The first three races of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season were considered somewhat "wild card" races, in that two of them were contested at superspeedways and another one was contested at a road course.
So even though the two drivers who combined to win these three races are playoff regulars in Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron (Daytona International Speedway) and Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell (Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas), it's easy to suggest that we don't really have a clear picture as to who this year's contenders might be.
Several other drivers who are usually considered contenders have endured rough starts to the season. But while some of them should certainly start thinking about hitting the panic button, a few of them have no need to do that just yet.
Here are three.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Denny Hamlin has only missed the playoffs once in his 19 seasons as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, and there is no reason to believe it will become twice this year. In 2013, he missed four races due to injury, and he was unable to overcome that points deficit.
Sitting in 17th place in the point standings, he is currently just four points below the playoff cut line, as his only top 20 finish is his sixth place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But he has overcome slow starts before, most notably in 2022 when he had just one top 12 finish in the season's first 12 races and still nearly made it to the Championship 4.
Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing
Ross Chastain actually missed the playoffs last year for the first time in his three years with Trackhouse Racing, but he had plenty of opportunities to win during the regular season before things simply didn't go his way. He would have gotten in had points alone been the determining factor, and he ended up winning a playoff race at Kansas Speedway.
Chastain finds himself in 20th place in the standings, nine points below the cut line, but that is primarily due to his 40th place DNF in the season-opening Daytona 500. He has since placed eighth at Atlanta and 12th at COTA.
Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing
After the 2022 season, his first as a driver/co-owner for RFK Racing, was more of learning and growing experience, Brad Keselowski has looked a lot more like himself from his Team Penske days.
Though he did not win a race in 2023, he finished in eighth place in the standings, and he returned to victory lane for the first time in more than three years at Darlington Raceway last spring. Keselowski is only in 26th place in the standings with a top finish of 15th at COTA through three races in 2025, but there is no reason to panic for the 2012 series champion.
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