Best moments from the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season

Thrilling finishes. Road course dominance. Playoff drama. Iconic moments.

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season featured a little bit of everything. Scroll to look back at some of the top moments from 2025 in chronological order.

RELATED: 2026 schedule, start times, ticket information

Elliott claims season-opening Cook Out Clash win

Track: Bowman Gray Stadium

Date: Feb. 2

Rundown: In the Cup Series' first trip to legendary Bowman Gray Stadium since 1971, it only makes sense that the perennial Most Popular Driver would prevail. Chase Elliott dominated the weekend, leading 171 of 200 laps in the main event to score the exhibition race victory. The win helped kickstart a bounce-back campaign for the Dawsonville, Georgia native.

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Byron goes back-to-back

Track: Daytona International Speedway

Date: Feb. 16

Rundown: The seas parted at just the right time for William Byron. On the final lap of the 67th 'Great American Race,' Cole Custer and Denny Hamlin made contact, triggering a crash amongst many of the leaders. Byron powered through unscathed to hoist the Harley J. Earl Trophy for the second year in a row.

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Thrice is nice

Track: Phoenix Raceway

Date: March 9

Rundown: Christopher Bell held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson during NASCAR Overtime for a 0.049-second victory in the desert, his third consecutive victory of the young season. It marked the longest win streak in the four-year Next Gen era, with his other victories coming at EchoPark Speedway and Circuit of The Americas. 

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A first timer!

Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Date: March 16

Rundown: In his 53rd Cup Series start, Josh Berry took the lead from Daniel Suárez with 16 laps remaining to earn his first victory at NASCAR's highest level. A longtime late-model driver, the 35-year-old's pathway to the Cup Series seemed unlikely for many years. But in just his fifth race with Wood Brothers Racing, he took the storied organization to Victory Lane for the second consecutive season. 

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Larson by KO

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway

Date: April 13

Rundown: Leading 411 of 500 laps, Kyle Larson scored one of the most dominant victories of his career, prevailing at Bristol for his second win of the season. He dedicated the victory to Jon Edwards, his PR representative and longtime Hendrick Motorsports employee, who passed away earlier in the week. Additionally, Larson won the Xfinity Series race the day before, leading 277 of 300 laps.

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A smashing comeback

Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway

Date: May 25

Rundown: Ross Chastain earned every bit of that watermelon smash. The now 33-year-old started dead last -- 40th -- for NASCAR's longest race after a crash in practice and came back to pass William Byron with six laps to go to earn his first crown jewel victory. Chastain became the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1969 to win a race after starting last. 

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Shane down south

Track: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

Date: June 15

Rundown: In the Cup Series' first international points-paying race since 1958, Shane van Gisbergen prevailed in dominant fashion. He led 60 of 100 laps to earn his second victory at NASCAR's highest level, beating Christopher Bell by 16.567 seconds for the largest margin of victory in nearly 16 years. Additionally, the win started a streak of five consecutive road course victories, an achievement he'll look to extend in 2026.

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Hometown hero

Track: EchoPark Speedway

Date: June 28

Rundown: In one of the wildest races of the season, Chase Elliott passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap to win at EchoPark Speedway, his home track. It broke a 44-race winless drought in points-paying races and also served as an exciting kickoff to the inaugural In-Season Challenge.

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Bubba on the bricks

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Date: July 27

Rundown: Bubba Wallace held off defending winner Kyle Larson -- and survived a late rain shower -- to win the Brickyard 400 on fumes. For Wallace, it was his third Cup Series victory and arguably his biggest with his first crown jewel and a spot in the playoffs in hand. 

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The $1 million man

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Date: July 27

Rundown: Finishing 21st in the Brickyard 400, Ty Gibbs held on to defeat Ty Dillon in the final round of the inaugural In-Season Challenge to score a lofty payday. He nabbed three top 10s during the five-race stretch, with the triumph serving as his definite high of the 2025 season. 

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Blaney wins a nailbiter to cap the regular season

Track: Daytona International Speedway

Date: Aug. 23

Rundown: In simplest terms, Ryan Blaney won from the pole at Daytona for his second victory of the season. But playoff implications for others intensified all 160 laps around the 2.5-mile oval. Ultimately, it was status quo as Blaney's victory blocked a potential new winner, but Tyler Reddick's and Alex Bowman's postseason hopes were in serious jeopardy after early crashes. Non-playoff drivers filled spots two through five, all of them coming oh-so-close to shaking up the playoff grid in a wild four-wide finish.

