Austin Cindric emerged victorious at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, becoming the first Team Penske driver to claim a win in 2025 — and, notably, before his championship-winning teammates.
NASCAR.com’s Pat DeCola ranks the top 20 Cup Series contenders after the Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and before the Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Analysis: Even without the win, Talladega was a banner day for Larson, who became the all-time leader in stage wins by claiming the first segment on his way to a race-high 54 points. Now, through his supposed “weak” track, look for him to continue a path of dominance that carries into the summer and very likely sees him compete for the win this weekend.
Analysis: It’s hard to recall a recent drafting-track race that Byron hasn’t been a major contender, and that was once again the case at Talladega, where he led in his eighth race of the year and finished third. He’s become a force at Texas as well, with a fall 2023 win coming amid a four-race stretch there with a 3.25 average finish.
Analysis: Hamlin’s streak of first- or second-place finishes ended at three, being held out of the top 20 at Talladega — the second time that’s happened in the season’s first three drafting-track races for the driver who typically thrives on them. A rebound is likely in short order, though, as the two-time spring Texas winner should be right back in the mix Sunday.
Analysis: Elliott’s lack of recent wins compared to his teammates doesn’t go unnoticed, but neither should his consistency — which may be the best among them. No. 9 is the only one among the four to finish in the top 20 in every race this season, a streak that isn’t likely to end on Sunday for the defending Texas winner.
Analysis: Reddick’s season has been a bit of an odd one thus far — on the one hand, he has just four top 10s after securing 21 last year, but on the other … his 12.6 average finish is on pace to be a career-best. With an average finish of 9.3 in six Texas starts and 36-plus laps led in each of the last three, there’s a good chance he whittles it down further, too.
Analysis: Just as Bell was starting to get back in the swing of things, he wrecks from the front of the field at Talladega through no fault of his own. Three top fives in the last five Texas races — albeit with just six laps led in that span — inspire confidence he gets right back to it Sunday, though.
Analysis: The consistency week-to-week is still something that could be improved upon, but it’s clear Wallace is a significant player this season and just turned in his highest points showing of the year, collecting 45 tallies and a Stage 2 win at Talladega. Texas typically would be a challenging weekend for him, but something has turned around there lately and he has been quite good — and nearly almost won — in the past two trips.
Analysis: It seems like every week, Lady Luck is determined to find a new way to mess with the No. 12 team, and Talladega was no exception. Texas has been a track of highs and lows for Blaney, with nothing to write home about there for him since 2022, so it’s tough to get a gauge on how he’ll be this weekend. More than likely he’ll have some speed, however.
Analysis: While Bowman’s 30 points were 15 fewer than Wallace, one spot lower on the results sheet, scoring a P7 on a superspeedway always brings a sigh of relief. He’ll want to enjoy that one, because it could be a tough weekend ahead — No. 48 has just a pair of top-10 finishes at Texas in 15 starts.
Analysis: At Talladega, Chastain snapped a four-race stretch where he didn’t find the front of the field, but he’s still led in just three races this year — two superspeedways and a 1.5-mile intermediate. Luckily for him, we’re coming off one of those and heading to another, and in the two most recent Texas races, he has a runner-up (2023) and led 33 laps (2024), respectively.
Analysis: Those three big trophies sure help, but it’s otherwise not tremendously enjoyable to be part of the No. 22 camp right now after finally seeing an actual, good 2025 finish squandered after a DQ. That leaves the defending champ outside the top 10 in points as we turn the corner to May and head to a track where he has just one top 10 since 2020.
Analysis: Stripping out a nine-point clunker at Darlington, Briscoe has otherwise averaged a solid 30.4 points since wrecking out at Phoenix in the fourth race of the year. He could be a sneaky threat to win this weekend as well — while he’s never led at Texas, he does have a 9.0 average finish there and three straight top 10s.
Analysis: Cindric has sneakily been a dark horse title contender all season, and it was only a matter of time before he broke through for win No. 1 of 2025; it’s only a coincidence that it happened to come at a superspeedway. He’s going to battle for more wins this season, too, though it may not come at Texas — he’s never finished better than 15th there with a 22.3 average.
Analysis: Buescher has run consistently well this season, but bad luck continues to bite him, and thus he’s on pace for his worst average finish since netting just 10 top 10s in 2022. The Texan is always in focus when we visit his home track, but it’s yet to be kind to him — he’s never finished better than 14th in 15 starts.
Analysis: Another race, another day of seeing Allmendinger in contention. While the end result wasn’t there (24th), No. 16 did score points in each stage to bolster his day overall as he continues to make some noise. He has a pair of top 10s at Texas as well, but they came a decade-and-a-half ago.
Analysis: While he couldn’t add another Talladega win, or lead a lap, or even collect a top 10, Sunday was still a great day for Stenhouse, whose 33 points matched that of fourth-place finisher Noah Gragson. On first blush, any momentum could come to a screeching halt at Texas, where Stenhouse has just one top 10 in 20 starts — but it came in 2023.
Analysis: Busch wasn’t able to claim another spring Talladega victory and end his lengthy drought, but it wasn’t for lack of trying after a furious rally put him back in position following an early spin. While he’s had some recent misses there, Texas has been a bountiful track for him over the years and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock if this is finally the weekend, though rough races at Vegas and Homestead this season don’t offer much promise.
Analysis: Hocevar is going to be a major player on superspeedways in his career, and it easily could’ve been him capitalizing on Sunday (and he did, to a degree, capturing 38 points). We already know he has the chops to pull off a cowboy hat and he might just ride the ‘dente right into Victory Lane at Texas, too.
Analysis: Preece appeared to have clinched his best finish of an already resurgent season before being relegated to his worst (38th) after a DQ. That leaves him with three straight finishes of 20th or worse, heading to a track where he’s never finished in the top 10 and averages a 26.3 result.
Analysis: The only reason Berry hangs onto this ranking is because he’s won and we’re heading to a similar track to where he won — otherwise, it’s been tough sledding for No. 21 over the past month and a half since the Vegas victory. The sophomore has just one Cup start at Texas, coming last year and ending with a crash that resulted in a P36.