 43-race winless drought, but their worries could be assuaged as soon as this weekend after Elliott’s formidable result in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

7. Ross Chastain (Last Week: 6)

Last Four Races: 1st, 11th, 6th, 16th

Jey: Ross Chastain had a pretty eventful time in Sunday’s event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. After showing some pace early, Chastain got spun and spent the rest of the race on the back foot. He managed to recover for a decent 16th-place finish.

Chastain looks to Pocono where he has shown race-winning pace in the past, aiming for the win in 2022 before a late-race scuffle with Denny Hamlin knocked him out of the race. Chastain will be trying to show Trackhouse’s recent uptick in pace is no fluke at the Tricky Triangle.

8. Bubba Wallace (Last Week: 7)

Last Four Races: 35th, 6th, 4th, 12th

Tanner: Though the 23 team started 25th last week in Mexico, Wallace flexed his newly-found road course muscle by deftly navigating the weather and his competition on the way to a 12th-place finish.

It was another in a string of finishes in the month of June that have pulled Bubba and the 23 crew away from the bubble and into serious playoff contention. Now that they roll into a track where they’ve shown speed in the past, the 23 will look to lock themselves into the postseason with a win in Pennsylvania today.

9. Chris Buescher (Last Week: 9)

Last Four Races: 22nd, 14th, 2nd, 10th

Jey: Chris Buescher had a solid day Sunday. Though he failed to score any stage points, Buescher brought home another top-10 as he tries to work his way back into playoff contention after the team’s recent points penalty. Unfortunately for him, that cutline moved again with Shane Van Gisbergen’s win this week.

Buescher heads to Pocono with a trophy in his cabinet from this track, albeit a fog-shortened race in 2016 but a win nonetheless. Buescher has not had a top-10 there since, but after he showed so much pace at Michigan, he has a good chance to change that this weekend.

10. Alex Bowman (Last Week: Not Ranked)

Last Four Races: 29th, 36th, 36th, 4th

Tanner: After his harrowing crash at Michigan, questions swirled around the 48 team and whether their driver would complete the Mexico City race without a relief driver. Fortunately, Bowman gutted out the race and produced a strong performance, finishing fourth after qualifying 29th on Saturday.

This placement represents more of Bowman’s body of work to this point in the season as the 48 grabbed their eighth top-10 through 16 races. They’ll need to keep up this level of performance to stay on the list, but Pocono has been a great track for them as they won the first half of the 2021 doubleheader with a last-lap pass.

Honorable Mentions: Shane van Gisbergen, AJ Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek

(Top Photo Credit: Augusta Chronicle)