The Cup Series will continue their run for the 2023 Championship with a trip back to Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson was the first driver to secure his spot in the Round of 12. Will another driver join “Yung Money” in the next round of the playoffs; or will it be a non-playoff driver in Victory Lane in the Heartland? Bubba Wallace was able to win a wild race at Kansas last year as a non-playoff driver. I expect another exciting race this week. Here is the schedule for the Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series at Kansas Speedway this weekend…
The Cup Series raced at Kansas Speedway in May. The race had a bit of everything. There were tires falling off cars, drivers going down to the apron to make passes, 11 cautions and Denny Hamlin moving Kyle Larson out of the way on the final lap to win the race. It was just another wild race on an intermediate track for the Gen-7 car. The best drivers in the race were Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. I expect the same drivers to be good this week.
You can watch the highlight of the race at Kansas in May here: Advent Health 400 Race Rewind
STATS FOR KANSAS
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile, tri-oval track. It has progressive banking that allows the drivers to race at the bottom, the middle and at the top of the track. Usually the drivers end up near the wall at the end of a fuel run. I used the data from the races at Las Vegas, Charlotte and Michigan to help handicap the Hollywood Casino 400. The drivers who ran well in those races should be up front Sunday.
Here are the Driver Rankings from the races in the races at the tracks similar to Kansas Speedway this year…
NASCAR STRATEGY
There are nine races left in the 2023 season. One of the races is at the Charlotte Roval, one race is at Talladega and we can get through Martinsville and Bristol with some short-track specialists. That means we have five races to use our top drivers at (Kansas, Texas, Las Vegas, Homestead and Phoenix).
I am not worried about saving allocations in the Driver Group Game this week. The intermediate tracks have been a battle of the drivers behind the wheels of the Toyota’s and the two top drivers from Hendrick Motorsports (Kyle Larson and William Byron). The best choices in Group A of the Driver Group Game are Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and William Byron. You need to have two of these drivers in your lineup if possible. Martin Truex Jr., Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher are the best choices in Group B. (Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch would be good replacements if you are out of allocations of the first-four drivers listed). Ty Gibbs is by far the best choice in Group C. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and AJ Allmendinger would be good replacements for Gibbs.
The strategy for Fantasy Live is easy this week. Simply play the best drivers. We should get a good idea of who these drivers are after practice Saturday. The drivers, who post the fastest laps in practice, qualify up front and ran well on the intermediate tracks earlier this season will be in my lineups. I am not saving any allocations with my top drivers at Kansas.
The strategy for DFS Contests will be similar to the strategy last week at Darlington. The races at Kansas in the Gen-7 car have had at least three dominators. I want at least three drivers who I expect can lead the most laps and score the most fastest laps in my lineup Sunday. I plan to play a similar lineup from what I had last week at Darlington.
EARLY WEEK PICKS FOR KANSAS
ONE & DONE PICK: ALEX BOWMAN
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS: KYLE LARSON, DENNY HAMLIN, MARTIN TRUEX JR., TYLER REDDICK, BUBBA WALLACE, CHRIS BUESCHER, TY GIBBS, RICKY STENHOUSE JR.
FANTASY LIVE PICKS: MARTIN TRUEX JR., DENNY HAMLIN, WILLIAM BYRON, KYLE LARSON, TYLER REDDICK (GARAGE) BUBBA WALLACE
Good luck this weekend!
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