The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season has come to a close, with 16 drivers and a handful of teams turning their attention to the playoffs. After 26 regular-season races, we now have an opportunity to reflect on what unfolded this year with our first-ever NASCAR award selections.
Let’s dive into our NASCAR awards picks following the conclusion of the regular season.
Related: NASCAR Playoff Standings
Best Driver: William Byron
William Byron was the regular-season champion in the Cup Series, so it only makes sense to name him the best NASCAR driver heading into the playoffs. Byron (two) didn’t have as many wins as Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen (four) or even Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell (three), but he was consistently the best. Quite frankly, if not for the multiple instances when he ran out of gas, Byron’s win total and average finishing position would be even higher.
Related: NASCAR Power Rankings entering the NASCAR Playoffs
Rookie of the Year: Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen is the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, and no one else even merits consideration. In truth, SVG would have secured Rookie of the Year honors with just a single road course victory this season. The fact that he broke the Cup Series rookie record for wins (four), reached Victory Lane each time in dominant fashion, and steadily improved on ovals left no doubt he was the best rookie.
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Biggest Disappointment: Tyler Reddick
Across the 2024 campaign (36 races), Tyler Reddick recorded three wins, 12 top-5s, 21 top-10s and he finished with the fourth-most laps led (597) in the Cup Series. This year, he went the entire regular season without a victory and he netted just five top-five finishes in 25 races with 153 laps led. We’re not entirely sure what went wrong for Reddick this year, especially since teammate Bubba Wallace was phenomenal this summer. With 23XI Racing’s charter status for next season uncertain and Reddick’s contract giving him the right to opt out if the team doesn’t have a charter, the timing for his worst season since 2021 could’ve been a lot better.
Related: NASCAR Lined Up Buyers to Sell 23XI Racing Charters for Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace
Most Improved: Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe made the most out of his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing. A year ago with Stewart-Haas Racing, Briscoe had three top-5s, nine top-10s and an average finishing position of 15.7. Across 23 regular-season starts in the No. 19 car for JGR, Briscoe led the Cup Series in poles (six) and he more than tripled his top-5 finishes (10) while snagging 12 top-10s with a 13.32 average finishing position. Keep in mind, Briscoe’s numbers this season easily surpassed what Martin Truex Jr did last season for the 19 team. By the end of the summer, Briscoe was performing like one of the five best drivers in NASCAR.
Read More: 8 Big Changes NASCAR Should Make for the 2026 Season
Breakout Driver: Carson Hocevar
Denny Hamlin is right: Carson Hocevar has superstar talent. At just 22 years old, Hocevar more than quintupled his laps led total from his rookie season (16 to 90), earned his first career Cup pole, and consistently showed top-tier speed despite driving for a second-tier team. At his absolute best, Hocevar’s performance rivals the top drivers in the Cup Series. No one expects him to tone down his aggressiveness, but with more experience, he will race smarter, and his first Cup win feels inevitable within the next calendar year.
- Runner-Up: Shane van Gisbergen
Related: Carson Hocevar Reveals Odd Approach to Friendships with NASCAR Drivers
Biggest Surprise: Ryan Preece’s Strong Year
Even without the DQ at Talladega Superspeedway, erasing a top-five finish, Ryan Preece wouldn’t have had the points to make the NASCAR playoffs. With that said, there’s a strong argument to be made that he was the best RFK Racing driver in the regular season. Preece had as many top-five finishes in the regular season as he did over the last four years in the Cup Series and he had nearly as many top-10 finishes (10) as he did over those four years. Most impressive, when the pressure of making the playoffs was at its highest, Preece had the sixth-best average finishing position (14.3) in his last 15 regular-season races and he came oh so close at Daytona to winning his way into the playoffs.
- Runner-Up: Austin Dillon’s Win at Richmond
Related: Rick Ware Racing Blocked by Judge from Multi-Million-Dollar Charter Sales
Best Race: Chase Elliott’s Win in Atlanta
We picked the race that had the eighth-highest rating (90.5 percent) in the Next Gen era of the Jeff Gluck good race poll and it likely would’ve been even higher if the race had been broadcast on Amazon Prime Video. The Quaker State 400 had an incredible battle for the lead in the final 10 laps, with Chase Elliott getting past Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski for the last-lap pass and the win. There was the big wreck on Lap 69 that took out a quarter of the field and allowed No. 32 seed Ty Dillon to advance past No. 1 seed Denny Hamlin in the first round of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge. There were also a few other wrecks and a whopping 46 lead changes among 13 drivers. In a season where fans had a lot of reasons to complain about different races, the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta delivered the excitement, drama and tight battles that make racing great.
- Runner-Up: Denny Hamlin’s Win at Michigan
Related: NASCAR Playoff Schedule 2025, Cup Series Schedule for 2026
Best Pit Crew: Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Team
It’s remarkable to think that just a few seasons ago, the pit crew for the No. 23 team was one of the biggest reasons Bubba Wallace was being held back. That was the downside of 23XI’s decision to develop its own pit crew instead of contracting them out. All of the money, practice, and time put into improving resulted in the fastest and most consistent pit crew in NASCAR this season. Each time the No. 23 comes in, Wallace is routinely put in a position to gain spots off pit road. They played a critical role in his Brickyard 400 win and his outstanding success late this summer. Plus, unlike a few other teams, the No. 23 team never had to make swaps with other pit crews this season.
Related: Why NASCAR Says 23XI Racing is Suing Them
