This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Christopher Bell came from the 32nd starting position to score an unlikely victory in Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver worked his way through the field Sunday, avoiding trouble along the way, inserting himself into a three-wide photo finish when NASCAR threw the caution flag on the last lap of an overtime restart. Bell's win came against the run of form from Toyota after the manufacturer clearly did not have the pace or stability of the Ford contingent the past two weeks. In total, Sunday's race featured 50 lead changes among 15 drivers with Toyota leading just seven circuits and Bell just one of those. However, you have to be in it to win it, and avoiding the day's pitfalls made the difference for the No. 20 team. With two drivers provisionally qualified for the season-ending championship playoffs with race victories, the rest of the garage will seek to join them as soon as possible. However, they may still feel a bit uncomfortable as the series visits a road course this coming week.
After starting the season with wins, Bell and William Byron have some momentum in hand, which the rest of the garage will want to steal for themselves. This week's trip to Circuit of the Americas could not be more different than the last two weeks where drafting and pack-style racing was the order of the day. Before the NASCAR Cup Series gets to the heart of the schedule with a string of intermediate ovals, the teams and drivers will have to shift gears for a road course visit after surviving the spin cycle of back-to-back superspeedway stops.
UPGRADE
Christopher Bell - Bell found himself a car's nose ahead of a three-wide fight for first place when caution fell on the final lap Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That caution ended the race, putting Bell in Victory Lane, joining William Byron as a 2025 race winner with a spot in the championship playoffs. Sunday's victory was Bell's 10th series victory, and it sets him up well for the coming weekend at Circuit of the Americas where Bell has two top-five finishes from four starts. He finished second at the track last season, leading nine laps. With a victory out of the way early, Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team can now afford to turn their attention toward preparations for the playoffs. Bell has two prior championship-race appearances, but was kept out of last year's finale after he was disqualified for riding the wall on the final lap at Martinsville. The goal this season will be nothing less than to win it all.
Kyle Larson - Larson's superspeedway struggles were well documented leading up to Sunday's race. The former series champion had been involved in six crashes at Atlanta and has largely underachieved at Daytona and Talladega, too. However, as if in response to the criticism, Larson delivered the goods Sunday afternoon. The Hendrick Motorsports driver qualified 17th, but swiftly climbed into the top 10 and spent nearly the entire race there. Larson won the second stage and led 12 laps before putting himself in position to race for the win in the final miles. It was his first stage victory at a superspeedway, and in the end, he narrowly missed out on the race win when caution fell as he was three wide on the final lap. Sunday's superspeedway top-five represented significant progress for Larson on the configuration and will likely boost the team's confidence at other tracks as well. That potential could be on display this week at the Circuit of the Americas, too. Larson has been noteworthy on road courses and finished second at the track in 2021.
Ryan Blaney - Despite spinning with less than 30 laps remaining in Sunday's race, Blaney leveraged his car's strength and fresh tires to claw back through the field and scoop his second top-10 finish of the season. While having such a competitive car and again missing out on the race win will sting, Blaney can take comfort in the fact that he is one of just two drivers to have finished in the top 10 in both races so far this season. Those finishes put him at the top of the standings, too. While a win would certainly be his preference, Blaney is still off to one of the hottest starts of the year. The coming week's road racing venture may test that momentum, though. While Blaney has been decent on road course races in the past, his best COTA finish was sixth in 2022 when he started on pole. He finished 12th at the track last season and should be happy with another top-10 finish this time.
Carson Hocevar - Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar delivered significant improvement in the second half of 2024 and was tipped to continue that upward trajectory in 2025. Sunday's Atlanta race was another demonstration of that potential. Hocevar started just 26th Sunday afternoon, but he hauled his car into the top 10 by the end of the caution-free first stage. He never looked back after that, finishing seventh in the second stage, too. By the end, Hocevar was solidly in the top five and was one the the three-wide combatants for the race win when caution fell. Hocevar's second-place finish was his second series top-five finish and the best of his career. He could also be one to look out for this coming week, too. Hocevar's best prior series finish came on a road course last season, which was a third-place finish at Watkins Glen. He heads to Texas full of confidence, but will have to be cautious of the feathers he ruffled Sunday with some aggressive driving in the pack.
