While there is only so much you can take away from the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season's first three races, given the "wild card" nature of superspeedway racing at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway and even of road course racing at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), a number of last year's playoff drivers have had less than stellar starts to the year.
Even before the season's first "regular" oval race at Phoenix Raceway this coming Sunday afternoon, you could argue that some of these drivers are already in panic mode, given just how disastrous their first three races have gone.
Here are three drivers who made it to last year's playoffs, plus one honorable mention, who already need to hit the panic button.
Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing
Given his contract situation with Trackhouse Racing, perhaps nobody has had a worse start to the 2025 season than Daniel Suarez, who finds himself in 29th place in the point standings as one of only three full-time drivers with multiple DNFs.
To make matters worse, his spin at COTA also knocked out teammate Connor Zilisch, who had been having an impressive Cup Series debut. If Zilisch wants to make his case for a full-time Cup ride to team owner Justin Marks, perhaps all he needs to do is play that clip.
Both of Suarez's playoff appearances with Trackhouse Racing have come because he found victory lane, but victory lane has never seemed farther away than it does right now.
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Austin Cindric qualified for last year's playoffs, thanks to teammate Ryan Blaney running out of fuel on the last lap at Gateway, but like in 2022, he would not have qualified had he not found victory lane.
I'm not convinced that he will be able to get in on points in 2025 either, and that was before his recent 50-point penalty dropped him from a 10th place tie to 35th place in the point standings.
His best chances to win might very well have come in the season's first two races at Daytona and Atlanta, where he was unable to capitalize. He is now 41 points below the cut line and has only once finished higher than 25th.
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Chase Briscoe might no longer be in must-win situation for Joe Gibbs Racing after his 100-point penalty was rescinded, but we still have Ty Gibbs, who ironically went winless in his first two seasons with the team. Gibbs started off his sophomore season looking like a contender, but he only just managed to sneak into the playoffs.
And his start to the 2025 season has been a disaster. He finds himself in 34th place in the standings, which places him below Jimmie Johnson, who has only competed in the Daytona 500. Gibbs' best finish of the year is 16th, and he has no other top 30 results to his name.
As the grandson of the team owner, Gibbs most definitely has more leeway than most. But he needs to make something happen in year number three, beyond simply being ahead of Cody Ware in the standings.
Honorable mention: Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing
I did not include Austin Dillon as a "playoff driver" since he wasn't in last year's playoffs, but I am adding him as an honorable mention, since he would have qualified for the playoffs had NASCAR not encumbered his Richmond Raceway victory.
Dillon hasn't qualified for the playoffs on points since 2016, but he has gotten in four times since then, even if you exclude last year.
On each occasion, he has finished outside of the top 16 in points and gotten in because of an upset win. Nobody else has done that more than twice in the history of the playoff format (2014 to present), but that's probably what Dillon will need to rely on in 2025, as he finds himself in 28th place in the standings with finishes of 23rd, 16th, and 35th. And that's not a safe bet.
Phoenix Raceway is scheduled to host the Shriners Children's 500 this Sunday, March 9, with live coverage set to begin on Fox Sports 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and be sure to catch all of the action!