NASCAR’s All-Star Race festivities are in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina this weekend — a monitor the place the celebs all the time got here out to shine in an earlier period of Cup Sequence historical past. And similar to in some other sport, All-Star time represents an opportunity to take inventory of what has occurred within the 2025 season thus far, recognizing the drivers who’ve excelled and those who have not fairly met their expectations.
To do this, I’ve graded each full-time Cup Sequence driver via a weighted mixture of key efficiency indicators — not solely utilizing wins or standings factors, however a extra full image of how every driver is performing and, simply as importantly, whether or not they’re assembly preseason expectations.
The method included a wide range of parts, every standardized with a purpose to evaluate drivers on an excellent scale. In tough order of significance, they had been:
• Adjusted factors+ index (a measure of efficiency the place Cup common is all the time 100)
• Complete wins
• Standings rank
• Common driver score per race
• Common end (listed relative to common)
• Efficiency vs. preseason expectations (based mostly on a mix of crew/automotive high quality and a driver’s personal earlier monitor document)
• Head-to-head document vs. teammates (and the power of these teammates)
• Charge of ending races (listed relative to common)
From there, I created a weighted “combo” rating and assigned letter grades accordingly — reflecting not solely uncooked outcomes, but in addition context, consistency and shock worth. (Bear in mind, this is not only a straight rating of drivers — you could find that right here. As a substitute, they’re being graded on a curve relative to not solely the sphere, but in addition themselves and their crew.)
With all of that in thoughts, this is how the sphere stacks up forward of Sunday’s All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET, FS1) and on the sport’s midseason:
Leap to a grade tier:
A | B | C | D | F
Grade A tier
No. 5 Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports: A+
2025 stats: 3 wins, 8 top-fives, 9 top-10s, 9.8 avg. end
Standings rank: 1st
Adjusted pts+ index (100 = Cup avg.): 241
Avg. driver score (70 = Cup avg.): 102.6
One other season, one other elite drive for Larson — simply enterprise as ordinary for the No. 5 automotive. Larson discovered his manner into Victory Lane at Homestead, Bristol and, most lately, Kansas, the latter two of which noticed him document a pair of near-perfect driver rankings (149.6 and 149.7, respectively) within the span of 4 races. Additional, he has been an immovable fixture up entrance with 9 top-10s in 12 races.
In keeping with pts+, Larson is monitoring for his finest season (241) since profitable the Cup Sequence title in 2021 (244), and no one within the sequence is able to super-dominant runs fairly like Larson. He is the championship favourite for a motive.
2025 stats: 3 wins, 6 top-fives, 8 top-10s, 11.2 avg. end
Standings rank: third
Adjusted pts+ index: 224
Avg. driver score: 92.8
This could have been an A-plus when Bell was racking up three consecutive wins earlier within the season, however a current run of “solely” 5 top-10s previously eight races drops Bell all the way down to A-grade standing. This has nonetheless been a powerful yr for the 30-year-old Bell, who’s having a profession season, already matching his excessive for wins lower than a 3rd of the way in which into the schedule.
Denny Hamlin followers won’t wish to hear this, however Bell is the No. 1 driver at JGR now, with an 86-58 document in opposition to teammates head-to-head over the previous two years.
No. 24 William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports: A
2025 stats: 1 win, 5 top-fives, 7 top-10s, 10.2 avg. end
Standings rank: 2nd
Adjusted pts+ index: 202
Avg. driver score: 103.9
After a 2024 season that, whereas nonetheless adequate to make the Championship 4, wasn’t fairly as statistically dominant as in 2023, Byron has probably been probably the most constantly glorious driver in Cup this season. (Witness his sequence lead in common operating place at 10.3.) Regardless of Larson’s close to perfection at Kansas, Byron nonetheless leads the sequence in common driver score, and his second straight win on the Daytona 500 in February solidified his place within the historical past of the Nice American Race.
