We have had a very clean race weekend at Kansas Speedway thus far, and that’s the kind of race that we’re expecting with the Hollywood Casino 400 this afternoon as well. Comparing it to last week’s race at Charlotte, today’s event should be similar in that there will be quite a few leaders (not one dominator), but hopefully not all of the wrecks, blown engines, and other mechanical issues. As far as the best DraftKings Lineup on Sunday, with the way the pricing structure is this week, it looks like the best option will be to stay away from Martin Truex, Jr. and Kevin Harvick, as they are simply over-priced.
With Matt Kenseth being just $8,700, it’s very difficult to pass on him this weekend despite being on the pole. If he can get 30+ bonus FPTS for laps led and fastest laps today, he’s going to be worth the risk because that #20 Toyota is still a top 5 car. This lineup banks on him leading the most laps today and the rest of the drivers picking up the FPTS slack with place differential and finish points–except for Menard, who we hope can stay in the top 20. If you’re worried about negative place differential with the #27 team, you could throw Chris Buescher or Casey Mears on there, too.
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
Matt Kenseth
Kasey Kahne
Ryan Blaney
Paul Menard
Lineup #2
If you’re looking to fade Matt Kenseth today and still stick with a Lineup that doesn’t have any of the very high-dollar drivers, you can accomplish that by swapping out Kenseth for Logano and Menard for Buescher. The only problem we have with this Lineup is that there really isn’t a potential dominator on there, but as we said before, there could be a lot of leaders today.
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
Joey Logano
Kasey Kahne
Ryan Blaney
Casey Mears
Lineup #3
It’s very possible that Kyle Busch dominates this race. He had good practice speeds on Saturday and is currently on a three-race streak of top 5s here at Kansas. Oh, he also won the May race here this season. The bad news is that he starts 2nd, but the good news is that him and teammate Matt Kenseth could just trade the lead back and forth all day.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Matt Kenseth
Kasey Kahne
Ryan Blaney
Casey Mears
Lineup #4
Kevin Harvick has a very good long run car, is in a position where he almost needs to win, and starts 11th. So we have decent place differential points potential there along with a potential win. In order to justify his high salary this weekend, though, he’s going to have to lead quite a few laps.
Kevin Harvick
Chase Elliott
Matt Kenseth
Jamie McMurray
Ryan Blaney
Landon Cassill
Lineup #5
Another possible Kevin Harvick Lineup that also includes Kyle Busch. This one will work out if those two and Matt Kenseth combine to dominate the race.
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile race track that we last visited in May, although that was a night race and this will be ran in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday. Martin Truex, Jr. had the best car that night but had that freak issue with his tire and that allowed Kyle Busch to get to victory lane for the first time in his career here. We’re expecting a very similar race this Sunday to the one we had at Charlotte last weekend, although without less carnage (so think of the drivers that ran well before their problems). As far as lap leaders, we’re think quite a few drivers are going to get out front and lead on Sunday, so we wouldn’t recommend spending a huge portion of your cap on someone for the sole purpose of getting the laps led FPTS.
High-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Kansas 2 (over $9,000)
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Kevin Harvick ($10,900) – We honestly think that this might be the week to lay off of Martin Truex, Jr. and Kevin Harvick, and that’s simply because DraftKings is kind of forcing us to. Having them at such a high price this week makes it very difficult to justify putting either in your lineup, although if you’re going to choose one, it has to be Harvick. He qualified 11th for this weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400 but the #4 Chevrolet is a much better car than that in race trim. Harvick had the best ten-lap average during Happy Hour on Saturday and has finished 1st or 2nd in four of the last eight races here at Kansas. Getting a win this weekend would take a whole bunch of pressure off of this team heading into Talladega next Sunday, and it’s very possible that they accomplish that. In order for Harvick to be worth the high salary, though, he’s going to have to lead a large portion of the race this weekend, but it’s not impossible for him to do that.
