The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to Kansas Speedway this weekend. This will be the second race on a 1.5-mile Intermediate track for the Cup Series (Las Vegas was the first and Atlanta is considered a Superspeedway now). Will the results from Sin City translate into speed in the Heartland? It has been two months since the race at Las Vegas, so the teams have had plenty of time to find some more speed. It will be fun to see how it all plays out. The AdventHealth 400 can be seen Sunday at 3 pm ET on FS1.
STRATEGY FOR KANSAS
So how is your Fantasy Live team doing? We are at race No. 12 on the schedule and when the checkered flag is waived Sunday, we will be half-way through the Fantasy Live regular season. There is still some time to make a move to the top of your league standings, but you need to get on a hot streak soon, if you are way behind your league leader. That means you need to start using your top drivers and do whatever it takes to make a run to first place.
My picks are performing well (humble brag). They are outscoring 98.8% of the entries on the nascar.com site. I just need better luck with the Garage driver in order to make a series climb to the top. I am not saving drivers this week. I have my picks mapped out for the season and I can get to the playoffs without struggling to find top drivers for my lineups. Here are how the picks have scored this season…
Here is my lineup for the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway…
DENNY HAMLIN (6): Hamlin finished second in the last race at Kansas, and he owns the cars that won both races at the track in 2022. There is no doubt that Hamlin will be a threat to win Sunday. The No. 11 car posted the fastest speed in practice and Hamlin was fastest on every long-run speed chart. Can the team ovoid problems in the pits? That is the only thing stopping Hamlin from ending his 33-race winless streak.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (9): I used my first allocation with Truex last week. I expect he will be in my lineup a lot in the second half of the Fantasy Live season. Truex has been a beast at Kansas Speedway. He finished 5th, 6th, 7th, 6th, 9th, 3rd, 6th, 19th, 5th, 2nd, 1st and 1st in his last 12 races. That is an average finishing position of 5.8 over 12 races. His stats at Kansas are just too good to pass up. Truex has momentum after his win last week at Dover. I would not be surprised to see him go on a hot streak now that he got to Victory Lane.
KYLE LARSON (6): Larson said after the race last week, “We have one of the fastest cars in the field every ***** week. We just have had bad luck.” Is this the week his luck turns around? I hope so. Larson posted the seventh-fastest speed in practice and qualified second for the race. He has the best Driver Rating and the best average finishing position in the last six races at Kansas. Larson also led 63 laps and finished second at Las Vegas earlier this season. I will use another allocation with the No. 5 car Sunday.
WILLIAM BYRON (4): I only have four allocations left with Byron, but that is OK. He got off to a hot start last year and then faded over the summer. There is a good chance it could happen again. Byron led 176 laps and won the race at Las Vegas earlier this season. He also led 193 laps and finished fourth at Dover last week. The No. 24 car was good on the long runs in practice and Byron qualified on the pole for the race. I will use Byron while he is on his hot streak.
TYLER REDDICK (7): Reddick has a few things going for him this week. He is driving for the team that won this race last year. The track is scheduled to be hot and slick so riding up against the wall should play right into Reddick’s driving style. He posted eighth-fastest speed in practice and Reddick qualified fifth for the race. I will take a chance with the McDonald’s car Sunday.
(GARAGE PICK) CHRISTOPHER BELL (7): I have plenty of allocations left with Bell, so I will have Bell in my lineup Sunday. Bell was one of the best drivers at Kansas in the Gen-7 car last year. He finished fifth in the spring race and third in the fall race (he also finished No.1 and No. 2 in the Stages). The No. 20 car looks fast again this week. Bell posted the sixth fastest speed in practice and qualified 12th for the race. He should be a good insurance policy to have in the Garage at Kansas.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.