Even on the identical crew with fellow stars similar to Larson and Chase Elliott, Byron has a 22-14 head-to-head document in opposition to his fellow Hendrick drivers.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing: A-
2025 stats: 2 wins, 5 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 15.2 avg. end
Standings rank: seventh
Adjusted pts+ index: 178
Avg. driver score: 87.6
Any notions that Hamlin’s on-track profession would begin to wind down as he aged (he is 44) and took on different enterprise ventures have proved to be incorrect. If something, Hamlin’s 2025 type — he has two wins, together with his finest pts+ index since 2021 — exhibits how hungry he’s to shed the label of “NASCAR’s Best Driver With out A Cup Title.”
Will this lastly be his yr? He has appeared prepared for that breakthrough many instances earlier than, just for the “black cat of dying” to cross his path repeatedly. However there is no doubt Hamlin will likely be squarely within the combine on the finish of the season.
Grade B Tier
No. 12 Ryan Blaney, Staff Penske: B+
2025 stats: 0 wins, 5 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 16.1 avg. end
Standings rank: fifth
Adjusted pts+ index: 148
Avg. driver score: 92.6
No star driver has been extra snakebit this yr than Blaney, who has no wins and almost as many DNFs (4) as top-five finishes (5). However the overtaking pace continues to be there; Blaney has a 92.6 common driver score — fifth finest in Cup — and the very best per-race cross differential (+13.5) for any driver with greater than half of their passes happening underneath inexperienced and among the many prime 15 automobiles within the discipline. With better reliability, Blaney should contend for an additional championship by season’s finish.
No. 9 Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports: B+
2025 stats: 0 wins, 3 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 11.7 avg. end
Standings rank: 4th
Adjusted pts+ index: 143
Avg. driver score: 84.6
There’s a paradox to Elliott in current seasons: Regardless of his reputation and famous person repute — and in distinction together with his championship type of 2020 — he appears to have traded dominance for elevated consistency. In 2025, this has manifested itself in a fourth-place spot within the standings and constantly strong finishes, however no wins and a scarcity of actual rivalry for them on a weekly foundation.
That is why he does not grade greater; Elliott is effectively on monitor to make the playoffs and even advance in them, however at a sure level we have to see the Elliott of previous once more.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s, 13.7 avg. end
Standings rank: sixth
Adjusted pts+ index: 138
Avg. driver score: 93.4
Reddick has pushed effectively sufficient to attain an A, nevertheless it hasn’t manifested in a victory but. Solely Hendrick teammates Byron and Larson boast a better common driver score, and Reddick’s common operating place of 10.6 ranks second to Byron this yr.
He has come near profitable just a few instances, so it may occur finally (he has received a number of races in every of the earlier three seasons), although a current streak of 4 finishes in 14th or worse is not splendid.
No. 21 Josh Berry, Wooden Brothers Racing: B+
2025 stats: 1 win, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 21.2 avg. end
Standings rank: seventeenth
Adjusted pts+ index: 103
Avg. driver score: 80.5
This feel-good grade is all about outperforming expectations. Whereas the enduring Wooden Bros. No. 21 did win a race — and due to this fact appeared within the playoffs — with Harrison Burton on the wheel final season, that win got here on the notoriously chaotic Daytona night time race … after Burton already had realized he wouldn’t be returning to the crew in 2025. Berry’s win this season within the 21, by comparability, got here at Las Vegas — in idea, a way more predictable mile-and-a-half monitor (and due to this fact a spot the place it is a lot harder to fluke right into a win).
Past simply the victory, Berry is crushing what was anticipated in pts+ and driver score, whether or not the comparability level was his personal earlier profession or what the once-proud Wooden Bros. crew had gotten lately.