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Briscoe doubles down

Track: Darlington Raceway

Date: Aug. 31

Rundown: While the circumstances were much different in 2025, Chase Briscoe put on a clinic in the Southern 500 -- leading 309 of 367 laps to win the crown-jewel race for the second time in a row. Last year's win earned him a playoff spot in Stewart-Haas Racing's farewell season, while his 2025 triumph secured a spot in the Round of 12 and further strengthened his case as a championship contender.

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Bell wins a tire conservation thriller

Track: Bristol Motor Speedway

Date: Sept. 13

Rundown: After a quiet Friday practice session, extreme tire wear came to the shock of teams for the Saturday night 500 lapper at Bristol. While Ty Gibbs dominated a majority of the night, he overshot pit entry ahead of his final stop of the night before a late caution set up a five-lap dash to the checkered flag. Christopher Bell climbed from fifth to the lead and survived a fender full of Brad Keselowski to earn his fourth victory of the season. It completed a Round of 16 sweep for Joe Gibbs Racing with Chase Briscoe winning Darlington and Denny Hamlin winning Gateway the week before. 

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A restart for the ages

Track: Kansas Speedway

Date: Sept. 28

Rundown: Chase Elliott's hopes of winning the Round of 12 race at Kansas seemed bleak heading into NASCAR Overtime. But restarting 10th, he motored up to third and found himself in the right place at the right time. Denny Hamlin dove deep into Turn 3 and contacted Bubba Wallace's No. 23 Toyota -- a car he owns -- and pushed him into the wall. Neither driver recovered as Elliott wrapped the bottom through the final set of corners for his second points-paying win of the season.

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Hello, old friends

Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval

Date: Oct. 5

Rundown: While Shane van Gisbergen dominated for another road course victory, the real fireworks came at the bubble, where former rivals Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin found themselves at the center of attention. With Chastain needing points to advance -- in shades of the "Hail Melon" -- the No. 1 driver overshot the final chicane and spun Hamlin at the Roval. Chastain also went spinning and both drivers reversed across the start/finish line. Ultimately, the move wasn't enough for Chastain to advance to the Round of 8, and Hamlin later sought the Trackhouse Racing driver out for a friendly pit road conversation.

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Welcome to the 60 club

Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Date: Oct. 12

Rundown: Denny Hamlin passed teammate Chase Briscoe with four laps to go to score possibly the most emotional win of his career. It was his 60th Cup Series victory, a longtime goal for the driver of the No. 11 Toyota. The win also netted his first Championship 4 spot since 2021, and Hamlin dedicated the triumph to his father, Dennis, who is in declining health. Oftentimes after wins, Hamlin taunts the crowd, but instead showed appreciation saying: "This is the point where I kind of give the fans some [expletive], but not today, I appreciate you all so much."

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Championship 4 Chase

Track: Talladega Superspeedway

Date: Oct. 19

Rundown: Chase Briscoe used a last-lap push from teammate Ty Gibbs to win the Round of 8 playoff race at Talladega, clinching a spot in the Championship 4 for the first time. The victory came during a NASCAR Overtime attempt, first controlled by Kyle Larson. But Larson ran out of fuel during the two-lap shootout and William Byron later spun through the trioval coming to the checkered flag, murkying the path to Phoenix for the two Hendrick Motorsports aces. 

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Walk it off, William

Track: Martinsville Speedway

Date: Oct. 26

Rundown: Needing a win for a third consecutive Championship 4 berth, William Byron delivered at Martinsville. He led a career-best 304 laps and later bumped Ryan Blaney out of the way with 44 laps to go to earn a dominant walk-off win. The victory also denied Blaney his third consecutive Martinsville fall victory and slammed the door shut on a potential fourth straight title for Team Penske. 

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A two-time champion is crowned

Track: Phoenix Raceway

Date: Nov. 2

Rundown: Despite not leading a lap, Kyle Larson overcame an early tire issue and benefited from a William Byron caution with three laps to go to win his second Cup Series Championship. The title triumph came at the expense of Denny Hamlin, who led 208 laps. Larson took two tires under the final yellow while Hamlin took four, and a five-spot gap for the overtime restart was insurmountable for the No. 11 driver. With the championship, Larson joins an elite list of 18 drivers with multiple Cup titles.

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