Winning the Daytona 500 doesn’t predict success for the rest of the season.
But in 2024, William Byron used a Daytona 500 win on his way to three early wins to start the year. Because of that, he’ll vault to the top spot in my latest power rankings.
Like last year, Byron getting into victory lane at Daytona could be a precursor to how strong he’ll run in 2025.
Here are this week’s power rankings after the 500:
1. William Byron (Last Week: 8)
Byron will ride the high of winning the Daytona 500 all the way to Atlanta this week. He certainly wasn’t the strongest car at Daytona, but the Hendrick driver emerged the victor. The winner of the biggest race gets the top spot in these rankings.
2. Ryan Blaney (LW: 1)
Blaney leads the Cup Series standings, showing his consistency from the duels through the opening Daytona 500 stages and to the end of the race. Now off to Atlanta, where the Penske driver lost by inches a year ago.
3. Tyler Reddick (LW: 7)
Reddick finished second in the Daytona 500, giving the defending regular-season champion a strong start. There’s no reason to doubt that the 23XI Racing driver will contend for many wins this year.
4. Denny Hamlin (LW: 6)
Hamlin had his best Daytona 500 in the Next Gen era. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is oozing confidence, even though it’s been more than nine months since his last win.
5. Christopher Bell (LW: 4)
Bell was out front of the Daytona 500 with a handful of laps to go before being turned in a nasty accident that included Ryan Preece getting airborne. He doesn’t love the superspeedway drafting style of racing, but he still showed he can do it.
Daytona 500: William Byron, Denny Hamlin & more post-race interviews
6. Chase Elliott (LW: 2)
Elliott finished 15th at Daytona but the Hendrick driver is still a relatively recent winner, having captured the preseason Clash a couple of weeks ago.
7. Kyle Larson (LW: 5)
Larson is not a great superspeedway racer, but the Hendrick driver should do better at Atlanta than he did at Daytona, where he finished 20th.
8. Joey Logano (LW: 3)
Logano didn’t thrill his competitors with some of his moves at Daytona, including one where he ended up crashed and out of the race. That’s nothing new. The Penske driver probably isn’t worried too much about it.
9. Austin Cindric (LW: NR)
Cindric had a solid Daytona as he started on the front row and always seemed to be battling near the front. The late-race wreck relegated the Penske driver to eighth at Daytona.
10. Bubba Wallace (LW: 10)
Wallace won his qualifying race Thursday and seems to have a more confident attitude for 2025.
Dropped out: Brad Keselowski (LW: 9)
On the verge: Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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