No. 22 Joey Logano, Staff Penske: B
2025 stats: 1 win, 1 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 17.3 avg. end
Standings rank: ninth
Adjusted pts+ index: 114
Avg. driver score: 89.2
Confusingly, Logano’s 2025 season may warrant a better or decrease grade right here. On the optimistic facet, he does have a win, choosing up the checkered flag at Texas just a few weeks in the past, and he has posted driver rankings of 89.2 or greater in eight of 12 races — together with 4 within the triple-digits. However that win was his solely top-five end of the season, and he has solely a pair of top-10s exterior of it. Not like his teammate Blaney, Logano cannot blame crashes or blown engines both; he has merely not been constant in his finishes relative to his potential throughout these races. It is one thing that may must be cleaned up because the season progresses, however then once more, no one has a greater monitor document of in-season enchancment than the three-time champ.
2025 stats: 1 win, 1 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 17.3 avg. end
Standings rank: 14th
Adjusted pts+ index: 114
Avg. driver score: 82.8
Regardless of being a playoff driver in each 2022 and 2024, Cindric has typically felt just like the forgotten man at Penske, driving within the shadow of a few all-timers in Logano and Blaney. However that is shaping as much as be a profession yr for the motive force of the No. 2 automotive, tying his profession finest in pts+ whereas blowing away his earlier norms in common driver score.
Higher but, Cindric continues to refine his expertise as an all-around driver; as a substitute of a superspeedway specialist who’s strong on street programs and subpar in all places else, he has an 88.4 driver score on ovals this season. (Evaluate that to his earlier profession excessive of 67.8 from 2022.)
No. 19 Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing: B
2025 stats: 0 wins, 4 top-fives, 5 top-10s, 15.2 avg. end
Standings rank: thirteenth
Adjusted pts+ index: 134
Avg. driver score: 77.1
Taking on the No. 19 journey at JGR for retiring legend Martin Truex Jr., there was all the time the expectation that Briscoe would present nice enchancment from his earlier years spent on the fading Stewart-Haas Racing. And that has been true this yr, with Briscoe on tempo for the very best season of his profession by far.
Though Briscoe does not have a win but, he has been a consider a handful of races and his 19-17 head-to-head document in opposition to JGR teammates is best than each Hamlin this yr (18-18) and Truex final yr (49-59).
No. 48 Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports: B-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 2 top-fives, 7 top-10s, 16.9 avg. end
Standings rank: eighth
Adjusted pts+ index: 134
Avg. driver score: 83.1
After years because the fourth wheel at Hendrick — having to share a storage with Jimmie Johnson (whose No. 48 automotive he later inherited), Larson, Elliott and Byron at varied instances — Bowman received a race in 2024 (solely his second of the Subsequent-Gen automotive period) and commenced to shut the hole in opposition to his outstanding teammates.
However that progress has stalled some in 2025: Bowman’s pts+ is 61 factors behind his teammate common, his driver score lags by 13.9 factors and he has his worst head-to-head document in opposition to teammates (12-24) since going 8-22 as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s damage alternative within the No. 88 automotive in 2016. On the identical time, Bowman would comfortably make the playoffs on factors if the season ended at this time, so it isn’t all dangerous information for the 48.
No. 1 Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing: B-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 2 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 13.9 avg. end
Standings rank: Eleventh
Adjusted pts+ index: 145
Avg. driver score: 77.6
Chastain is type of the other of Reddick — except for a scarcity of wins, his regular finishes have been superb, paying homage to his early breakout with Trackhouse in 2022 and 2023 … however the fundamentals are much less spectacular. Chastain’s driver score and 16.8 common operating place are OK, however nothing particular, and positively lower than we’d have anticipated from a driver who appeared as if he had been on the cusp of stardom as lately as just a few years in the past.