Chase Elliott ($9,500) – Despite getting caught up in that wreck at Charlotte last weekend, Chase Elliott still scored 42 FPTS in DraftKings thanks to his laps led and fastest laps in that race. He has now led 103 and 75 laps in the last two intermediate races and could very well get out front and lead here at Kansas on Sunday, too. Elliott will start from unlucky 13th-place when the Hollywood Casino 400 goes green, but this is a relatively long race and he has plenty of time to get to the lead. It also helps that he has a fast car, as the #24 Chevrolet was top 5 in both practice sessions on Saturday and even ranked 4th in ten-lap average in Happy Hour. This kid is going to win soon, it’s just a matter of when. The Hendrick organization is starting to heat up right now and Elliott ran 9th here at Kansas back in May. He could very well be one of the highest-scoring drivers once again this weekend.
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Kyle Larson ($9,400) – Kyle Larson has finished 35th and 29th in the last two Kansas races, but don’t let that deter you from drafting him this weekend. This #42 Chevrolet has been a solid top 10 car for the last two months, and as long as this team hasn’t had any problems with the car, they have finished there as well. Larson was penalized practice time on Friday due to swerving after the race at Charlotte last weekend, and that could be a possible reason that he had a poor qualifying effort: 24th. Or it could just be due to the fact that this #42 team hasn’t been great at qualifying this season. Anyway, Larson does have a 2nd-place finish to his credit here at Kansas, and he showed good speed in both practice sessions on Saturday and had the 6th-best ten-lap average in Happy Hour. We’re looking at a possible 50+ FPTS day out of Larson once again this weekend and that’s a pretty good value play at this $9,400 salary.
Mid-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Kansas 2 (between $7,500 and $9,000)
Kasey Kahne ($8,500) – Kasey Kahne is once again in the mid-$8,000 range in DraftKings this weekend, but it’s pretty justified: he’s scored 40+ FPTS in five of the last six races, including a 54-FPTS performance last week at Charlotte. And because of his qualifying effort of 20th at Kansas this weekend, it’s very possible that he gets up into that level as well. This #5 team has honestly had one of the most consistently fast cars in the garage for the last couple of months, and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. Kahne finished 4th in this race one year ago and has posted four top 5s in the eight races here since the repave in 2012. A 12th-place effort from Kasey on Sunday will net DraftKings owners 40 base FPTS, so if you can fit your salary in your lineup, Kahne will probably be a good play.
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Matt Kenseth ($8,700) – It’s rarely a good idea to put the pole sitter of an intermediate race in you DraftKings lineup, but with Matt Kenseth priced at $8,700, it’s almost too good to pass up. This guy is not known for his qualifying, so when he winds up on the pole, the rest of the garage takes notice. The #20 Toyota has showed top 5 speed all weekend long, and because of Kenseth’s relatively low price point, he doesn’t have to lead as many laps in order to be worth the pick on Sunday (compared to a guy like Kyle Busch, who starts 2nd and costs $10,000). Kenseth is a two-time winner here at Kansas Speedway and is no stranger to leading laps. He led a race-high 153 laps in this race one year ago and has led a series-high 658 over his twenty-one career starts here. If Matt can just lead 60 or so laps on Sunday, he should be a very nice pick in DraftKings.
Tony Stewart ($7,600) – Tony Stewart is very happy with his race car this weekend, and when that happens, he usually has a rocket ship for the race. And if you look at the practice speeds from Saturday, that #14 Chevrolet is pretty damn fast. Smoke was 5th in terms of ten-lap average during Practice #2 and then wound up 2nd on that chart in Happy Hour (along with the 8th-fastest overall lap). Stewart is a two-time winner here at Kansas and most recently finished 12th in the last race here back in May. He qualified 14th for this weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400, but we honestly think that Stewart can challenge for a top 10 for the second week in a row. If that happens, he should be one of the better DraftKings value plays in this price range.
