The NASCAR Cup Series travels to the Heartland this weekend to race at Kansas Speedway. This will be the second race on a 1.5-mile, intermediate track this season. The Cup Series raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and the race was dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Will the two top teams in NASCAR dominate the race in Kansas? The stats say yes, but we have seen both drivers from 23XI Racing (Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace) win in the Gen-7 car at Kansas Speedway and Ross Chastain took his Trackhouse Racing Chevy to Victory Lane in 2024 in Kansas. Do not hand the trophy to Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports just yet. This should be a good race Sunday at my home track J.
Here are my updated picks for your season long Fantasy NASCAR games…
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR KANSAS
GROUP A DRIVERS
KYLE LARSON (8): Larson has been a beast at Kansas Speedway in the spring. He finished 2nd in 2022, 2nd in 2023, 1st in 2024 and 1st in 2025. That is an average finishing position of 1.5 in the Gen-7 car in the spring at Kansas Speedway. I used Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season and he led 62 laps, scored 18 Stage Points and finished 7th. Larson should be better this week at Kansas Speedway since Hendrick Motorsports had more time to figure out the aerodynamics of the new nose on the Chevy Camero.
CHRISTOPHER BELL (8): Bell is the best driver in the field who has never won at Kansas Speedway. Bell finished 2nd and 3rd in his two races at Kansas Speedway last year and he finished 4th at Las Vegas earlier this season. The secret weapon for Bell in 2026 has been his pit crew. All he has to do is run in the top-five and his pit crew can pick him up the extra spots to get to the front. The AdventHealth 400 is a good race to take a chance with Bell in your Driver Group Game lineups.
GROUP B DRIVERS
TYLER REDDICK (6): I hate burning all of my allocations with Reddick this early in the season, but he have seen drivers dominate the spring portion of the schedule and then fall off a cliff in the summer or in the playoffs. I want to use Reddick while he is running hot. He won the race at Kansas in 2023 and he finished 7th in the playoffs at Kansas Last year. Reddick should be the best pick in Group B if the No. 45 team brings the speed they have had all season to the track in Kansas.
TY GIBBS (8): The stats for Gibbs at Kansas Speedway are not great. Heck, they are not even good. Gibbs is a different driver in 2026. He has stacked top-10 finishes and that includes a 5th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this year. I am playing Gibbs based on his 2026 stats and not what he has done in the past at Kansas Speedway. You can pivot to Ross Chastain if you want to play safe Sunday.
BUBBA WALLACE (7): I have two Toyota’s in my lineup, why not add a third? Wallace has been hit or miss at Kansas Speedway, so there is some risk with this pick. He won the race at Kansas Speedway in 2022 and he finished 5th in the playoff race last year. Wallace qualified 4th, scored 13 Stage Points and finished 9th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month. The No. 23 car should be a good pick if the team simply brings the same speed to the track this weekend.
CHRIS BUESCHER (8): I am not sure Buescher will win Sunday, but he is one of the safest picks for a top-10 finish. Buescher finished 2nd and 8th in his last two spring races at Kansas Speedway. He always seems to run better in the spring than he does in the fall in the Heartland. Buescher also finished 6th earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I took some risk with Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace, so Buescher will be my insurance policy just in case the other two drivers do not look fast in practice and qualifying Saturday.
* The stats suggest playing ALEX BOWMAN this week. He has finished 6 of the 7 races in the Gen-7 car at Kansas Speedway in the top-10. Bowman has been a disaster this year. He finished 40th at Daytona, 23rd at Atlanta, 36th at COTA and 37th at Bristol. I will wait until Bowman gets his mojo back before I start using him in my lineup.
GROUP C DRIVERS
CARSON HOCEVAR (7): Could we have a Hurricane Warning in the Heartland? It doesn’t happen often, but Hocevar is coming to Kansas Speedway and he is bringing the chaos with him… There is no doubt that Hocevar is going to drive it like he stole it Sunday. He will probably run in the top-10, score some Stage Points and Hocevar should finish in the top-10 “IF” he can stay out of trouble.
DANIEL SUAREZ (8): I was not expecting the switch from TrackHouse Racing to Spire Motorsports to be an upgrade for Suarez this year, but that is what is happening. Suarez qualified 13th and finished 18th earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That is not great, but it is not bad as well. Suarez led 6 laps and finished 17th in his last race at Kansas Speedway. He should be one of the best picks in Group C Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
GROUP A DRIVERS: I thought about pivoting Christopher Bell to Denny Hamlin in the Speedway Collective game so that I would not be too invested in Kyle Larson and Bell at Kansas Speedway, but I trust the No. 5 and No. 20 teams. Also, I need to save Hamlin for the short, flat tracks this year.
GROUP B DRIVERS: I will use Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher in Group B. Ty Gibbs should be a great pick, but I do not want him on both teams (Driver Group Game and Speedway Collective) based on his track history. Ross Chastain is also an option, but he did not look good in Las Vegas, so I will leave him on the bench this week.
GROUP C DRIVERS: My picks for Group C will be Ryan Preece and Carson Hocevar. I am hoping to use Hocevar in the race because I want to save Preece for the short tracks. I will have the No. 60 car in my lineup, just in case Hocevar doesn’t look good in practice Saturday.
GROUP D DRIVERS: Daniel Suarez and Zane Smith will be my picks in Group D. Suarez is having one of his best seasons in the Cup Series, so I will play him while he is running well. Smith finished 16th in this race last year and he finished 14th earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Smith should be one of the best plays in Group D Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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