It could assist to see Chastain win a race when he wasn’t already eradicated from championship consideration for the primary time since June 2023.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-fives, 6 top-10s, 15.5 avg. end
Standings rank: Twelfth
Adjusted pts+ index: 122
Avg. driver score: 76.6
Buescher has quietly achieved his job and maintained playoff place within the standings, rising above the up-and-down performances of his RFK teammates. For that alone, he deserves a B-tier grade, however he’s dragged down a bit just by the requirements he set previously few seasons. In 2023 and 2024, Buescher received 4 races with a pts+ index of 143 and a mean driver score of 82.3, the very best stretch of performances in his decade-long Cup profession.
This yr’s numbers are monitoring for one thing a notch beneath what we’re used to from the No. 17 automotive, however that is as a lot a press release on Buescher’s breakout in earlier years as something taking place in 2025.
No. 60 Ryan Preece, RFK Racing: B-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-fives, 4 top-10s, 19.8 avg. end
Standings rank: sixteenth
Adjusted pts+ index: 97
Avg. driver score: 80.2
Talking of RFK drivers, Preece earns a spot right here in his first season with the crew, on the power of his strong fundamentals: a driver score effectively above the common for each the Cup Sequence and his teammates (who collectively sit at simply 69.1), a mean operating place (15.8) that ranks Twelfth finest amongst common drivers and a .500 document (12-12) in opposition to teammates head-to-head.
Except for a seventh-place run at Kansas, Preece’s finishes have not been pretty much as good as earlier within the yr, nevertheless it’s nonetheless honest to say he’s beating expectations for the No. 60 in its first yr operating a full schedule.
Grade C tier
2025 stats: 0 wins, 2 top-fives, 4 top-10s, 19.6 avg. end
Standings rank: tenth
Adjusted pts+ index: 102
Avg. driver score: 85.0
Wallace was monitoring for a profession yr (and a significantly better grade) a few month in the past, nevertheless it has been a wrestle for the No. 23 these days. After a pair of top-five finishes at Homestead and Martinsville, Wallace has scored just one top-10 end previously 5 races, with three finishes exterior the highest 20 in that span, capped off by a pair of consecutive crashes at Texas and Kansas.
The hunch has left him barely above common in pts+ and with a nasty 11-14 document in opposition to his 23XI teammates — however there’s nonetheless motive to imagine. His driver score (eighth finest) and common operating place (sixth finest) counsel he has been unfortunate, however a rating like this nonetheless has to assign some weight to precise outcomes relatively than potential ones.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-fives, 4 top-10s, 18.2 avg. end
Standings rank: nineteenth
Adjusted pts+ index: 91
Avg. driver score: 56.1
Nemechek earns a C-plus for now, partly as a result of his near-average pts+ and top-20 standings placement represents an enormous leap over what we noticed out of the No. 42 automotive in any of the last few seasons. However underneath the hood, predictive metrics similar to driver score are much less offered on whether or not this way can proceed.
No. 38 Zane Smith, Entrance Row Motorsports: C+
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 1 top-10, 18.8 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty third
Adjusted Pts+ index: 80
Avg. Driver Score: 64.1
Although his numbers will not precisely wow you, Smith has improved in his second full Cup season — his typical end is now higher than the Cup common, he has a optimistic head-to-head document (13-11) in opposition to his teammates and a barely higher driver score than teammate Todd Gilliland had within the No. 38 automotive final season. He additionally began on pole at Talladega and led some laps at Homestead as effectively.
No. 8 Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing: C
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 4 top-10s, 18.1 avg. end
Standings rank: 18th
Adjusted pts+ index: 96
Avg. driver score: 75.8
The instances of Busch and Nemechek illustrate how vital expectations are to contemplate when grading NASCAR drivers. Regardless of near-identical outcomes, one man’s surprisingly half-decent begin to the season is usually a supremely irritating yr for an additional — as is the case with Busch, for whom an early run of three straight top-10s within the first 4 races is now a distant reminiscence.
