3 hours agoJimmie Johnson will start the AdventHealth 400 from the 19th position on Sunday afternoon. The Legacy Motor Club part-time driver inched out Corey Heim for the honor. The last time Johnson raced at Kansas was in October of 2020 where he finished 31st for Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson has been pretty consistent in the Toyota in 2024 producing nine, eight, and nine points in his three appearances. The expectation is that the No. 84 car loses track position as the race goes on. Johnson was 35th in practice and his best lap there was dead last in the field. Source: NASCAR.com
7 hours agoAs Zane Smith adjusts to the Next Gen car, which seems to take longer for most rookies to adapt to than previous chassis, he is currently the slowest full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series with a speed percentile of 21.54. However, his qualifying speed at Kansas this weekend was competitive with his Spire Motorsports teammates, as Smith qualified 24th, one position behind Carson Hocevar and two positions ahead of Corey LaJoie. Smith has never started a NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas, but he has been solid in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he won the 2022 spring race, finished second in this weekend's event, has led 250 career laps here, and has never finished worse than 11th. It's unlikely that any of his setup notes from the Truck race will carry over, but this might be one of his best chances for a decent run regardless.Source: Racing Reference
7 hours agoJohn Hunter Nemechek has been one of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series's biggest lowkey disappointments. After triggering the pileup that injured his teammate Erik Jones at Talladega, Nemechek has now been out-qualified by both Jones's substitute, Corey Heim, and his part-time car owner, Jimmie Johnson, back-to-back weeks at Dover and Kansas despite having more experience in the Next Gen car than either of them. Nemechek did post a faster qualifying time than Heim, but he starts 29th while Nemechek starts 20th because the first qualifying group was much faster. Nemechek is better at Kansas than he is at most tracks, as his average finish of 18th in the Cup Series is better than his average at most other tracks. He has also won two Xfinity Series races and one Craftsman Truck race there, but his struggles in the Next Gen car will probably override that.Source: Racing Reference
7 hours agoJustin Haley has certainly improved Rick Ware Racing's competitiveness and reputation to a significant extent this season, as his speed percentile this year of 27.10 is considerably higher than the drivers in the other RWR car, but the team continues to lack the speed necessary to significantly contend, particularly on a track where horsepower is paramount in a year when Ford has been winless across all three national series. Haley qualified only 35th for this weekend's AdventHealth 400, beating his teammate du jour Riley Herbst by .015 seconds. Haley is a plodding, methodical driver who usually finishes better than he starts, as he did in his last three Kansas starts, where he had an average start of 29 and an average finish of 19.33. He'll likely do so again this weekend, but it's hard to imagine the team finishing better than 25th on a horsepower track.Source: Racing Reference
7 hours agoAustin Cindric continued his string of consistent qualifying runs with a seventh-place start for this weekend's race at Kansas, but despite outqualifying all his Penske teammates as well as the Front Row Motorsports and Wood Brothers satellite cars, he has seldom been able to convert his strong qualifying runs into solid race finishes. He has never scored a top-10 finish at Kansas nor has he led a lap and he finished worse than his starting position in each of his last four starts there. In the last intermediate race at Texas earlier this year, he qualified eighth and finished 25th and he has finished worse than his starting position in 10 of the 11 races this season. Expect this trend to continue on Sunday.Source: Racing Reference
7 hours agoHarrison Burton qualified 31st at Kansas this weekend and there's little to suggest he might contend on Sunday. Not only has he never led a lap or finished better than 21st in a race at Kansas, he has never even scored a top-10 finish on a non-drafting intermediate to date. Even in the Xfinity Series, Burton only managed a single top-10 despite driving dominant Joe Gibbs Racing equipment. Additionally, almost all Ford teams except for Stewart-Haas Racing have underachieved expectations in the NASCAR Cup Series this year, so when considering Burton's lack of performance on this track type, Ford's lack of performance in general, and the fact that recent Kansas races tend to have minimal attrition, bettors should stay away from Burton entirely.Source: Racing Reference
7 hours agoChase Briscoe qualified tenth for this weekend's race at Kansas but forecasting his performance is particularly difficult. The Stewart-Haas cars have been notoriously slow on intermediate tracks for the most part with the Next Gen chassis and Briscoe himself has neither scored a top-10 finish nor led a lap at Kansas. Furthermore, Briscoe's performance on intermediates was dreadful last season, as he was the second-slowest driver on that track type with a speed percentile of 15.16. However, the SHR cars have appeared to be significantly faster than expected this year, as Briscoe's teammate, Noah Gragson, qualified third and gave the team its best start on an intermediate since 2021. Briscoe finished sixth in the last intermediate race at Texas. He shouldn't factor for the win, but a top 10 is probably likelier than oddsmakers project.Source: Racing Reference
7 hours agoChristopher Bell won his first pole of the season for this weekend's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas. This continues his recent trend where he has been the best qualifier in the NASCAR Cup Series, as he won the most poles in both 2022 and 2023 and had the best average starting position last year. However, despite winning ten poles (including two previous ones at Kansas) and seven races in his career, Bell has never won from the pole and he has historically been likelier to win in races when he drives up through the field. Despite Toyota's general dominance on intermediate tracks, this track type seems to be Bell's Achilles heel. Although he usually finishes in the top ten at Kansas, he has never finished better than third and has only won on an intermediate once. Expect him to fade while another driver charge to the front on Sunday.Source: Racing Reference
11 hours agoTrackhouse Racing superstar Daniel Suarez has qualified 27th for the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Suarez's disappointing qualifying efforts came as no surprise, as the 32-year-old also struggled to find speed during Saturday's practice session. Despite being on the track for 30 laps, which was tied for theread more...
11 hours agoRyan Preece has qualified 32nd for Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Besides being priced at $6,400, there is little to like about Ryan Preece heading into this weekend's race. In eight Cup starts at this track, he has no top-10s and has an average overall finish of 24.8. While his 25.73 average DraftKings points in the Next Gen Car at this venue does rank 16th in the Series, his 13.23 average on similar D-shaped intermediates is the third lowest among active full-time drivers. Even his practice on Saturday was disastrous as he finished with the second worst time of the day (30.793), a result that only adds to the overwhelming case against playing the 33-year-old this weekend in fantasy. Between his struggles both this season and on this style of track, it is recommended that you fade the No. 41 this weekend in DFS.Source: Jayski.com
12 hours agoFresh off a disappointing trip to Dover last weekend, Brad Keselowski will start 30th in Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Prior to finishing 30th at Dover, