NASCAR Fantasy Live Awards: Most valuable 2025 drivers

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is rapidly approaching, and that means it’s almost time to begin setting weekly NASCAR Fantasy Live lineups. With the 2026 edition of the game now live, it would be fitting to reflect on standout performers from the 2025 campaign to help inform those early-season lineups. MORE: NASCAR Fantasy hub | How to play in 2026 The 2025 Cup season was dominated by the sport’s juggernauts, with Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske combining to win 75% of all points-paying races. Five of the nine races that they didn’t capture checkered flags were road courses (hello, Trackhouse Racing). There were a few surprises along the way, though. Rookie Shane van Gisbergen achieved near perfection when turning left and right, while two-time and reigning series champion Kyle Larson upped his ante at superspeedways. Chase Briscoe also emerged as a championship threat in his debut season with JGR. Then, there’s Austin Dillon, who converted a Hail Mary late in the regular season at Richmond Raceway in a runaway victory. It’s time to unveil the 2025 fantasy MVPs for each type of track configuration: intermediates, short tracks, road courses and drafting tracks. Will these trends continue in 2026? Intermediates: Kyle Larson Larson will enter the 2026 season on a 24-race winless drought, his longest streak since joining Hendrick in 2021. He was, however, the last one celebrating in Phoenix after banking a second Cup Series championship, and is now one of just three multi-time champions in the Cup field to begin the new season. Larson and the No. 5 team were the only ones to visit Victory Lane multiple times at intermediate tracks in 2025. The site of his most recent victory -- Kansas Speedway -- was the most dominant performance ever in a 400-mile race on an intermediate track, leading 221 of 267 laps (82.8%). Consider Larson a fan of moving the final race of the season to Homestead-Miami Speedway, as well, after winning two of the last four races in South Beach -- including last year. What really stands out, which is crucial for fantasy, is that Larson tallied 69 more points than any other driver in those seven intermediate events. His 314 points earned, 555 laps led, six top-10 finishes, 5.71 average starting position and 8.57 average finishing position were all top of the chart. [caption id="attachment_497091" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Chris Graythen | Getty Images[/caption] Short tracks: Ryan Blaney Consistency is key with fantasy, and no driver was more stable at short tracks in 2025 than Ryan Blaney. The surprising statistic, though, is that Blaney went winless at the tight, confined venues in 2025, ultimately scoring a victory in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, which isn’t considered a short track, measuring 1 mile in length. For years, Team Penske’s strongest suit has been short-track performance and that continued last year. Blaney collected 256 points, 41 more than William Byron, who won a pair of short-track events and could have a real argument to be the best short-track driver in 2025. Blaney’s five top-five finishes were the best of the bunch, however, tying Penske teammate Joey Logano with the most top 10s (five). He also paced the field for 323 circuits, trailing only Byron (445) and Larson (420). The real kicker, though? He had an average finishing position of 4.83 -- nearly half of the next driver on the list (Byron, 9.0). [caption id="attachment_497092" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Photo by James Gilbert | Getty Images[/caption] Road Courses: Shane van Gisbergen This might be the easiest selection of all time for any category known to mankind. Van Gisbergen was a menace at road courses in his freshman season, at times toying with his competition without abusing his car. It resulted in a handful of victories, and he will look to tie Jeff Gordon’s six consecutive road course triumphs in the opening month of 2026 at Circuit of The Americas. Doing a deeper dive, van Gisbergen’s performance was otherworldly. The No. 88 team won three poles and had an average starting spot of 2.17 across the six road courses, including the Chicago Street Race. His average finishing position improved to 1.83, with a sixth-place outing at COTA being the dampener. The New Zealand phenom put on a clinic by leading 301 laps, while Blaney and Kyle Busch were tied for second with 42 laps led apiece. The 293 points scored were 73 markers more than Christopher Bell, placing runner-up in a second category. Only Bell, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were within 100 points of SVG. [caption id="attachment_497093" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Chris Graythen | Getty Images[/caption] Drafting tracks: Tyler Reddick Let’s transition to the most challenging selection -- drafting-track MVP. When thinking of drafting tracks, Team Penske immediately jumps to the top of the board, as both Blaney and Austin Cindric were able to get into the win column in 2025 at superspeedways. Logano logged 263 laps led, more than double the amount of any other driver (Cindric, 127), but compiled an average finishing position of 27.5. Eight drivers had multiple top-five finishes, including Larson, who ranked second in points scored (197). Carson Hocevar accumulated the most top 10s with four, including a nail-biting defeat in the second race of the season at EchoPark Speedway in a three-wide finish. If we’re basing this on points, though, Reddick was the man on top in 2025, with 199 markers earned. The No. 45 team earned the best average finish at 11.2, more than a full position better than Larson (12.3). Giving him the nod was missing the last-lap chaos of the Daytona 500, gaining 11 spots in the process to place runner-up. It’s safe to say there could be co-MVPs here, adding the likes of a Hendrick Motorsports trio in Larson, Chase Elliott (Atlanta win, third-most points scored) and Byron (Daytona 500 win, fourth-most points scored). [caption id="attachment_497094" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Sean Gardner | Getty Images[/caption]