Extra lately, Busch has one top-10 previously eight races, with 5 finishes of twentieth or worse over that very same stretch. The hope has been that Busch’s uncommon winless 2024 (the primary time he hadn’t pushed to Victory Lane in 20 years) was merely a down yr for one of many best inventory automotive drivers, nevertheless it’s trying extra like a mean efficiency is about what we are able to anticipate from the No. 8 automotive at this level.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 2 top-10s, 17.3 avg. end
Standings rank: fifteenth
Adjusted pts+ index: 91
Avg. driver score: 59.0
Stenhouse is tough to grade, as a result of it is powerful to say whether or not he is driving effectively or not. On the one hand, he hasn’t completed worse than twenty fifth in any race this yr, with eight appearances among the many prime 20 in 12 begins (together with two top-10s and a top-five at Atlanta — no shock for the superspeedway grasp). Alternatively, he has been the other of dominant, even in most of these first rate runs — his driver score has damaged 90 solely as soon as, 80 twice and 70 thrice, with a dreadful 51.3 mark or worse in half of his races.
So whereas Stenhouse would sneak into the playoffs on factors if the season ended at this time, it is uncertain that may stay true (for a lot of causes), and he does not have the type of a profitable driver until he can luck right into a win at one of many two remaining drafting-style tracks earlier than the playoff reduce.
No. 3 Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing: C
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 18.4 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty second
Adjusted pts+ index: 86
Avg. driver score: 62.9
Dillon is the very definition of a C-grade driver this season. Having lengthy since shed the expectations of being something greater than a mid-pack mainstay who can often play spoiler with a chaotic win, Dillon is definitely doing higher this yr than in both 2023 or 2024, when he ranked among the many most disappointing drivers within the Cup Sequence.
In 2025, he has seven finishes of 18th or higher, and his driver score has strayed exterior the 60s solely 5 instances in 12 races. He nonetheless may must wreck the sphere to even take into consideration making the playoffs, however Dillon has nonetheless been removed from horrible.
No. 34 Todd Gilliland, Entrance Row Motorsports: C
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 2 top-10s, 18.8 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty fourth
Adjusted pts+ index: 82
Avg. driver score: 62.1
Swapping to the No. 34 from former teammate Michael McDowell, Gilliland has held regular in his total type as in contrast with a yr in the past. On the plus facet, his common end is now 4% higher than the Cup common, versus 8% worse final season; on the minus, his driver score is down from 64.3.
However whereas Gilliland’s first yr as Entrance Row’s lead driver has had ups and downs, he’ll go into the All-Star Race coming off an Eleventh-place end at Texas and a Twelfth-place end at Kansas.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-10s, 19.1 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty first
Adjusted pts+ index: 77
Avg. driver score: 63.1
Like many drivers on this C-tier group, McDowell’s mark displays a sophisticated image of efficiency relative to many alternative expectations. After seven years driving for Bob Jenkins at Entrance Row, the place he had skilled his best highs as a driver — profitable the Daytona 500 — and remodeled himself from a journeyman to a perennial playoff contender and race winner, McDowell moved to Spire for 2025, the place he has overwhelmed teammates head-to-head (15-9 document) and improved vastly on Zane Smith’s numbers behind the wheel of the No. 71 a yr in the past.
On the identical time, he has no top-10s and uniformly subpar metrics relative to Cup common this season.
No. 77 Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports: C-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 2 top-10s, 22.2 avg. end
Standings rank: twentieth
Adjusted pts+ index: 85
Avg. driver score: 73.2
Hocevar, 22, has had his flashes of brilliance this season — together with a pole at Texas, main laps in half of his begins (he is presently using a streak of 4 straight races led), and three completely different races with a triple-digit driver score. However Hocevar earns a C-minus due to what he has left to be taught, from better respect for his fellow racers to raised racecraft to show that above-average driver score into one thing higher than a 22.2 common end.
Hocevar’s head-to-head document in opposition to teammates has gone from a unbelievable 51-21 final season to 10-14 this yr, and although that displays the improved expertise of teammates McDowell and Justin Haley, they’re nonetheless collectively beneath .500 in opposition to all different drivers — but Hocevar cannot constantly end forward of them regardless of his pace.
