NASCAR power rankings: Daytona 500 winner William Byron starts season at No. 1 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.
William Byron was both on Sunday, as the Hendrick Motorsports driver won his second straight Daytona 500 despite being scored seventh entering the final lap. With time running out on the back straightaway, the seas parted in front of Byron as several cars wrecked out — and he just barely snuck through.
Byron’s victory capped off an exciting week in Daytona Beach as the NASCAR Cup Series officially kicked off its 2025 season.
Next up is a trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway for a 400-mile race around the high-banked drafting track on Sunday. How does the field stack up after the season-opener? Here’s our latest NASCAR power rankings:
1. William Byron
End of last season: 3
The fifth driver in history with back-to-back Daytona 500 wins. The youngest driver (27 years old) to ever win the Daytona 500 twice — beating his boss Jeff Gordon by just a few months. Byron typically wins a lot of his races early in the season before fading in the summer, so we’ll see if he can maintain this success throughout 2025.
2. Ryan Blaney
End of last season: 2
How many ways can Blaney lose this race? The 2023 Cup champion has come as close as you can without actually winning the Daytona 500. This time, he was running third in the closing laps before being collected in a wreck. Blaney salvaged a seventh-place finish, but his February frustration in Daytona will continue for another year.
3. Joey Logano
End of last season: 1
The defending Cup champion quite possibly had the fastest car in Florida, but that didn’t get him too far. Logano won the opening stage, then debris in his engine nearly knocked him out of the race. The team got it fixed but he never truly regained his position before being one of the triggers in a big crash and finishing 35th.
4. Tyler Reddick
End of last season: 6
Like Byron, Reddick lucked out on the last lap to sneak through the carnage. He was just behind the No. 24 but couldn’t get to his bumper in the dash to the finish line, settling for second in his best-ever Daytona 500 result.
5. Kyle Larson
End of last season: 5
Arguably the most talented driver in NASCAR, Larson (20th on Sunday) can’t figure out superspeedway racing. He’s winless in 42 starts at Daytona and Talladega with just two top-five finishes. Despite winning every other major race in NASCAR (Charlotte, Indianapolis, Darlington), Larson hasn’t made any progress in perhaps the biggest race of them all.
6. Chase Elliott
End of last season: 7
Elliott was in the mix throughout the race — until the very end. He chose the wrong lane on a late restart, which shuffled him back in the field where he got a piece of two separate accidents. The No. 9 still crossed the line in 15th, a decent results considering the damage suffered.
7. Denny Hamlin
End of last season: 8
Hamlin was in position to win his fourth Daytona 500 — which would’ve tied him for second all-time. Then, with half a lap to go, he was taken out by an overly-ambitious Cole Custer and finished 24th. The 44-year-old Hamlin doesn’t have a ton of chances left at this race, so this one has to sting a little extra.
8. Christopher Bell
End of last season: 5
It was a forgettable race for Bell and the No. 20 team. When he finally made his way toward the front late in the race, he was — you guessed it — involved in a crash. Bell finished 31st, ending his two-year streak of third-place finishes in the Daytona 500.
9. Austin Cindric
End of last season: Not ranked
Cindric and Hamlin put on a show in the closing laps while dueling for the win. Both were taken out due to the actions of others, but the No. 2 car was the class of the field on Sunday. Cindric led a race-high 59 laps and still finished eighth despite the last-lap accident. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner has established himself as an elite superspeedway racer.
10. Alex Bowman
End of last season: 9
Quietly, Bowman put together an all-around strong performance at Daytona. He scored 11 stage points, led 11 laps and finished sixth while keeping his car relatively clean. Bowman has three straight top-10 results in the Daytona 500 after failing to do so in his first six attempts.
First four out: Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher
