Five NASCAR Cup Series storylines entering 2025 Daytona 500

The 2025 Daytona 500 will kick off a NASCAR Cup Series season next Sunday with plenty of storylines.

Here are five to watch:

Midsummer madness

NASCAR aims to spur interest, create intrigue and serve track owners. Among the changes are an in-season tournament, a path to the asphalt for accomplished drivers outside the Cup Series and a trip south of the border.

A five-race mid-season competition ultimately will pit two drivers vying for a $1 million prize. The tournament begins June 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, followed by trips to the Chicago Street Course, Sonoma Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway before the July 27 finale in Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Brickyard 400.

The 32-car field will be cut in half each week — to 16 to eight to four and finally two drivers going head to head as TNT Sports returns to NASCAR coverage for the first time since 2014.

Meanwhile, world-class wheelmen from outside NASCAR will get a shot, beginning with four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves at Daytona International Speedway. The 49-year-old will be the first to claim an automatic spot using the Open Exemption Provisional to attract big names outside the Cup Series.

Another effort to expand the sport’s reach is a June 15 race in Mexico City, marking NASCAR’s first international race since 1958 with points at stake.

MJ takes to the courts

Teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have been in a fight for their futures. For now, each is able to compete as a chartered team.

23XI racing, owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, sued NASCAR over an antitrust complaint. The teams disliked the terms of the deal and aimed to expand from two to three full-time cars.

A federal judge had to step in and grant a preliminary injunction in December. Otherwise, 23XI and Front Row would have had to compete without the same protections and financial benefits gained from prize money and guaranteed spots for chartered teams — a potential loss of $45 million, according to Jenkins.

23XI driver Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champion, had an opt-out clause if the Jordan/Hamlin team did not have a charter. NASCAR’s appeal was denied last month.

Reddick’s next step

The reigning regular-season champion is a rising star because of his consistency and a sixth sense.

During the past three seasons, Reddick has eight wins and is among four drivers, along with Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson, with at least 10 top-fives each season.

“He just has the ability to get speed out of a car that others can’t,” Hamlin told the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s also got very good race craft … being able to keep himself in the game, even when he doesn’t have the best car.”

Reddick is poised for a big week, if not a breakthrough moment for the 29-year-old. He showed his superspeedway prowess in 2024, winning one of the two Bluegreen Vacations Duels ahead of the Daytona 500 and picked up a dramatic victory in April at Talladega Superspeedway while Jordan looked on during a crash-filled final lap on iconic 2.66-mile tri-oval.

Not done yet

Martin Truex Jr. has put his retirement on pause for another shot at the Daytona 500. The popular driver retired from full-time racing after the 2024 season but will attempt to qualify with Tricon Garage in the No. 56 Toyota sponsored by Bass Pro Shops — the 44-year-old’s longtime backer.

A 34-time winner, Truex was 0 of 39 during the two annual races at Daytona International Speedway. The New Jersey native lost the ultimate heartbreaker to Hamlin by .01 seconds, the closest Daytona 500 in the event’s illustrious 66-year history.

Meanwhile, seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson is opting for a cockpit over a rocking chair in retirement. The 49-year-old will try to qualify in the No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota.

Crowning a champion

The Cup Series champion is the season’s big winner but rarely the winningest driver. Late-season success during the 10-race playoffs often trumps season-long consistency.

Johnson, the 2016 champion, and Truex, who won in 2017, captured the most races along with the season-ending title. Since then, 2021 winner Kyle Larson is the only driver to win both the season-ending championship and the most races.

Despite a series-leading six victories in 2024, Larson lost out to four-time winner Joey Logano, marking the third time he won a championship without winning the most races. In 2018, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch each won eight races while Logano won just three.

Logano was on the other side of the equation in 2015 when he won a season-high six times but Busch won the championship and five times.

Logano received some good fortune last season when Alex Bowman’s disqualification for his car being underweight put Logano back into the round of eight after he’d been eliminated.

“Now you’re talking to the current champion, but I absolutely love it,” Logano told the Orlando Sentinel. “The regular-season races lock you into the playoffs, but you also get playoff points that are very important. And then the playoffs come along and you are put in do-or-die scenarios — high-pressure, big moments, just like in other sports.

“The fact that we have that in our sport now is fun to watch — and it’s stressful to be a part of.”