Low-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Kansas 2 (under $7,500)
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Aric Almirola ($6,800) – You’re never totally, 100% confident when you have Aric Almirola in your DraftKings lineup, but we can’t argue with results; in the last three races, Almirola has scored 51, 46, and 39 FPTS. Now, his 51-point effort at Charlotte last weekend was definitely due to attrition, but Aric has still finished 17th or better in four of the last five Sprint Cup races overall, and you can’t say that is all due to luck. Here at Kansas, Aric has finished 18th or better in five of the last seven races, and if he can get up there from his 35th-place starting spot on Sunday, owners are looking at 43+ FPTS. A mid-20s finish is more likely out of Almirola this weekend but you never know how these races are going to play out. He’s still a good value play in DraftKings.
Casey Mears ($5,900) – Casey Mears is on the higher end (in terms of price) of the lower tier drivers, and he might be one of those drivers that flies under the radar this weekend, but don’t make the mistake of simply skipping over him. Mears has finished 21st, 23rd, and 19th in the last three races here at Kansas, and to get that kind of production out of a team like this is pretty good. Additionally, the #13 Chevrolet was 22nd on the speed chart in Happy Hour on Saturday, and that’s after Mears posted the 24th-best lap in Practice #2 earlier that morning. He qualified 29th for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, and if Casey can pull off another 21st-place finish this weekend, we’re looking at 31+ FPTS out of him, at a pretty low price, too.
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Chris Buescher ($6,000) – Now that Chris Buescher has came back down to Earth (salary-wise), he’s becoming a viable option in DraftKings once again. The #34 team qualified 30th for this weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400, and if they can replicate their performance from the last race here at Kansas (Buescher finished 24th), DraftKings owners are looking at 26+ FPTS on Sunday. Yeah, that’s not incredibly high, but you can’t really expect the world when you get down in this price range. Last weekend, Buescher avoided the wrecks at Charlotte and ended up finishing 16th, but don’t expect that to happen again here at Kansas. A mid-20s finish is much more likely out of the #34 Ford.
The last time we were at Kansas Speedway, Martin Truex, Jr. led a whole bunch of laps but then had tire issues and Kyle Busch wound up in victory lane. This time around, there’s really no clear favorite, and it’s possible that we might see a handful of lap leaders come Sunday. That means that the list of drivers to definitely avoid is slimmed down a bit, but there are still quite a few that you should stay away from for the Hollywood Casino 400 this weekend.
The categories we use for different drivers to avoid are as follows: 1.) Over-Qualified, or drivers that will start up front and probably won’t finish there, 2.) Over-Valued, or drivers that simply cost too much for the limited potential points they will earn or are going to be drafted by many other players, giving you an opportunity to fade them, and 3.) Flat-Out Avoid, or drivers that should simply be avoided at all costs. Most drivers will be categorized as either 1 or 2.
“Over-Qualified” DraftKings Drivers to Avoid for the Kansas 2 Hollywood Casino 400
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Ryan Newman ($8,000) – Always remember this: one good run doesn’t erase twenty bad finishes. Yes, Ryan Newman ended up finishing 4th at Charlotte last weekend (and scoring 58 FPTS in the process), but let’s not forget how whacky of a race that was. There’s a reason that was just his second top 5 finish of this entire season. This weekend, Newman qualified 9th for the Hollywood Casino 400, and in our opinion that makes him a driver very unlikely do score high on Sunday. Now, the kicker here is that Newman has a nice record at Kansas (five straight finishes of 11th or better), but at a salary of $8,000, that money can be better spent elsewhere. Additionally, Newman looked like just another top 15 car during the practice sessions on Saturday, and that’s probably where he’s going to end up. Lightning rarely strikes twice, so if you got lucky with Newman in your DraftKings lineup, congratulations, but we wouldn’t count on that working out again here at Kansas.
Alex Bowman ($7,700) – DraftKings is finally starting to adjust Alex Bowman’s salary down to the right level, but he’s still not a viable option at Kansas this weekend due to his 5th-place qualifying effort on Friday. Yeah, we saw Bowman end up with a top 10 finish at Chicagoland last month, but in almost every other race he has ran for the #88 team this season, he has wound up disappointing fantasy owners. It’s honestly starting to look like the #88 crew is doing some major experimenting/testing on this car to get prepared for the 2017 season, but that wouldn’t really explain why Jeff Gordon can still knock off top 15 after top 15 when he’s in it. Bowman has the speed to get a top 15 at Kansas on Sunday (meaning he would be a good Fantasy NASCAR play in some leagues), but as far as his DraftKings value, he’s probably one of the worst driver selections this weekend, at least in his price range.
