The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to the Heartland to race at Kansas Speedway. Kurt Busch won the race at Kansas in May at 16-1 odds. Will we have another double-dig dog in Victory Lane Sunday? The 2022 season has been crazy, so I would not bet against it. The Hollywood Casino 400 can be seen Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on USA Network.
I wrote in my article last week that the two drivers you had to bet on were Kevin Harvick at 20-1 odds and Erik Jones at 60-1 odds. Harick went up in flames, but Jones returned a nice payday. It was not the first time the long-shot special has hit this year, so hopefully we have some more luck in the final nine races of the season.
DRAFTKINGS ODDS FOR KANSAS
* The odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook. The odds could change between the time of this article and the time you place your bet.
** The first number is the amount of money based on the second number (the amount of the wager). So if you bet $1 on Denny Hamlin, you will win $5.
I will be cutting down on how much I wager this week. The Gen-7 car has evened the playing field but I doubt we will have a long-shot in Victory Lane Sunday. The cream rises to the top on the 1.5-mile tracks and especially at Kansas. The finishing order in the May race at Kansas was 1. Kurt Busch (15-1), 2. Kyle Larson (7-1), 3. Kyle Busch (7-1), 4. Denny Hamlin (7-1), 5. Christopher Bell (15-1), 6. Martin Truex Jr. (10-1). The winner of the Hollywood Casino 400 will likely be listed at 15-1 odds or better this week and more likely 8-1 or better. We may not win a lot of money like we did at Darlington, but I like betting on winners. That means I need to bet the favorites.
Here are my best bets for the Hollywood Casino 400…
Denny Hamlin (5-1): I was hoping DraftKings Sportsbook would be lazy and simply make Kyle Larson the favorite, but they are thinking the same way I am thinking for this race… It will be dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing, just like the race last week was. Hamlin won on the 1.5-mile track at Charlotte and he finished 4th at Kansas in May. Hamlin won at Kansas in 2019 and in 2020. He will have a good chance to win Sunday.
KYLE BUSCH (6-1): Rowdy has not won on a paved track since the race at Pocono last year. That was 15 months ago, so why bet Busch to win this week? He has been one of the best drivers at Kansas and one of the best drivers on the 1.5-mile tracks this year. Busch finished 4th at Las Vegas, 3rd at Kansas and 2nd at Charlotte. He improves by one spot each race and that means he should win Sunday.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (7-1): Will Martin Truex Jr. go the entire 2022 season without a trip to Victory Lane? I do not think so. People who work in the garage often say that you need to consistently run up front before you can win a race. Truex always runs up front on the intermediate tracks but Lady Luck has not been on his side. Sooner or later his luck will change. I will bet that it happens Sunday at Kansas.
KEVIN HARVICK (15-1): I will shop around to see if I can get better odds with Harvick. 15-1 is still not bad. Harvick was not great at Kansas in May but they figured something out in the Coca-Cola 600. Harvick finished 3rd at Charlotte and the No. 4 team will likely bring the same speed to the track Sunday. I will take a chance with the un-Happy Harvick Sunday.
LONG SHOT SPECIAL WILLIAM BYRON (20-1): Crew Chief Rudy Fugle told NBC reporter Dave Burns that their work in the simulator during the week did not translate into speed on the track. Fugle said that they have good notes to take back to each track in the second-half of the season and that should help them run up front. Byron was just “OK” in the first race at Darlington and then the No. 24 car took the notes from that race and led 50 laps last week and had a car that could have won the race with a bit more luck. I am expecting the same Sunday. Byron led 25 laps in the first race at Kansas and the No. 24 team should be able to bring a better setup to the track this weekend with a chance to win. I will take my chances with Byron at 20-1 odds.
Good luck this week!
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