3 NASCAR Cup Series teams with the best chances for a title run in 2025
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season was a hard-fought one for all teams, especially for Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. The three aforementioned teams fought all out in the regular season, and then in the playoffs.
In the end, Team Penske's Joey Logano came out as the winner ahead of his teammate, Ryan Blaney while HMS' William Byron finished the season in third place. As the 2024 season is over already, all eyes will be on 2025, and on the teams who have the potential to come out as winners.
On that note, let's take a look at three teams who are capable to launch a title run in the upcoming Cup Series season.
#3 Team Penske
Team Penske stands as the most successful NASCAR Cup Series team in recent times after winning the last three titles. Logano won it for them in 2022, followed by Blaney in 2023, and Logano again in 2024.
All three Penske drivers claimed at least one victory in the regular season, and as a result, qualified for the playoffs. Among them, two out of three drivers made it to Championship 4. This speaks volumes about Team Penske's performance at the clutch moments, and given their consistency, there's a fair chance of us seeing more of them during the latter stages of the 2025 season.
The Roger Penske-owned team failed to perform in the first few races. However, they came back brilliantly in the latter stage of the season and came out victorious with eight overall wins.
As Team Penske has been mighty in the Playoffs, all eyes will be on Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Cindric's performance with their Ford Mustang Dark Horses.
#2 Joe Gibbs Racing
Despite having enormous potential, Joe Gibbs Racing failed to convert them into reality in 2024. All four JGR drivers were in the playoffs, but unfortunately, none of them qualified for the NASCAR Championship 4 at Phoenix.
With six victories to their name, the Joe Gibbs-owned team was the frontrunner to clinch the championship this season. However, all four drivers — Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Martin Truex Jr. failed in the end.
Once the new season starts, all eyes will be on JGR, and their star drivers to see how they return in style. With Toyota Racing Development's performance and JGR's strategy, they are one of the teams to look out for.
#1 Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful and winningest team of the NASCAR Cup Series, disappointed both fans and experts with their 2024 performance. Despite having all four drivers in the playoffs, only one of them (Byron) qualified for the Championship 4 at Phoenix.
All four drivers claimed at least one victory in the regular season, and as a team, HMS picked up a total of 11 wins, making them the team with the most victories in 2024.
However, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Alex Bowman failed to make use of the opportunity and claim the NASCAR Cup Series Championship.
As the new season is on the brink, fans and experts will keep their eyes on Hendrick Motorsports to see how the Rick Hendrick-owned team repeats their 2020 and 2021 valiance when Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson won their championships.