Just over 16 weeks in the 2025 NASCAR season, FOX production’s reign of terror is finally over and the sport is heading into the dog days of summer.

Before the premier stock car series heads to Prime for one of the sport’s crown jewels, The Wave Around thought it would be a great time to fire off some hot takes, predictions and overreactions to the start of the season.

The Three Amigos

23XI, RFK and Trackhouse overextended themselves

All of these teams looked to be future title contenders within the last two seasons, but after adding a third car this offseason, they have seemingly fallen off a cliff in 2025. 

Trackhouse has especially struggled, with all three cars having an average starting position of 23rd or worse. Only Ross Chastain has an average finish higher than 20th and it’s been clear that his #1 car just doesn’t have race-winning speed these days. 

While not facing the steep fall off that Trackhouse is, RFK had Chris Buscher in title conversations this time last season and in 2025 he has one top-5. While teammate Ryan Preece has shown flashes, he averages a starting position of 21st and finishing position of 19th.

It’s been an all-time bad year for Brad Kesolowski, which might be a contributing factor to the lack of speed in the RFK Fords. It’s not just these two teams, 23XI, who also expanded to three cars, has lacked speed as well.

Bright spots from Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick have kept them more competitive than the other teams in this category, but their #35 car has been so abysmal, I bet I just reminded you it exists.

The Baby-faced Assassin 

Christopher Bell remains my championship favorite

Christopher Bell finally returned to victory lane by way of moving Joey Logano in last weekend’s All-Star race, which only reinforced my confidence in his championship hopes.

Unfortunately for NASCAR purists everywhere, the championship comes down to a winner take all at Phoenix and Bell has been one of maybe three drivers who can pass on a short track. He’s shown a cool head under pressure while still doing what it takes to win.

Did Bell take a bit of a backseat to Kyle Larson after his win at Phoenix? Yes, but he’s quietly put together a solid run with only one finish outside of the top 10 since Martinsville.  

His consistency and attitude keeps Bell at the top of my driver rankings this season, and if you listen closely, you can hear Cam’s heart shatter when I say that.

Everyone’s a Critic 

Please don’t let Carson Hocevar get the Chastain treatment

If you haven’t had an issue with the #77 car this season, you’re probably a Hoecvar fan, and even then, you might just not be paying attention. From wrecks to mistakes, Hocevar has made his fair share of enemies and radio clips at his expense, but I love him for it.

Hocevar’s personality is polarizing, and while I wish he had more on-track success to back up the moves he makes, he brings something to the sport nobody else does. In an age of the sport where drivers take fewer risks than ever, fans can always count on Hocevar to send it three-wide or squeeze into a gap, even if it doesn’t exist.

Is it always smart? Nah, but it’s fun and that’s all I want sometimes. He truly reminds me of Chastain’s first couple of seasons in NASCAR before Rick Hendrick gave him brain worms.

Not just on the track, but off of it, he’s excelling at appealing to a new audience of fans in addition to the die-hards. His Twitch streams create hilarious clips, his Chili’s sponsorship couldn’t be better timed and his social media presence is a breath of fresh air.

Where did Weird Al go? 

Call it cope if you’d like, but the parity will return

While the NASCAR Next Gen car has numerous flaws, it has revolutionized the sport when it comes to parity. Last year, 18 different drivers won a race, an unheard-of mark in the Gen 6 or COT era. 

This season hasn’t seen much in the way of parity, however, with only seven different winners. Those winners all come from top teams as well, only Penske, Gibbs and Hendrick have put cars in victory lane this season.

Trust me, I’ve been the first to complain about this lack of parity, but as we head into the next chunk of the season, I’m optimistic it will return. Reddick and Wallace are due in their 23XI cars, I still believe Chastain and Buscher are capable of winning a race as well.

Outside of that, Shane Van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger are always threats to steal a road course win. Who knows, maybe God finally ends my and all of Rowdy Nation’s torture and Kyle Busch pilots the #8 back to victory lane. 

Ah, what am I saying, another five wins for Larson and Bell will do just fine for my ever-dwindling sanity.

Can’t Kick Up The Roots 

While fanbase expansion is something crucial to NASCAR, the ASR showed it’ll always have its history to lean on 

The revival of North Wilkesboro is nothing short of remarkable. Four years ago, I could sneak into the facility and enjoy a snack or read a comic if I wanted to (not suggested) and now it’s returned as a site where you can host a huge Cup series event. 

You see the stands on TV; NASCAR will never die in the American South. Some of that same group can scoff at NASCAR’s choices and claim it has died, but whenever it shows up at its stomping grounds, there are droves of fans in tow. 

 The upcoming Coke 600 in Charlotte has been described as one of the more diverse and attractive NASCAR events on the schedule, and it’s in NASCAR’s mecca. 

Point being, trying to come back to other tracks that have been lost to time or reinventing parts of NASCARs history can clearly be successful and benefit the sport in the long run. 

Why not give us a rotating street course every year, and if that can be done, why not race through the streets of Charlotte? It may not be the most growth-first choice for the sport, but it could go a long way in showing people all over that there’s still a high interest in motorsports.