With the first half of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in the rearview mirror, it’s safe to say that several drivers would like a re-do.
That’s not possible, of course, so the best they can hope for is a turnaround in the season’s final 18 races.
Ahead of Sunday’s Chicago Street Race, let’s take a quick look at the three Cup Series drivers who’ve failed most miserably, at least so far, to live up to expectations.
1. Noah Gragson, NASCAR Cup Series Driver For Front Row Motorsports
Competing for his third team in as many seasons as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, Noah Gragson continues to struggle.
Despite boasting considerable talent as evidenced from his days in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he captured a league-leading eight wins in 2022, Gragson has seemingly still not found the right fit in NASCAR’s premier division.
After making some improvements from Year One to Year Two as a full-timer, Gragson has experienced a statistical regression in 2025 with Front Row Motorsports.
Thirty-third in the standings with just three top-10s, the affable Las Vegas native has nowhere to go but up. But his climb appears to be a rather steep one.
2. Ty Gibbs, Driver For Joe Gibbs Racing
After making a commendable jump from Year One to Year Two as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, Ty Gibbs appeared poised for a breakout 2025. It hasn’t happened yet, though.
Gibbs, who made the playoffs last year after coming up short as a rookie, entered this season with hopes of not only returning to the playoffs but capturing his first premier series win.
The grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs is still hunting that elusive victory, however, and currently sits 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings — nine positions worse than where he finished 2024.
Making Ty Gibbs’ shortcomings all the more glaring is that he’s the only one of the four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers not to make it to Victory Lane in 2025.
3. Kyle Busch, Driver For Richard Childress Racing
Since essentially being booted out of Joe Gibbs Racing after 2022 to make room for Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch has enjoyed only fleeting success at Richard Childress Racing.
While his first year at RCR showed some promise, mainly in the form of his three early-season wins, Busch has not been to Victory Lane in over two years since.
The worst part, perhaps? If anything, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has taken a step back in 2025 — a season after going winless for the first time in his full-time Cup career. Busch is 20th in points, exactly where he finished last season, but is on pace to finish the year with three fewer top-fives.
Busch is locked in for the 2026 season at RCR, with the company having picked up the option on his contract, but nothing about his results from 2025 suggests he’s on the cusp of a breakthrough anytime soon.