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Paul Menard ($6,400) – Paul Menard is the master at appearing as a better Fantasy NASCAR pick than he really is, so don’t let those fast practice speeds this weekend fool you. And when you pair that with the fact that he has a very low salary in DraftKings this weekend, it’s even more tempting. But when you sit back and really think about, Menard probably isn’t going to work out as a good pick this weekend. This team now has five straight finishes outside of the top 20 and has wound up 21st or worse in eight of the last ten Sprint Cup races overall. If that continues and Menard finishes, say, 21st here at Kansas on Sunday, we’re looking at just 18 base FPTS out of him thanks to his 16th-place qualifying effort. He might be worth a shot in the event that the #27 team does finally put together a good race, but more likely than not, Menard is going to be one of the lowest-scoring drivers in DraftKings on Sunday.
A.J. Allmendinger ($7,000) – It’s the same story for the second week in a row for A.J. Allmendinger. He does make a solid sleeper fantasy pick here at Kansas (A.J. finished 8th here back in May and has wound up 14th or better in three of the last four races) but as far as a DraftKings driver, his value is extremely low thanks to his 10th-place qualifying effort. It’s not as bad as last week, where Allmendinger qualified 6th, but it’s close. A 15th-place finish out of this #47 team on Sunday would be an incredible effort, and that would still only net DraftKings owners 24 base FPTS. It might be worth the gamble if Allmendinger was priced down in the low-$6,000 range, but that simply isn’t the case. There’s no situation at all that you will find The Dinger on any of our DraftKings lineups this weekend.
“Over-Valued” DraftKings Drivers to Avoid for the Kansas 2 Hollywood Casino 400
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Martin Truex, Jr. ($11,100) – Surprised? Don’t be. This weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400 is 267 laps in length. That means there’s roughly 130 bonus FPTS up for grabs for fastest laps, and around 65 FPTS available for laps led. And the only possible way that you can justify Martin Truex, Jr.’s crazy high salary this week is if he would be able to earn most of those FPTS, along with 20 or so place differential points. And that’s just not going to happen. The #78 Toyota will roll off the grid from 4th here on Sunday, but going into the Hollywood Casino 400, we don’t see Truex as the car to beat. In fact, there are actually a few other drivers that we see with a higher chance of leading the most laps on Sunday, despite the fact that Truex had the best car here back in May. So while it’s easy to see him have another 60+ FPTS day on Sunday, it’s nowhere near a sure thing, and that’s probably still not worth the $11,100 salary. Don’t fall into the trap this weekend.
Clint Bowyer ($7,300) – Honestly, Clint Bowyer was pretty over-priced at Charlotte last weekend (he was at $7,100) so now that DraftKings added another $200 to his salary, it’s hard to justify drafting him. Yeah, he starts back in 31st and this #15 team has a knack for pulling off top 25 finishes as of late, but that’s a decent-sized chunk of your salary cap to spend on a guy that’s nowhere near a lock. Obviously if he fits into your lineup, 30 FPTS is better than 25, but Bowyer hasn’t ran well here at Kansas since the repave (even in good equipment) and we don’t see why that would change this weekend. He did finish 19th here back in May but his driver rating of 54.7 in that race should tell you that it was more due to luck than anything else.
