Week Twenty-Four - 2025 StatChat Power Rankings After Watkins Glen

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

By Adam Carabine

A look at the Top Ten in our weekly Power Rankings, plus the biggest movers! 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.

Ryan Preece – This week: 10 – Last week: 12

Preece has been super impressive lately, with an average finish just over P10 in his last five races.  He currently has one more point than reigning champ, Joey Logano – but unfortunately lacks that win to lock himself into the playoffs, and sits 34 points outside the bubble with two races left.

Denny Hamlin – This week: 9 – Last week: 4

While Hamlin made a resurgence recently back into the Top 10 of our Power Rankings with a win at Dover, his most recent performances have left a bit to be desired.  P24 and P25 at the last two races (Iowa and Watkins Glen), and he nearly falls out of our Top 10.

Brad Keselowski – This week: 8 – Last week: 15

Keselowski still needs a win in order to get himself into the playoffs, but he’s certainly been in the conversation lately.  Coming into Watkins Glen he was riding a three-race Top 10 streak.  He may have finished P31 at the WGI this past weekend, but that result didn’t show the entire picture.  He was up front for a lot of the race and even led 5 laps at one point.

Bubba Wallace – This week: 7 – Last week: 6

Bubba Wallace cemented his spot in the playoffs with a win at the Brickyard a few weeks back, but he hasn’t really looked out of place up front since then either.  He’s now on a four-race Top-10 streak, and notably finished P8 at Watkins Glen – a road course which traditionally has not been Wallace’s forte.

Christopher Bell – This week: 6 – Last week: 7

It’s hard to believe that Bell hasn’t won since his three wins in a row at the start of the season.  He’s been in many conversations to win races, but it just hasn’t materialized.  While no one was realistically beating SVG on Sunday, Bell’s P2 at Watkins Glen brings him back up a spot in our Power Rankings, and gives him some much-needed momentum heading closer to the playoffs.

Chase Briscoe – This week: 5 – Last week: 3

There’s an argument to be made that Briscoe has been NASCAR’s hottest driver as of late.  Four of his last five starts were in the Top 5 (including three P2s), and his P18 at Indianapolis came after winning the pole.  He’s been adapting really nicely with his new team this year at Joe Gibbs Racing, and could make a splash in the playoffs.

Ryan Blaney – This week: 4 – Last week: 5

Also certainly in the conversation for a hot driver in the last little while, Blaney is riding his own four-race Top-10 streak.  For the driver who has completed the second-least number of laps this year, he is impressively only about 100 points off of the regular season championship.  If he has found a new gear, watch out for him in the playoffs this year.

William Byron – This week: 3 – Last week: 9

There was a rough stretch there for William Byron, where he was finishing outside of the Top 30 over the course of 3-4 races.  However, a win at Iowa seems to have helped him get his groove back, and he followed it up with a P4 at Watkins Glen.  Byron is a perennial contender, but could this be the year?

Chase Elliott – This week: 2 – Last week: 2

Chase Elliott’s insane streak of Top-20s came to an end at Watkins Glen this past weekend.  He made it 26 straight races (dating back to last season) without finishing outside of the Top 20.  He finished P26 at Watkins Glen, though his performance probably deserved better.  He’s built up enough cache to hold onto the No. 2 spot in our Power Rankings.

SVG – This week: 1 – Last week: 1

Now tied with Denny Hamlin for the most wins on the season, SVG put up another impressive road course victory last weekend at Watkins Glen.  The road course ringer is fresh off of a contract extension with Trackhouse, that will have him thwarting other drivers’ chances at road courses for years to come. 

Biggest Movers

Zane Smith – This week: 34 – Last week: 25

Falls 9 places

Todd Gilliland – This week: 21 – Last week: 30

Gains 9 places

Austin Dillon – This week: 25 – Last week: 34

Gains 9 places

Rest of the List

11.	Alex Bowman	LW: 10	-1
12.	Tyler Reddick	LW: 8	-4
13.	Chris Buescher	LW: 16	+3
14.	Kyle Larson	LW: 11	-3
15.	Kyle Busch	LW: 13	-2
16.	Austin Cindric	LW: 18	+2
17.	Ty Gibbs	LW: 14	-3
18.	JH Nemechek	LW: 17	-1
19.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	LW: 26	+7
20.	Justin Haley	LW: 19	-1
21.	Todd Gilliland	LW: 30	+9
22.	Joey Logano	LW: 20	-2
23.	Daniel Suarez	LW: 28	-5
24.	Michael McDowell	LW: 21	-3
25.	Austin Dillon	LW: 34	+9
26.	Ty Dillon	LW: 22	-4
27.	Ross Chastain	LW: 23	+4
28.	Erik Jones	LW: 27	-1
29.	Carson Hocevar	LW: 35	+6
30.	AJ Allmendinger	LW: 24	-6
31.	Josh Berry	LW: 31	--
32.	Cole Custer	LW: 32	--
33.	Riley Herbst	LW: 29	-4
34.	Zane Smith	LW: 25	-9
35.	Noah Gragson	LW: 33	-2
36.	Cody Ware	LW: 36	--