The final Best of the Rest for the 2025 season is now in the books. Starting at Daytona in February, we have taken a look at the hidden gems in the field for each of NASCAR’s premier series each week. Whether it be a solid run by a team grinding away each week, a ringer on the road courses, or a driver who was in desperate need of a good run…this season has provided plenty of surprises buried beneath the playoff chaos.
This all being said, all three of NASCAR’s series crowned champions in Phoenix last weekend, with final champions being named coming down to the wire. These are the drivers that flew high in the shadows of the playoff contenders.
See you all for what is sure to be an exciting BoTR season in 2026!
2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race
Race Winner: Corey Heim
2025 Champion: Corey Heim
#41 Tyler Reif: The biggest surprise of the weekend was Tyler Reif. An experienced competitor in the ARCA Menards East, West, and national series, Reif made his CTS debut in Phoenix. He didn’t disappoint in his debut with Niece Motorsports, driving their #41 Chevrolet to a 9th-place finish after starting 13th.
The result was impressive for Reif, who had never raced on a national stage like Phoenix. He finished second in the 2025 ARCA Menards Series East points, with four wins in eight events.
For the Niece Motorsports #41 team, it was their best run since Josh Bilicki finished 6th at the Charlotte ROVAL.
Photo Credit: Jayski and Niece Motorsports#42 Matt Mills: Following a few spots behind his debuting teammate, Niece Motorsports’ Mills also had an impressive showing in Phoenix. Starting his Chevrolet from the 33rd spot, Mills ran a solid race, and finished the 2025 season with a strong 11th-place finish.
Mills, who entered his second full-time season with Niece Motorsports in 2025, had an up and down season in the shadows of the playoffs. The Niece driver did shine many times throughout the season, including finishes of 9th (Watkins Glen) and 7th (Charlotte).
#7 Stefan Parsons: Parsons, a journeyman driver who has seen seat time in both trucks and Xfinity in 2025, had a convincing run with Spire Motorsports via their #7 team. Following an 11th-place qualifying effort, Parsons led four laps during the event and brought the Spire entry home 12th.
Parsons made six truck starts in 2025, with the previous five being with Young’s Motorsports in their #20 and #02 Chevrolets. Parson’s best run with Young’s came in Texas, where he finished 12th.
2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race
Race Winner: Jesse Love
2025 Champion: Jesse Love
#18 Justin Bonsignore: Following his strong run in Martinsville, Bonsignore returned to fill in for a recuperating William Sawalich in Phoenix. Bonsignore’s performance proved Whelen Modified Series veteran deserves a full-time Xfinity ride, starting the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13th and collecting another 10th-finish.
Bonsignore made nine starts in JGR’s #19 and #18 Toyotas in 2025, and captured top ten finishes in both Martinsville and Phoenix, as well as a 12th-place finish in Iowa.
#25 Harrison Burton: Burton joined AM Racing in 2025, with hopes of rebuilding both his career and the team’s itself. While Burton and crew certainly saw their share of challenges in 2025, the duo narrowly missed making a full playoff run. With Burton announcing he is moving on next season, Burton’s swan song with AM Racing resulted in an 11th-place finish after starting 12th.
Burton will wrap up the season with 2 top fives, 10 top ten finishes, one pole, and a 12th-place points finish. Burton will likely be moving his efforts to Sam Hunt Racing and the Toyota camp in 2026, while AM Racing will likely sell off their team and not return.
#41 Ryan Sieg: Sieg received an opportunity he could not refuse for the final start of the season in Phoenix. Getting the call to replace a suspended Sam Mayer in the Haas Factory Team #41 Ford. While the end result was not one to write home about (37th after being taken out by a lap 153 accident not of his making), Sieg qualified 10th and looked to have a legitimate chance to win in the #41 before the accident.
For Sieg, who runs his own #39 Ford with his family owned RSS Racing team, 2025 was a season of missed opportunity after almost making the 2024 playoffs. While the performance dropped somewhat, there were many bright spots including top five runs in Phoenix, Pocono, and Indianapolis.
Sieg in the HFT #41 Ford in Phoenix. Photo Credit: Jayski and James Gilbert/Getty Images
Honorable mention also goes to Sieg’s brother Kyle Sieg. Replacing his brother in the #39 RSS Ford, Kyle started 17th and finished 12th. Typically in the team’s second #28 Ford, Kyle Sieg has one top ten finish that came in the second Atlanta race.
2025 Cup Series Championship Race
Race Winner: Ryan Blaney
2025 Champion: Kyle Larson
#6 Brad Keselowski: 2025 may be a season that RFK Racing as a whole would like to put in the rearview mirror. For team co-owner Keselowski, his #6 Ford struggled to find speed and good luck for much of the season. Phoenix offered us a glimpse of the old RFK team, with Keselowski finishing 2nd, even leading six laps late in the event.
Phoenix was the RFK co-owners best run since a pair of 10th-place finishes in Las Vegas and Talladega. A championship contender in 2024, Keselowski finishes 2025 16th in the standings with six top five finishes.
Photo Credit: Jayski and Christian Petersen/Getty Images
#8 Kyle Busch: Much like Keselowski, veteran Busch struggled to find good results much of the season, failing to find victory lane in 2025. Busch’s performance in the season finale however, showed that the #8 Richard Childress Racing crew still had some fuel in the tank. Rolling off in 11th, Busch ran up front throughout the event and finished 5th.
Late in 2025, team owner Childress replaced Busch’s crew chief Randall Burdett with Andy Street. Street, who called the shots for RCR’s #33 part-time team, made somewhat of a difference. In the season’s last four events, Busch finished 8th (Vegas), 19th (Talladega), 13th (Martinsville), and 5th in Phoenix.
#7 Justin Haley: Haley’s return tenure with Spire Motorsports comes to an end following the 2025 season. Having extremely mixed results much of the year, Haley’s performance in Phoenix shows he still can compete. Qualifying 29th, Haley had one of his better finishes of the year and came home 14th in his Chevrolet.
With it being confirmed that Haley will not return to Spire in 2026, he closes his Spire Motorsports return finishing 31st in the standings with one top five finish. Haley’s most recent top five came in Daytona, where he finished 3rd.
Haley has already signed a deal with Kaulig Racing to run trucks in 2026, welcoming back the RAM brand in one of the five factory-backed teams.