Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race turned out to be the most straight forward contest of 2025. Limited cautions allowed strategies to fully play out and the best drivers/cars moved their way to the front. The Straight Talk Wireless 400 might have lacked some of that chaos factor that has become typical for the average Cup Series race. However, it filled in that gap with solid intermediate racing. For many, this is what NASCAR should be most weeks, especially on intermediates. Overall, an enjoyable race that might serve as a preview for next year’s Championship Race. As for the FitStop Performance 2025 Week 6 Power Rankings, the race still offered some surprises to jostle the leaderboard up. Week 5 saw a new number 1, what will this week have in store?
#10 – Josh Berry
Previous Ranking: Honorable Mention
For the first time in Pit Pass Network’s Power Rankings, the Wood Brothers driver makes an appearance inside the Top-10. After picking up the Las Vegas win last week, Josh Berry cracks into the rankings. Initially, the day looked to be promising after Berry qualified second and finished Stage 1 in 8th. However, pit road again caused trouble as Berry got knocked around by Joey Logano while exiting. Despite the adversity, the 21 managed a Top-20 finish while running Top-15 on average.
#9 – Chase Elliott
Previous Ranking: 7
Is Chase Elliott the fourth Hendrick driver right now? While William Byron and Kyle Larson have been ahead of Elliott for the past 2 seasons, the start of the 2025 season looks to have Alex Bowman ahead too. It has been an underwhelming kick off to the year, although Elliott sits 6th in points. Still, Elliott fails to run upfront and has been mired in the teens over the past 3 races. Yes, a pit road penalty hurt this team. However, the 9 car should be able to bounce back from it and they failed to do so at Homestead.
#8 – Tyler Reddick
Previous Ranking: 4
Dropping 4 spots after a Top-10 might seem extreme, but it is tight for the middle section of these power rankings. Tyler Reddick could be considered one of the disappointments of Sunday’s race. After his impressive win last fall, Reddick was considered one of the favorites. However, the 45 never factored into the running for the win. Most of the race, Reddick ran outside the Top-10. The final stint saw the 45 run Top-10 to the end, but it was certainly not the race that many expected.
#7 – Chris Buescher
Previous Ranking: 8
Another week, another grind to a Top-10 finish. Chris Buescher continues to the be the steadying force at RFK Racing. Scott Graves and the 17 team do wonders adjusting the car throughout the race to bring the long run speed at the end. The issue of stage points still hurts Buescher in points. Despite holding the 4th best average finish, Buescher sits 9th in points behind the driver with the 20th best average finish.
#6 – Ryan Blaney
Previous Ranking: 6
Ryan Blaney maintains his spot in the power rankings despite his third straight DNF. Although the DNF is not great, Blaney arguably had the best car on Sunday (for 200 laps). Prior to the death of the engine, the 12 car led the most laps and won Stage 1. Not only was the car good out front, it managed the dirty air well. After a bad pit road sequence during the final stage break put him deeper in the running order, Blaney drove through the field to run third prior to green flag pit stops. What could have been if the engine remained intact for that final stint.
#5 – Alex Bowman
Previous Ranking: 9
When will Alex Bowman find himself off the theoretical hot seat at Hendrick Motorsports? Despite being the only driver with 5 Top-10s, the feeling is that Bowman could be on the way out of Hendrick Motorsports sooner rather than later. However, strong runs like the one at Homestead could help quiet those silly season rumors. Bowman nabbed the pole with an impressive lap under cloud coverage on Saturday. That foreshadowed the great day he had in the Straight Talk Wireless 400. Leading 43 laps, Bowman lost the race after making contact with the Turn 4 wall.
#4 – Denny Hamlin
Previous Ranking: 5
Although the start of the race did not look great for Denny Hamlin, the long run pit strategy certainly benefitted the 11 team. After running in the teens during Stage 1, Chris Gayle decided to pit well after the majority of the field did. That boosted Hamlin into the Top-10, where he remained through the end of the race. Utilizing this same strategy in Stage 2, Hamlin managed to pick up the stage win. Hamlin almost missed out on his second Top-5 of the year with a faster Buescher in his mirror. However, he managed to cut the air off the 17’s nose to hold the position.
#3 – Christopher Bell
Previous Ranking: 2
From 3 straight wins to 2 weeks of struggle, Christopher Bell slowly slides down the rankings. At tracks where he should have been potentially dominate, Bell has faced struggles. On Sunday, the self-inflicted incident on Lap 71 took the 20 out of competition. Spinning off of Turn 4, Bell damaged the car beyond repair for a quality run. For the remainder of the race, Bell became a back marker of the field.
#2 – Kyle Larson
Previous Ranking: 3
Kyle Larson moves up to the second spot this week after winning on Sunday. Unlike most of his Cup wins, Sunday’s race did not see Larson dominate the field. While he ran Top-3 most of the afternoon, Larson only ended up leading 19 laps enroute to victory. However, he found the race winning speed when it mattered most. Passing Alex Bowman for the win with 7 to go, the 5 car was able to rip the highline better than most.
#1 – William Byron
Previous Ranking: 1
Maintaining the top spot in the Week 6 Power Rankings is William Byron. Although Byron did not establish himself upfront this race, he did enough to hold onto the number 1 ranking. The 24 had a Top-5 car, but a late race penalty forced Byron to the back. During the final run, Byron almost returned to the Top-10. However, he would have to settle for a 12th place finish. Still, Byron holds the best average finish in the Cup Series as he heads to Martinsville to pull off the Xfinity/Cup sweep.
Honorable Mention
Joey Logano – Barely surpassed by his Wood Brothers affiliated teammate, Joey Logano remains in the honorable mentions after again not picking up his first Top-10 of the season.
Bubba Wallace – After weeks of solid runs being spoiled at the end, Bubba Wallace finally managed to finish where he raced. In addition, Wallace led the second most laps (56).
Ryan Preece – Ryan Preece features in the honorable mention section after securing his second straight Top-10 at Homestead.
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