No. 99 Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing: C-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 3 top-10s, 20.9 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty seventh
Adjusted pts+ index: 87
Avg. driver score: 64.8
Coming off top-of-the-line seasons of his profession (with a memorable three-wide photograph end win at Atlanta and a second-round playoff run), Suarez was anticipated to additional construct on that success in 2025. As a substitute, it has been an uneven begin to the season, with the No. 99 automotive ending exterior the highest 30 extra instances (4) than it has been inside the highest 10 (three).
The one issues preserving Suarez’s grade from dipping into D territory are that his underlying efficiency hasn’t essentially been a lot completely different — his driver score is up from 64.6 — and that Trackhouse as a complete has been a lot worse in 2025. Slightly than solely Suarez shedding floor, his common teammate pts+ has additionally dipped from 127 to 88. Partly, that has been as a result of addition of a 3rd chartered automotive, however the web end result has been Suarez carrying a much better head-to-head document (15-11) in opposition to teammates than the 13-23 mark he had a yr in the past.
Grade D tier
No. 54 Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing: D+
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 2 top-10s, 20.6 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty sixth
Adjusted Pts+ index: 80
Avg. Driver Score: 64.9
The Ty Gibbs breakout seemed to be upon us at varied instances final season, and although he fell off down the stretch of the 2024 schedule, expectations had been excessive that the 22-year-old would win his first Cup race — on the very least, if no more — in 2025. However that hasn’t occurred; if something, Gibbs has taken a nosedive in virtually all of his main indicators thus far this yr.
On a crew with the gear to contend in each race, it has been extremely disappointing for Gibbs to stay winless with a single top-five, two top-10s and solely 4 races with an above-average driver score.
No. 10 Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing: D+
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-10s, 22.3 avg. end
Standings rank: thirtieth
Adjusted Pts+ index: 58
Avg. Driver Score: 50.0
Dillon has improved his pts+ and driver score from the final time we noticed him as a full-time Cup entrant, with Spire in 2023, however he nonetheless ranks fifth-to-last in common driver score amongst common drivers this season.
No. 4 Noah Gragson, Entrance Row Motorsports: D
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 2 top-10s, 22.2 avg. end
Standings rank: thirty first
Adjusted pts+ index: 73
Avg. driver score: 61.2
Gragson rescued his profession in Stewart-Haas’ swan music final season, following a season from hell with Legacy Motor Membership in 2023. However after shifting on to Entrance Row for 2025, Gragson has taken a tumble backward once more.
Granted, the autumn hasn’t been as steep because it was in ’23, however he appears worse by each main indicator, and he has not stored tempo together with his new teammates — posting a 9-15 head-to-head document (a yr after going a strong 60-48 in opposition to his SHR counterparts).
No. 43 Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Membership: D
2025 stats: 0 wins, 1 top-five, 1 top-10, 22.2 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty ninth
Adjusted pts+ index: 68
Avg. driver score: 57.1
Whereas Legacy teammate John Hunter Nemechek has improved this season, Jones has stayed roughly the identical in his efficiency stage because the previous few years. A driver who as soon as had the expertise to safe a full-time journey at JGR, after which rose above his gear with Richard Petty Motorsports, appears to have stalled out now.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 3 top-10s, 22.5 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty fifth
Adjusted pts+ index: 72
Avg. driver score: 62.9
Allmendinger’s celebrated return to a full-time Cup drive in 2025 has been hit or (largely) miss. Although he has a trio of top-10s (at Las Vegas, Homestead and Bristol), his total efficiency is kind of a bit decrease than it was in partial obligation over the earlier handful of seasons. Allmendinger is simply 4-8 head-to-head in opposition to his Kaulig teammates this season, after going a mixed 48-31 versus Kaulig competitors from 2021 to 2024.
