Racing Insights: Who Will Score Their First 2025 Win?

The NASCAR Cup Series is at its halfway mark for the 2025 regular season, and only eight drivers have claimed a win to secure their playoff positions. With the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway approaching on June 1, several big names are still searching for their first trip to Victory Lane this year.

Nashville serves as just the fifth Cup race hosted at the 1.33-mile concrete oval, giving both veterans and up-and-coming drivers a shot at changing their season’s outlook.

Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion, has been consistent all year, finishing every race inside the top 20 and notching seven top-10s. Hendrick Motorsports, his team, leads in almost every major category—collecting five pole positions, 19 top-five finishes, 31 top-10 results, 1,706 laps led, and 14 stage wins so far in 2025.

Elliott’s experience on concrete tracks is strong, highlighted by his 2022 Nashville win, so many expect he could break his winless streak in Music City.

Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, has yet to win this season. Blaney’s campaign has been tough, with five DNFs—the highest of any driver—but he still ranks first in long-run speed and passing, according to NASCAR Insights.

At Nashville, he finished third in 2022 and sixth last year, though crashes dropped him to 36th or lower in his other starts at the track. If Blaney can avoid trouble, his speed puts him in contention for that long-awaited win.

Chase Briscoe, now driving the No. 19 for Joe Gibbs Racing, is another candidate. Although Briscoe’s average finish at Nashville is 29.3, his previous starts came with Stewart-Haas Racing.

He has recently shown speed, capturing two poles this season and three top-four finishes in his last five races. Despite the team still working to find chemistry, Briscoe’s top-three finish at the Coca-Cola 600 shows he’s adapting quickly and could factor into the win this weekend.

Bubba Wallace stands out as well. He has finished in the top 20 in all four of his Cup starts at Nashville, holding a 13.5 average finish at the track.

Wallace is hoping to bounce back after a trio of disappointing results, all outside the top 30, and Nashville could be the place for him to do it.

AJ Allmendinger and Ryan Preece are also worth watching. Allmendinger scored fourth place in the Coca-Cola 600 and has four Cup top-10s this season.

He’s enjoyed Xfinity Series success at Nashville with a win two years ago. Preece, too, is on the playoff bubble and has two career Truck Series victories at the track, making Nashville one of his best circuits among non-short tracks.

Racing Insights projects drivers like Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, and William Byron among the top finishers for the Cracker Barrel 400, but the race could offer a breakthrough moment for one of the winless hopefuls.

With thirteen regular-season races remaining, each event becomes more important for drivers seeking to punch their ticket to the playoffs. The green flag drops Sunday in Nashville, where a first win of the season might change someone’s year. More information on racing dynamics can be compared to recent developments like the Monaco GP changes.

Additionally, drivers’ adaptation to track conditions is crucial, much like how teams adjust aerodynamics, as seen in the McLaren F1 front wing updates. The speed and strategy elements of NASCAR share parallels with other motorsports, including Formula 1’s focus on flexibility in car setups, such as the F1 flexi wing at the Spanish GP.

John Martinez

John Martinez delivers real-time NASCAR Cup Series and Truck Series news, from live race updates to pit-lane strategy analysis. A graduate of the University of Northwestern Ohio’s Motorsports Technology program, he breaks down rule changes, driver tactics, and championship points with crystal-clear reporting.