The Cup Series will continue their playoffs this week with a trip to the Heartland to race at Kansas Speedway. This is race number 28 on the schedule and that means we have used 27 drivers in the One & Done contests this year. This is the portion of the season when we have to look between the seat cushions on our couch and flip over rocks to see if we can find a decent driver to use in our One & Done contests. I have a plan to get us through Phoenix. I just need the drivers I select to cooperate with my plan. Sometimes, that doesn’t work out, but hopefully we get some luck in Kansas.
ONE & DONE CONTESTS
This pick is for games where you can only use a driver once throughout the season.
KYLE LARSON will be my pick in games where you can use a driver once throughout the season. I had Larson penciled in for a few races this year and then he went out and posted average laps in practice and did not qualify well. This week the No. 5 car looks fast. Larson posted the fastest speed in his group in practice and qualified second for the race. His average finishing position in his last four races at Kansas is 3.25. I will take a chance with “Yung Money” Sunday.
ONE & DONE (REGULAR SEASON/PLAYOFF GAMES)
The picks for the Regular Season / Playoff Games are rest this week. Hopefully I was able to navigate your picks so that you were able to make the playoffs. I know some people play in games that reset their allocations for the playoffs (meaning you can use any driver you want) and others continue in the playoffs, but you still cannot use the drivers you used in the regular season. I will provide picks for both styles of games.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. will be my pick in games that reset for the playoffs. Truex is the safest driver in the field this week. He has finished his last eight races at Kansas in the top-10, with a sixth-place average finishing position. The No. 19 car looks fast again this weekend. Truex posted the eighth-fastest speed in practice, but his car has very good long-run speed. Truex is good at a lot of tracks left in the playoffs, but the No. 19 car looks too good to fade Sunday at Kansas.
CARSON HOCEVAR will be my pick in games that do not reset for the playoffs. I am quickly running out of drivers in games using this format because I did not take a chance with drivers like Zane Smith, Jenson Button and Josh Berry earlier in the season. Legacy Motorsports is giving Hocevar every opportunity possible to win the job for next year in the No. 42 car. Hocevar is a smart driver who does not make many mistakes. If he simply stays out of trouble Sunday, he should finish in the top-25. Hocevar finished 17th last week at Darlington. He should have an easier time figuring out how to race at Kansas (It also helps he get extra track time since he competed in the Truck Series race Friday night).
ONE & DONE (USE A DRIVER MORE THAN ONCE)
I play in a game where I can use a driver three times throughout the season. I know some of you have told me you can use your drivers twice. We will only need 18 drivers in these games, so we do not need to dig too deep with our picks. Here is my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once….
BUBBA WALLACE will be my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once. Wallace won the playoff race at Kansas last year. He proved in May that his trip to Victory Lane last September was not a fluke. Wallace finished fourth at Kansas in May and he had one of the best cars in the field. The No. 23 car looks fast again this weekend. Wallace posted the third-fastest speed in practice and qualified 10th for the race. I will take my chances with Wallace at one of his best intermediate tracks.
Good luck Sunday!
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