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Jamie McMurray ($7,900) – Don’t get us wrong, there’s a whole lot of things to like about Jamie McMurray this weekend, but there are quite a few things to dislike as well. Let’s start with what to like. First is the fact that McMurray had another solid run at Charlotte last weekend and has now ended up 11th or better in six of the last nine Sprint Cup races overall. He also qualified 23rd for this weekend’s race, so the potential for place differential points is there. The #1 Chevrolet was also 10th-fastest in Happy Hour on Saturday. As we said, though, there’s a few things we don’t like: Jamie’s salary is now the highest it has been in over two months. while we have seen McMurray plays pay off quite frequently as of late, this might be the week to jump off the train, as Kansas has simply not been a very good race track for him. In the eight races ran here since the repave back in 2012, McMurray has posted just one top 10 finish along with four results of 20th or worse. If he showed more long-run speed this weekend, we’d consider McMurray a “go against the grain” driver, but he ranked just 14th on the ten-lap average chart during Happy Hour on Saturday. He could very well be a great pick once again this weekend, but we don’t see it happening heading into Sunday.
If qualifying and practice are any indication this weekend, it looks like we’re going to have another Chaser punch their ticket to the Round of 8 on Sunday. The question now is: who will it be? The Gibbs Toyotas (and Martin Truex, Jr.) have to be the favorite heading into race day, especially considering they swept the top four spots in qualifying on Friday, but Kevin Harvick has a fast race car, too, and let’s not forget about Chase Elliott in that Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. We expect to see quite a few lap leaders during the Hollywood Casino 400 and no real dominator. The driver who commits no mistakes and has track position late will probably be the one in victory lane.
Yahoo! A Group Pick and Final Rankings for Kansas 2
We ended up with Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch as our two A Group drivers for Kansas, which is a good thing because they qualified 1-2 for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and earned us those qualifying bonus points. As far as which one to start for the race, we really don’t think you can go wrong with either. We have both the #20 and #18 Toyotas as potential race winners this weekend, and they should both be able to lead quite a few laps on Sunday. Right now our gut says that Kyle Busch is going to win this race, so he’s going to be our starter in the A Group. He’s currently on a three-race streak of top 5 finishes here and went to victory lane for the first time here back in May.
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Kevin Harvick needs a win if he wants to rest easy through Talladega, and he has a car that can do it this weekend. He starts back in 11th but had the best ten-lap average in Happy Hour. He should be a threat on Sunday as well. Another guy that starts further back is Jimmie Johnson, who qualified 21st. You can’t count out that #48 team, though, especially considering how fast they have been on the intermediates lately. Johnson has three career wins here at Kansas. The Penske drivers of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano didn’t show a lot of speed during the practice sessions on Saturday but should be good to go (as usual) on Sunday. Logano is another one of those drivers that needs a good run, as does Denny Hamlin. All of the Gibbs Toyotas have speed this weekend and Hamlin won here at Kansas back in 2012–although that was before the repave.
Final A Group Rankings: (1) Kyle Busch, (2) Matt Kenseth, (3) Kevin Harvick, (4) Jimmie Johnson, (5) Brad Keselowski, (6) Joey Logano, (7) Denny Hamlin, (8) Kurt Busch
Yahoo! B Group Picks and Final Rankings for Kansas 2
We got lucky and swept the top 4 qualifying spots this weekend thanks to Carl Edwards and Martin Truex, Jr. The easy route here would be to start both of those guys and move on to Talladega, but it’s not really that easy. From a strategy perspective, we view Carl Edwards as a must-start this weekend because we have three starts left with him. He’s also shown more speed here at Kansas than he has over the last month or two in Sprint Cup action, and the 3rd-place starting spot helps, too. Don’t forget this is Edwards’ home track and he has finished 8th or better in four of the last six races here.
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As far as Truex, the #78 team was off last week at Charlotte, and hasn’t shown that “guaranteed top 5 finish” speed here at Kansas this weekend, either. We’re down to two starts left with Martin, and considering he got through Charlotte unscathed, we’re assuming he’s going to race Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 very conservatively, and that could be disappointing for a lot of fantasy owners. There’s two or three tracks coming up that Truex is probably going to be the best option at, so we’re going to let him sit the bench at Kansas on Sunday and hope he doesn’t have the best car here for the second race in a row.
