Finally the Driver Group Game picks were not cursed by bad luck. I never thought the race at Talladega would be the track that kick-starts my season, but I will take it. Now we need to keep the momentum going at Kansas Speedway. The Buschy McBusch Race 400 can be seen Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
Here are my picks for Kansas …
Driver Group Game A Picks
Group A Pick: Brad Keselowski will have momentum after his win at Talladega. Now he goes to a track where he has two wins at. I know because I was in Victory Lane with him at both race 😊. Keselowski finished 2nd and 4th in the two races at Kansas last year. Now he starts on the pole, has the No. 1 pit stall Sunday. Keselowski should score a lot of Stage points and have a good chance to get back to Victory Lane in the Heartland.
Other Good Picks include: Denny Hamlin was the driver I had penciled into the starting lineup at Kansas but he finished 32nd at Talladega so now he will have to start deep in the field. Hamlin is still my pick to win, but I am low on allocations with Hamlin. I will save the No. 11 car for the races when he starts up front.
Group A Driver Rankings: 1) Denny Hamlin 2) Brad Keselowski 3) Ryan Blaney 4) Martin Truex Jr. 5) Kevin Harvick 6) Chase Elliott 7) Joey Logano
Driver Group Game B Picks
Group B Pick: William Byron is starting to make race fans remember what it was like to see the No. 24 car running up front every week when Jeff Gordon was behind the wheel. Byron is scorching hot right now so I want to use as many allocations with the No. 24 car before this team cools off. Byron has finished 2nd, 7th, 4th, 6th, 8th, 8th and 1st since the series left Daytona. No driver in the Cup Series has been better. Byron finished 5th, 10th and 8th in his last three races at Kansas. He should have a good chance to win Sunday.
Group B Pick: Kyle Busch will be my second driver in Group B. How can you fad Busch in the Buschy McBusch Race 400? This race has his name all over it. Busch has been very consistent at Kansas. He has finished 11 of the last 12 races in the Heartland in the top 11. That includes 8 finishes in the top-5. Busch finished 5th and 11th in the two races at Kansas last year. He also finished 3rd at Las Vegas and 5th at Atlanta this year, so Busch has been a safe pick on the 1.5-mile tracks. I will roll the dice with Busch in the Buschy McBusch Race.
Other Good Picks: Kyle Larson was my pick for Group B before his bad luck began. Larson has been the best driver in the Cup Series on the 1.5-mile tracks this season. He dominated the race at Las Vegas, finished 2nd at Atlanta and 4th at Homestead. I am running low on allocations with Larson so I will leave him on the bench this week. I still think he finishes in the top-five Sunday, but William Byron and Kyle Busch have less risk since they start up front.
Allocation Save: Christopher Bell will be a good pick if you want to save your allocations with William Byron or Kyle Busch. Erik Jones had a lot of success at Kansas in the No. 20 car and I expect the same from Bell. He finished 10th at Kansas last year and that was in a Leavine Family Racing car. He should have a lot more speed in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Bell finished 7th at Las Vegas earlier this season. He should finish in the top-10 again Sunday.
Group B Driver Rankings: 1) William Byron 2) Kyle Busch 3) Kyle Larson 4) Christopher Bell 5) Alex Bowman 6) Matt DiBenedetto 7) Austin Dillon 8) Kurt Busch 9) Erik Jones 10) Tyler Reddick
Driver Group Game C Picks
Group C Pick: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has been pretty consistent on the 1.5-mile tracks this year so he will be my pick for Group C. Stenhouse finished 11th at Las Vegas, 12th at Atlanta and 13th at Homestead. Stenhouse has finished 3 of his last 4 races at Kansas in the top-16. He has a lot more speed this year then he had in those seasons. Stenhouse should finish around the 12th position Sunday. That should be better than the rest of the drivers in Group C.
Other Good Picks: Michael McDowell should have a good chance to have a top-20 finish again this week. McDowell starts up front so he will have the track position and a premium pit stall Sunday. He finished 17th at Las Vegas when he was able to start 5th and had a good pit stall. I expect similar results from the No. 34 car at Kansas.
Group C Driver Rankings: 1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2) Michael McDowell 3) Ross Chastain 4) Cole Custer 5) Ryan Preece
Driver Group Game Team
Good luck this week!
*Stats from Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet Pro
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