The 2025 Cup Series has not begun in a way that many anticipated. Christopher Bell has already won three races, and William Byron leads the driver standings, while Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have majorly underperformed. A key stat that has emerged after the first five races put things into further perspective.
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The stat was a comparison of the stage points that drivers have gained or lost between 2024 and 2025 after five races. 23XI Racing Bubba Wallace led the chart, having gained 43 stage points over his 2024 tally.
The defending champion, Joey Logano, has secured 36 stage points over what he did last year. He is the driver with the second biggest transition. Notably, Logano has also led the most laps thus far (247). The current points leader, Byron, has gained 30 points over what he had last season.
Josh Berry and Ryan Preece round off the top five drivers with the biggest gains over 2024. On the other end of the scale are the drivers who have lost their season-opening luster from last year.
2024 vs 2025 Stage points earned
(Through 5 races) pic.twitter.com/4JeOZijB3N— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) March 18, 2025
Ty Gibbs has zero stage points after five races. This is a 37-point drop from 2024. Denny Hamlin has 15 stage points, a 31-point drop, and Kyle Larson has 22 points, a 26-point drop. RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski is a part of this table, having secured 17 stage points less than what he did last year.
These numbers say a lot about the seasons that each of these drivers is having. Wallace, while he has only one top-10 finish so far, has put on some strong performances. If he finds the trick execute finishes a tad bit better, he would be higher up the points table. Hamlin and Larson, however, desperately need to reach victory lane.
It is a matter of certainty that either of them will win at least one race by the end of the regular season. But it is not a good look for them to struggle for stage points in the meantime.
Larson is sixth on the points table, and Hamlin is 12th. Ty Gibbs is a special case. Through his bad results, the 22-year-old has sparked rumors that he will be replaced soon.
His grandfather, Joe Gibbs, will have to make the hardest decision of his career if the youngster doesn’t pick up his performance soon. Byron finds himself at the top of the points table despite Bell winning three races. This is owed to the extraordinary number of stage points he has picked up and his consistency across the five races.
