2025 NASCAR Power Rankings: Week 22, Dover

With another SVG pole-to-checkers victory in the books, the Cup Series makes the cross-country back to Dover Downs where they’ll face the treacherous 1-mile concrete oval.

At one of the most difficult tracks to get a handle on, it’ll certainly test the consistency and mental fortitude of the sport’s most elite drivers, so we’ll see if this week’s top-10 remains the same after this weekend.

Jey and I reconvened after last week’s experiment, though we may try something similar in the future. For now, let’s take a look at our No. 1 driver, the man that’s occupied the top spot since his third victory at Michigan back in June.

1. Denny Hamlin (Previous Peak: 1)

Last Five Races: 1st, 2nd, 31st, 4th, 20th

Tanner: Our longest sitting number-one driver for over a month, Denny Hamlin missed a race in that time and managed to continue racking up impressive performances, all the way up until this weekend at Sonoma where he languished in the midpack all day before coming home 20th.

Thankfully for Hamlin, the series returns to his playground at the Monster Mile where the 44-year-old veteran is the series’ active wins leader, and I don’t suspect the 13th-place starting spot will hold him back.

2. Kyle Larson (Previous Peak: 1)

Last Five Races: 36th, 7th, 17th, 13th, 35th

Tanner: An up-and-down day at Sears Point ended buried in a valley as Kyle Larson found himself on the receiving end of a John Hunter Nemechek lunge in turn 4 that also collected Ryan Blaney.

Even at courses the 5 team is expected to compete, they’ve been coming up short of competing for victories ever since their disastrous Double attempt. They have an opportunity at Dover to re-establish themselves as title contenders by snagging a win at a track where they’ve contended in the past.

3. Christopher Bell (Previous Peak: 1)

Last Five Races: 2nd, 17th, 30th, 24th, 5th

Tanner: Following a hard-luck weekend in the Windy City, Christopher Bell and company took to the slopes of the Napa Valley where a fresh set of tires in the closing stages reversed the fortunes of a day that looked doomed to mediocrity for much of the afternoon.

The fifth-place finish was a significant sign of life for a team that’s struggled to find race-winning pace since their three-race outburst in the first four races of the season, but a track like Dover lends well to Bell’s dirt background and overall skill set. While I wouldn’t consider him a favorite, he should earn a solid finish.

4. Ryan Blaney (Previous Peak: 3)

Last Five Races: 14th, 3rd, 40th, 12th, 36th

Tanner: Much like all of 2025, Ryan Blaney’s performance do not reflect in his results. The 2023 champion made headway early, quickly hustling the 12 car to the top-5 before losing a game of chicken to Chris Buescher up the hill in stage 3 that ended his chances at contention.

To make matters worse, the aforementioned incident with Larson and Nemchek led to Blaney’s Ford getting clipped by Larson’s spinning Chevy, ruining a perfectly strong race car. Heading into the Monster Mile, Blaney looks to build off of his previous top-10 performances in Delaware’s capital.

5. Chase Elliott (Previous Peak: 5)

Last Five Races: 3rd, 5th, 1st, 16th, 3rd

Tanner: Chase Elliott appears to be batting his usual average this season after getting his hometown win in Atlanta. Essentially, Elliott maintained his ruthless consistency for another week, using a late-race caution to get a fresh set of tires to put himself in position to compete with SVG.

Though he came up short, Elliott made a number of impressive overtakes on his way to a third-place result that continues to bolster the 2020 champion’s average finish. Rolling into the Monster Mile, Elliott should be in for another impressive run that further vaults him up this list.

6. Ross Chastain (Previous Peak: 6)

Last Five Races: 16th, 26th, 33rd, 10th, 24th

Jey: Ross Chastain started in the top-5 in Sonoma this weekend, but the 1 team could only muster a 24th-place finish. Not a very good day when combined with his incidental run-in with outgoing teammate Daniel Suárez.

Chastain turns his attention to Dover, a track he boasts a 5.7 average finish at in the NextGen era and has never finished worse than 12th in this car.

7. William Byron (Previous Peak: 4)

Last Five Races: 9th, 27th, 37th, 40th, 8th

Jey: William Byron logged the day he needed to snap his recent summer skid, qualifying third and finishing eighth and getting involved in no incidents or problems during the race in Sonoma.

Byron heads to the Atlantic coast in hopes of carrying this momentum into a track that has been feast or famine for him in the NextGen where he’s had one top-5 but two finishes outside the top-20 in three starts.

8. Shane van Gisbergen (Previous Peak: 10)

Last Five Races: 1st, 31st, 24th, 1st, 1st

Jey: Shane Van Gisbergen put on the most dominant drive of the year by snagging the pole, finishing the stages second and first despite pitting during both, and handily winning the race despite the field getting several chances late when the melee started.

With this weekend’s performance, SVG moves into a tie for the league-wide win total (three) and moves into third in playoff points with 17 scored, more than Christopher Bell. Shane looks to improve his oval performance with a trip to Delaware this weekend, a track he was able to run 18th at in Xfinity last year.

9. Chase Briscoe (Previous Peak: NR)

Last Five Races: 7th, 1st, 35th, 23rd, 2nd

Jey: Chase Briscoe finally seems to be settling into his own at JGR. From his win at Pocono to his performance in Sonoma where — if not for a certain Kiwi — he would’ve waxed the field in his Bass Pro Shops Camry.

Chase doesn’t have great stats at Dover, but the car he’s in has been outright dominant here in the NextGen era. So, the 19 team will anxiously wait to see if that pace translates to Chase’s driving the way Sonoma did.

10. Alex Bowman (Previous Peak: 6)

Last Five Races: 4th, 11th, 3rd, 8th, 19th

Jey: Alex Bowman had a quiet day in Sonoma, the most notable happening being Ty Dillon moving him in the last corner to advance in the In-Season Bracket Challenge. However, Bowman avoided trouble and brought his Ally Chevrolet home in one piece despite the late-race calamity that collected others around him in points.

Bowman heads to Dover where he’s won before, albeit not in this generation of car. That said, the track seems to suit his driving style, and he’ll be looking to lock himself into the playoffs, assuming he can replicate the pace he and the team has had at the Monster Mile in the past.

Honorable Mentions: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher

(Top Photo Credit: NASCAR Media/Getty Images)