No. 7 Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports: D-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-five, 1 top-10, 21.1 avg. end
Standings rank: twenty eighth
Adjusted pts+ index: 65
Avg. driver score: 58.2
What started as a doubtlessly promising 2025 season for Haley — being paired with Kevin Harvick’s former championship-winning crew chief, Rodney Childers — has already gone sideways, with the current divorce between Childers and Spire solely 9 races into their partnership. Except for that shake-up, Haley’s outcomes are considerably higher than they had been when break up between Spire and Rick Ware Racing final season … although they’re removed from what Haley appeared he could be able to in an earlier section of his profession.
No. 41 Cole Custer, Haas Manufacturing facility Staff: D-
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-10s, 25.6 avg. end
Standings rank: thirty fourth
Adjusted pts+ index: 42
Avg. driver score: 45.5
The 2023 Xfinity Sequence champion made his return to Cup because the lone driver for the crew previously generally known as SHR (the place Custer drove in 2020-22), and the outcomes have been as a lot of a wrestle as you may anticipate. Solely two full-time drivers have a worse common driver score.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-10s, 24.7 avg. end
Standings rank: thirty second
Adjusted pts+ index: 47
Avg. driver score: 48.1
Regardless of having crew behind him at 23XI, Herbst’s first full season on the Cup stage has been trending within the incorrect course: After 4 top-20 finishes in his first 5 begins of the season, Herbst boasts one (a 14th-place run at Texas) within the seven races since. He has gone simply 8-17 head-to-head in opposition to a mix of Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Corey Heim this yr.
Grade F tier
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 1 top-10, 26.8 avg. end
Standings rank: thirty fifth
Adjusted pts+ index: 45
Avg. driver score: 45.1
This is among the most painful grades handy out as a result of Van Gisbergen had been such an thrilling and promising driver in part-time motion over the previous two seasons. Although an honest quantity of that got here at his specialty in street programs — the place he received his Cup debut at Chicago, and almost received at The Glen earlier than Buescher tracked him down with a final-lap cross — he additionally ran eight non-road course races in Cup final yr, plus a full 33-race Xfinity schedule wherein he appeared to acquit himself decently effectively on different monitor sorts.
All of which makes it extra puzzling that SVG has such horrible numbers in 2025, together with the second-worst common driver score within the Cup Sequence. Although he led 23 laps and posted a 120.6 score at COTA in March, that was his lone end of higher than twentieth, and he carries a mean score beneath 50 at ovals (36.0), quick tracks (28.3) and superspeedways (49.2) alike.
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-10s, 27.2 avg. end
Standings rank: thirty third
Adjusted pts+ index: 41
Avg. driver score: 61.5
The opposite actual shocker on the grading sheet, Keselowski’s 2025 season has been utterly out of character for the 2012 Cup Sequence champion. We thought his efficiency upon leaving Penske for RFK in 2022 (80 pts+, 67.9 driver score) was what a nasty Keselowski season appeared like. We had no thought {that a} yr this depressing was even attainable for a driver of his historic caliber — however Keselowski has solely three finishes higher than twenty sixth all yr, an adjusted pts+ index 59% (!) worse than Cup common, and a shocking 42% of his races have been DNFs (together with crashes in every of the previous three weekends).
Possibly the All-Star Race will likely be a pure break within the schedule to attempt to salvage one thing going ahead, as a result of it is laborious to think about a worse begin to the season than what Keselowski has produced thus far.
No. 51 Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing: F
2025 stats: 0 wins, 0 top-fives, 0 top-10s, 30.8 avg. end
Standings rank: thirty sixth
Adjusted pts+ index: 22
Avg. driver score: 32.4
Ware’s finest end of the yr is twenty fourth, he has been thirtieth or worse 9 instances in 12 races, and he hasn’t cracked a 50 driver score all season. Sufficient mentioned.
