Big Changes Coming to the 2025 Playoff Schedule | NASCAR Power Rankings!

2025 Schedule Changes changes are coming to next year's playoffs and changes are coming to this week's Power [Music] Rankings how's it going y'all my name is Eric welcome to out of the groove happy Monday Power Rankings coming your way in just a few moments but let's kick things off with a report from the athletic Jordan bian broke last night on the tear down then wrote today on the athletic that there are changes coming to next year's NASCAR play off schedule click the link below to check out the full piece but let's hit the highlights Atlanta which we already knew Watkins Glenn and Homestead Miami Speedway are moving out of the playoffs next season while Darlington will return to the playoffs as well as New Hampshire and newcomer Gateway man let's catch our breaths for a moment let's break this down one at a time starting with Atlanta we already know that the second Atlanta race next year will move back into the summer months I'm good with this change with Talladega likely keeping its fall slot we only need one super speedway in the playoffs this move gets a thumbs up for me similarly I'm okay with Watkins Glenn being moved out of the playoffs assuming the Charlotte roal sticks around which it sounds like it will we only need one road course in the playoffs now part of me would like to see the roal race return to the Charlotte oval considering how good the next gen car race is at mile and a halfs but since that sounds unlikely moving Watkins Glenn likely back into the month of August is is good with me as well it served that date well for many many years then there's Homestead Miami Speedway and this one is hard to stomach there are reports out there that the City of Homestead Florida is making a serious bid to try and land 2026 NASCAR championship weekend so hopefully next year is just is just a blip it better be because otherwise I don't think this track Will Survive the racing is great but they've torn down a lot of grand stands in recent years and even last October I was there attendance was not fantastic this track has had a late fall date every year except 2020 the pandemic year and 2021 when they tried the spring they raced on February 28th third race of the Season hard to judge attendance there were still some pandemic related complications but as far as TV viewership the race earned 4.2 million viewers on Fox which is really good except when you compare it to the third race of the previous season which was at autoc Club Homestead was down double digits so I'm skeptical that Homestead in the spring is a viable long-term strategy it's close to a big flashy Market but it's not actually in Miami it's about 30 minutes away in Homestead it's a great racetrack but its identity is championship track and if it's not at least a playoff race preferably a final round playoff race preferably a Championship playoff race I'm not sure Homestead Miami Speedway has an identity I would like to see it get the championship date back in 2026 so I'm hopeful that this 2025 spring experiment the athletic is reporting is just a blip it's just a oneoff to try something new for the hell of it back to the list looking at some new playoff track additions for next year Darlington returns will likely be the playoff opener I have to imagine on Labor Day weekend Southern 500 Daytona will once again be the regular season finale next year I actually like this I know some folks believe you know because this race is a crown jewel it should stand on its own but I think being the playoff opener actually enhances this it doesn't take away from the prestige that is the southern 500 just gives us more to watch added emphasis so I'm good with Darlington returning to the playoffs I'm also good and maybe this is a hot take with New Hampshire returning to the playoffs New Hampshire used to have a playoff date for many years the New Hampshire race weekend has been plagued by bad weather at least three of the last four seasons in you know June July so I'm okay with them moving it back to probably September hopefully catch some good weather there and I'm okay with a short flat track being in the first round of the playoffs sort of a precursor to Phoenix and we do know that at least for next year Phoenix will once again be the finale I like the way this first round would Shape Up theoretically we could have Darlington New Hampshire and maybe Bristol I don't know I like that good mix of tracks I'm good with New Hampshire returning to the playoffs especially if it potentially means better weather I'm not so big a fan of Gateway joining the playoffs now we're talking too many flat over and with Gateway why mess with something that isn't broken fans have turned out for that June date the past couple of years the racing has been solid I'd consider St Louis a huge hit in recent Seasons now Jordan bian does note on the tear down that the Indie Car Gateway date has moved to June so maybe those two events are effectively flipping which I don't understand why but okay again Gateway has been a decent track the past couple of Seasons but we don't need another shorter flat oval in the playoffs now we're talking New Hampshire Gateway Martinsville and Phoenix that's too much I think you got to pick one Gateway or New Hampshire and Gateway in June has been a party so I would have left that one alone perhaps NASCAR trying to make room for a race in Mexico City possibly Montreal that's possible too many flat ovals in my opinion but at least we don't have two super Speedways and two road courses like we do this year this year's playoffs are going to be a roller coaster honestly still fingers crossed that Homestead wins the 2026 finale give it one more shot at least please time will tell now the full 2025 NASCAR schedule has not yet been released it's expected any week at this point but don't get your hopes up could still take months knowing how NASCAR typically operates now it's time for one of my favorite segments out of the groove Power Rankings every week I rank the top 10 fastest overall drivers and teams in the Nascar Cup Series let's rock and Power Rankings after Loudon roll two quick honorable mentions kudos Ross Chastain battled back to finish top 10 after spinning late at New Hampshire very well done and Alex Bowman Mr consistency unfortunately suffered an engine failure finished dead last but only lost seven points to the cut line thanks to other drivers