So now, for us, it comes down to either Austin Dillon or Kasey Kahne in the second B Group spot. Both of these drivers have top 10 potential on Sunday, while Kahne has the momentum edge and Dillon has the “Chase Effect” edge. Here at Kansas back in May, the #3 Chevrolet finished 6th while the #5 Chevrolet came home 16th. We expect both of these drivers to finish somewhere in the average of those two spots, but we’re going to give the edge to the #3 due to better starting position on Sunday. Therefore, our two starting B Group drivers will be Carl Edwards and Austin Dillon for Kansas 2, but we still might swap out Dillon for Kahne.
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Kyle Larson has a fast car once again this weekend but he starts back in 24th on Sunday and has just one finish better than 12th in five career starts here at Kansas. He has a car to get a top 10 this weekend–and he probably will accomplish that–but it’d be hard for us to start him even if he was on our roster. Tony Stewart really likes his car this weekend and showed more speed during the two practice sessions on Saturday than we’ve seen out of the #14 Chevrolet probably all year. He’s a two-time winner at Kansas and finished 12th here back in May. Ryan Newman is another possible option if you need one, as he hasn’t finished worse than 11th here at Kansas since the 2013 season, and don’t forget he’s coming off of that top 5 run at Charlotte last week. Speed-wise the #31 Chevrolet is probably just a top 5 contender this week, though. Jamie McMurray is another one of those drivers that didn’t qualify well on Friday, but the #1 Chevrolet showed top 10 speed in both practice sessions on Saturday. With that being said, McMurray has just one top 10 finish in the eight races here since the track was repaved, so there’s quite a bit of risk in starting him on Sunday.
Final B Group Rankings: (1) Martin Truex, Jr., (2) Carl Edwards, (3) Kyle Larson, (4) Kasey Kahne, (5) Austin Dillon, (6) Tony Stewart, (7) Ryan Newman, (8) Jamie McMurray, (9) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., (10) A.J. Allmendinger, (11) Danica Patrick, (12) Trevor Bayne, (13) Paul Menard, (14) Greg Biffle, (15) Clint Bowyer, (16) Aric Almirola, (17) Casey Mears
Yahoo! C Group Pick and Final Rankings for Kansas 2
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Chase Elliott is the top C Group driver this week (as usual) and could contend for a top 5 finish–and possibly a win–if he can avoid any and all wrecks and limit the mistakes during the race. He wound up 9th when we raced here back in May and should be at least that good this time around as well. Ryan Blaney is the 2nd-best option in this group and is also going to be the guy that we start on Sunday. We’re down to just one start remaining with Chase Elliott and we still have five left with Blaney so we’re going to burn one of those this weekend. The latter has finished 5th and 7th in the last two Kansas races, and while we don’t see that happening this weekend, a 12th-place finish (or so) wouldn’t be too crazy for this #21 team. Alex Bowman is the only other viable option in the C Group this weekend, as he had another top 5 qualifying effort on Friday. With the number of mechanical issues that that #88 team has with Bowman behind the wheel, though, it’s hard to trust him even a tiny bit on your Fantasy NASCAR rosters.
Final C Group Rankings: (1) Chase Elliott, (2) Ryan Blaney, (3) Alex Bowman, (4) Chris Buescher, (5) Regan Smith, (6) David Ragan, (7) Landon Cassill, (8) Matt DiBenedetto, the rest
With the way qualifying played out this weekend along with the price structure that FOX Fantasy Auto decided on for Kansas, there are a whole bunch of lineup options that you can go with for the Hollywood Casino 400. This track was repaved during the 2012 season, and because of that there are quite a few racing lines that the drivers can choose from when we stop here. Obviously it’s better to start up front for any NASCAR race, but there’s a few drivers that should make their way through the field on Sunday and score some place differential points.