Josh Berry - Ford power propelled Berry to the third starting spot for Sunday's Atlanta visit. The new Wood Brothers Racing driver then used that pace to win the first stage of the day and lead a total of 56 laps throughout the race. Unfortunately, the final overtime crash included the No. 21, which relegated the frontrunner to an unrepresentative finish of 25th. While the race finish wasn't what Berry and the team probably deserved, it was still a significant step forward from a lackluster Daytona 500 a week prior. The Atlanta race weekend showed that, despite being at a new team, Berry could still have potential to score some top finishes this season. The next few races will show whether or not that potential is limited to superspeedways, though. Berry isn't known as a road course contender and his lone series start at COTA resulted in a 35th-place finish. The following week's trip to Phoenix may be more indicative of the No. 21's true potential.
DOWNGRADE
Daniel Suarez - One of the biggest underachievers last week was Daniel Suarez. The Trackhouse Racing driver finished second or better in the last three Atlanta races and only failed to finish one of the six visits to the track since it was reconfigured to superspeedway form ahead of the 2022 season. This past weekend started poorly for he and the team when they only managed to qualify 29th. Once racing got underway, Suarez failed to make an impression and move forward, too. The defending race winner remained mired in traffic outside of the top 20 through both stages and was unable to find the adjustments necessary to make the car more competitive. Racing deep in traffic ultimately proved to be even more harmful when Suarez was part of a multi-car accident that ended the team's day prematurely, leaving him just 24th in points after two races.
Austin Cindric - Despite having one of the strongest cars in the first two races of the season, Cindric heads to the third race of the season without a victory. The Team Penske driver qualified on the front row at both Daytona and Atlanta, leading a combined 106 laps in the two races, but only sits fifth in the standings after crashes thwarted his chances of winning. At Atlanta, Cindric spent much of the day at the front of the field, finishing second and ninth in the first two stages before being involved in a crash with William Byron less than two laps from the scheduled finish. While the wins haven't come, this week's trip to Texas could still prove to be an opportunity for the No. 2 team. In addition to superspeedways, Cindric is also historically good at road courses. He has two top-10s at the Circuit of the Americas from four series starts. He finished 18th there last season and failed to lead, though.
Todd Gilliland - A flat tire torpedoed Gilliland's top-finish potential Sunday at Atlanta. The Front Row Motorsports driver was poised for a productive afternoon following a top-five qualifying effort. The Ford driver went on to score stage points in the opening segment and led seven laps before the flat struck, dropping him out of the list of top contenders. The team soldiered on and recovered as much as possible despite the damage, collecting a 15th-place finish for their effort. Sunday's points put Gilliland just outside of the top 20 in the series standings after two races, and the team's speed through the weekend should give them hope that top finishes can be achieved this year. This week's road course visit could also help them move up in the standings, too. Gilliland's best COTA finish was 10th in 2023 and his average finish from three series starts is 17.3 despite an average starting spot of 30.3.
Brad Keselowski - Despite being one of the all-powerful Ford drivers, Keselowski's 2025 fate hasn't matched the potential. First, Keselowski finished outside of the top 20 at Daytona, then the former champion stumbled at Atlanta. He qualified inside the top 10 to start Sunday's race, but slipped backward and missed stage points in the opening segment. A mistake on pit road, a stuck fuel can being taken out of his box, resulted in a penalty that put him at the back of the field. That loss of track position proved to be detrimental when he was involved in a multi-car crash toward the end of that second stage. The damage suffered in the crash was enough to end the day for the No. 6 and left Keselowski with just one point earned from the race. His overall lack of points these first two races leaves him outside of the top 30 in the early season standings, too. With no top-10 finishes for Keselowski in four COTA attempts, the prospect of a quick turnaround this week seems bleak.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
John Hunter Nemechek - Two races into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season there are only two drivers that have two top-10 finishes, and one is John Hunter Nemechek. Last year was the first full-time season Nemechek spent in the series since 2020, and his tally of top-10 finishes for the year was just four. He is already halfway toward eclipsing that total just two races into 2025, and he has his first top-five, too. These two superspeedway races to start the year have left no doubt that Legacy Motor Club has improved its fortunes on these types of tracks. The hard part will come as they seek to extend that improvement across all track styles, though. At the COTA road course last season, Nemechek started 22nd and finished 21st. However, in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, his best finish was second in 2022. Nemechek has the skill and fantasy players will be anxious to see if Legacy Motor Club continues to deliver him the equipment.
