Week Twenty-Eight - 2025 StatChat Power Rankings After WWT Gateway

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By Adam Carabine

With the Cup Series playoffs starting, Power Rankings will now follow only the 16 playoff drivers (even after they’re eliminated) for the rest of this season.  

While finishing position is important, it’s not always indicative of the full picture.  StatChat rankings are determined using a large number of statistical inputs, with an emphasis placed on the most recent 5 races.

Josh Berry – This week: 35 – Last week: 27

Berry has another unlucky week and finishes last in the two opening playoff races.  He’s not mathematically in must-win territory for Bristol, but he’s as good as toast if he can’t get it to victory lane this Saturday evening. 

Alex Bowman – This week: 26 – Last week: 24

Bowman might be faring better than Berry, but he’s still in a dire spot heading to the cutoff race in Bristol this week.  P26 at WWT, and he’s got 35 pts to make up to the cut line. 

Austin Cindric – This week: 23 – Last week: 22

Cindric currently is 11 points to the good on the cut line, but that’s far from comfortable.  It wasn’t his best showing at WWT, where he finished P19, but he’ll be hoping that others falter at Bristol and he can capitalize on their mistakes.

Austin Dillon – This week: 18 – Last week: 18

No one really expected Dillon to even make the playoffs, and now he’s here only 11 points out from the cut line.  RCR seems to have taken a big step backward lately, so it’s actually a pretty impressive feat for him to still be in the conversation. 

Chase Elliott – This week: 16 – Last week: 19

Chase Elliott rebounds after a rough opening round finish at Darlington, with a P3 at WWT.  He led a few laps, earned points in both stages, and now heads to Bristol +23 to the cut line.  It wasn’t the smoothest of paths, but he should be okay at Bristol, barring any unforeseen calamity early.

SVG – This week: 12 – Last week: 11

Surprisingly, SVG has still looked quite a bit better at ovals as of late.  Obviously he’s a threat on any road course now, but his results in the first two races of the playoffs don’t necessarily tell the story of his oval improvements.  He’ll need to make up 15 points on the cutline at Bristol to advance.

Ross Chastain – This week: 10 – Last week: 5

Not a great showing for Ross Chastain or Trackhouse Racing at WWT this past weekend.  While Chastain had built himself a lead coming into the race, he now is only 19 points to the good, and will need everything to go well at Bristol this week in order to advance.

Joey Logano – This week: 9 – Last week: 12

A much-needed Top 5 at WWT for the reigning champion to salvage his first round of the playoffs puts Logano +21 to the good heading to Bristol.  He had some pace in that 22 car last weekend, and has historically been quite good at short tracks.  He might be a safe bet to move on to the next round.

Bubba Wallace – This week: 8 – Last week: 15

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the playoff field, Bubba Wallace goes back-to-back with Top 10s at Darlington and WWT, setting him up for a solid +50 heading into Bristol.  He should be able to make it through to the next round.

Christopher Bell – This week: 7 – Last week: 7

Bell had one of the fastest cars at WWT, and managed a P7 finish.  He had the most quality passes of anyone in the field, and he’s 32 points up on the cut line heading to the elimination race at Bristol this weekend.

Tyler Reddick – This week: 6 – Last week: 4

Reddick has had some moments of great speed in the playoffs.  Unfortunately for him at WWT, that didn’t translate to a great result, due to being on a differing strategy than the winner.  However, his runner-up finish the week prior at Darlington sets him up with a +37 buffer to the cut line.

William Byron – This week: 5 – Last week: 3

William Byron has had some decent speed in his 24 car, but has also finished outside of the Top-10 in both playoff races so far.  He’ll need to clean up a few things for the next round, but should be safely in with a +39 to the line right now.

Denny Hamlin – This week: 4 – Last week: 10

Hamlin earns a solid victory at WWT and locks himself into the next round.  He didn’t always have the fastest car on the track, but he made it count when he needed to.  He also led the most laps of anyone, and earned the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race.

Kyle Larson – This week: 3 – Last week: 9

Larson is as good as locked into the next round without being officially mathematically clinched.  He’s +60 to the good heading to Bristol.  He can thank his regular season numbers for giving him a good buffer, as he also hasn’t actually finished in the Top 10 yet this playoffs.

Chase Briscoe – This week: 2 – Last week: 2

Chase Briscoe’s been the best driver of the playoffs so far, with a win at Darlington and a P2 at WWT.  He’d be locked in on points if he didn’t have the win already too.  If you’re still doubting his fit at the 19 team with Joe Gibbs Racing, you might never change your mind at this point!

Ryan Blaney – This week: 1 – Last week: 1

With our Power Rankings taking the most recent five races as the heaviest influence on the formula, Ryan Blaney is a no-brainer at the top spot again.  Four of his last five starts are in the Top 6, and one of them is a win at Daytona.  He’s comfortably +42 to the good heading into Bristol. 

Biggest Movers

Brad Keselowski – This week: 17 – Last week: 8

Falls 9 places

Bubba Wallace – This Week: 8 – Last Weekend 15

Gains 7 places

Best of the Rest:

11.	Ryan Preece	LW: 6	-5
13.	Chris Buescher	LW: 14	+1
14.	Erik Jones	LW: 13	-1
15.	JH Nemechek	LW: 16	+1
17.	Brad Keselowski	LW: 8	-9
19.	Ty Gibbs	LW: 23	+4
20.	AJ Allmendinger	LW: 20	--
21.	Daniel Suarez	LW: 17	-4
22.	Kyle Busch	LW: 21	-1
24.	Todd Gilliland	LW: 25	+1
25.	Carson Hocevar	LW: 26	+1
27.	Michael McDowell	LW: 31	+4
28.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	LW: 30	+2
29.	Zane Smith	LW: 28	-1
30.	Cole Custer	LW: 29	-1
31.	Justin Haley	LW: 32	+1
32.	Cody Ware	LW: 35	+3
33.	Ty Dillon	LW: 34	+1
34.	Noah Gragson	LW: 33	-1
36.	Riley Herbst	LW: 36	--