FOX Fantasy Auto Picks for the Kansas 2 Hollywood Casino 400
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Brad Keselowski ($12,500) – We really wanted to have Kevin Harvick on our roster this weekend but his $13,500 salary just made it almost impossible. So we’re going with the next-highest option: Brad Keselowski. We debated for quite a long time between him and Kyle Busch, but in the end we decided on Kez due to his 8th-place starting spot and potential for place differential points (Kyle Busch starts 2nd). With that being said, you can still grab a guy like Martin Truex, Jr. with this spot, or pole-sitter Matt Kenseth, or even Kasey Kahne, who starts 20th and should get plenty of place differential points on Sunday. Anyway, Keselowski hasn’t shown the most speed in practice this weekend, but, really, when does he? Still, this #2 team continues to rattle off single-digit finishes, and that should happen once again this weekend. Brad is on a three-race streak of top 10 finishes here at Kansas and should make it four in a row on Sunday. He may not be the best Fantasy NASCAR option this weekend, but he’s a safe one–and sometimes it’s better to roll with those guys.
Jimmie Johnson ($11,100) – The #48 team was actually quite surprised that they qualified so far back for Sunday’s race, and that tells us that either that have a really good car for the actual race or that they think the car is faster than it actually is. And considering the fact that the #48 Chevrolet has been the fastest car on the intermediate tracks lately–and coming off of a nice win at Charlotte last weekend–we highly doubt that it’s the latter. Johnson is a three-time winner at Kansas Speedway and has finished inside the top 10 in sixteen of his twenty career starts here (80%). Even if he can only get up to 10th place on Sunday, we’re still looking at 42 fantasy points in FOX Fantasy Auto, so we consider Jimmie Johnson a must-own in this game for Kansas 2. The #48 Chevrolet was just 23rd-fastest in Happy Hour with the 15th-best ten-lap average, but Chad Knaus is one of the best at getting his car better before the green flag.
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Kyle Larson ($10,000) – At this moderate price point that Kyle Larson is at for Kansas 2, he’s another one of those drivers that could be considered a must-own in FOX Fantasy Auto on Sunday. There is one thing that could deter a lot of people from picking him, though, and that’s his average finish of 18.6 over his five career starts here. Larson really only has one good finish to his credit here, although that was a 2nd-place effort back in 2014. With that being said, there’s a whole bunch of upside for Kyle Larson this weekend. First off, he qualified 24th, which is back where he started last week at Charlotte and he still finished 5th. Also, Larson had the 4th-best ten-lap average in Practice #2 and ranked 6th on that chart in Happy Hour. This #42 Chevrolet has been a consistent top 10 threat for the last two months and that should be the case once again this weekend–as long as Larson and this #42 team don’t run into any issues (not guaranteed).
Chase Elliott ($9,500) – Chase Elliott and this #24 team are knocking on the door of a victory right now, and it’s only a matter of time before it happens. Chase showed once again at Charlotte last weekend that he can get to the front and lead some laps, and if he wouldn’t have gotten caught up in that wreck with Martin Truex, Jr. and Austin Dillon, he probably would have finished in the top 5 (at least). Alas, that didn’t happen. Still, since the Chase has started, Elliott has led 179 of his 342 total laps this season, and has established himself as one of the better Fantasy NASCAR picks on the intermediate race tracks (when he can finish the race). The #24 Chevrolet will roll off the grid from 13th when the Hollywood Casino 400 goes green on Sunday–so there’s some room for place differential points–and should be top 10 finish good (at least). Chase showed top 5 speed in both practice sessions on Saturday and ranked 4th on the ten-lap average chart in Happy Hour.
Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney ($6,800) – Initially our low-dollar driver for Kansas 2 was going to be Alex Bowman, but, to be honest, we’re tired of getting burned by that kid. So we’re going to jump up a little bit in the salaries and grab Ryan Blaney this weekend. He qualified 17th for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, which isn’t too bad when you consider the fact that he has finished 5th and 7th in the last two races at this track. With that being said, this #21 team is in a major hit-or-miss funk right now; Blaney has finished 13th or better in four of the last seven Sprint Cup races overall, but he also has three results of 31st or worse over that span as well. However, when you put a low-dollar driver on your FOX Fantasy Auto team, you know the risks associated with it. We’re hoping for the best and are going to roll with Ryan Blaney this weekend, and we’ll be satisfied with a 15th-place finish and 30 fantasy points or so.
Practice and qualifying for this year's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway are scheduled to take place on Saturday evening, but the weather forecast...