struggles let's begin with number 10 I'll put Chris busher back on my power rankings this week he battled back in the bad weather conditions late to score a top five finish at New Hampshire and he nearly doubled his playoff cushion busher is now plus 50 to the cut line he's LED laps in four of the last seven races he's not quite as consistent as his teammate Brad Keselowski but we still see flashes of that same speed Chris busher at 10 at number nine Ryan blay blay ends up with a 25th Place finish after getting wrecked racing inside the top five late Sunday afternoon another winnable race that just didn't break Blay's way we've seen some good speed out of the 12 recently that win at Iowa of course was huge and he's been close to a couple more wins in recent weeks Ryan blay at nine at number eight for the second straight week is Martin TRX Jr speaking of winnable races slipping through their fingers Martin TRX Jr was right there with his teammate Christopher Bell when his pit crew had an issue with the right rear at the beginning of stage three knocked Trux from the lead group back to 26th he was involved in a wreck later on yet still battled back to score a top 10 finish which just shows Once Again Martin trck Jr had top five speed but little to show for it bad luck bad execution it's a mix of everything seemingly every single week still I believe in the speed of this team Martin TRX Jr at number eight it was a surprisingly off day at New Hampshire for Brad Keselowski I'll put him at number seven New Hampshire historically has been one of his better racetracks after finishing 26th I honestly thought about dropping keslowski behind both Trux and blay but then I figured I'd be disrespecting the six teams fantastic streak before the bad day at New Hampshire keslowski had finished 1 2D third 13th and 10th the previous five races that's pretty great for that I'll keep Brad keslowski at 7 for now I've bumped William Byron back to six in some ways this reminds me of his 2022 season you know got a couple of wins early in the year looked great but then was woefully inconsistent throughout the summer Byron is definitely running better this year than he did in 2022 so I will give him credit for that but like New Hampshire this weekend he had good track position at the start yet faded almost immediately finished outside the top 20 in fact over the last eight races William Byron has more finishes is outside of the top 20 than he does inside of the top 10 that's not a great Trend I've bumped Byron to six for the time being holding on to the number five spot is Tyler reic some bold strategy at the start of stage three salvaged what was otherwise going to be probably an unremarkable 10th to 15th Place day reic ran well in the wet finished six quietly very consistent reic has four top 10s the past five races and is holding on to fifth in the regular season standing so fifth is a good spot for in my power Power Rankings once again at number four I've got Chase Elliott another solid day for Elliott earned 10 stage points was in the top five top 10 most of the day LED some laps but was collected by Joey Lano on a late race restart despite that setback Elliot was able to recover well enough to finish 18th so his top 20 streak his season long top 20 streak is still intact and despite the unfortunate finish Chase ellot is still at least tied for the regular season points lead with his teammate Kyle Larson I've got Chase selot and four at number three Denny Hamlin blew a motor at Sonoma fired off horribly at Iowa before getting caught up in a crash then his run at New Hampshire looked like two completely different races in the dry Denny Hamlin was great worked his way through the field one stage two but then after the red flag Denny Hamlin faded and ultimately finished 24th despite this tough stretch I still have Denny Hamlin at three because he's tied for the most wins he's got the second most laps led the third most stage points third in the regular season STS overall this season Denny Hamlin still has looked really really good but flying up the leaderboard this week all the way to number two Christopher Bell is the big mover he's now part of that four-way tie with three wins on the season he won another stage he's now second in stage wins Christopher Bell is on a tear five weeks ago just before the start of the cocacola 600 Christopher Bell was 15th in the regular season standings now he's all the way up to six th in the regular season standings has added two more race wins Christopher Bell deserves to be in the number two position right now I know what some of yall are saying but Eric I thought yesterday you said Christopher Bell was the championship favorite shouldn't Christopher Bell be number one then by that logic I hear you but if you go back I called Christopher Bell the favorite just because of his success at Short flat ovals this list is meant to highlight the best overall drivers and teams at all sorts of tracks and that's why as great as Christopher Bell has been lately I still have to give the edge to Kyle lson despite all the variables on Sunday despite the spat with his spotter Kyle Larson still scored a top five finish good call by Cliff Daniels to take two tires at the start of stage three got him all that track position and he never relinquished it even in the wet can't say enough about Larson still tied for the most wins he has the most stage wins most laps LED he caught Chase Elliot tied again for the regular season points lead Kyle lson at number one until he starts to stumble I don't see him giving up that Crown anytime soon but there you go my out of the Grove Power Rankings after New Hampshire halfway through the season more than halfway through the regular season but 18 out of 36 points paying races are complete let me know if you agree or disagree always enjoy that segment and always enjoy reading your comments afterwards thank you so much for watching this video y'all leave a like if you enjoyed this video subscribe for more NASCAR content and commentary every single day earlier today I uploaded a rare Vlog I visited North Carolina the heart of of North Carolina checked out some cool historic racing sites some other fun North Carolina attractions be sure to check that video out it's on my channel if you're interested and a big thank you to my patreon supporters of course I will see you all again tomorrow have a wonderful rest of your Monday folks thanks for watching [Music]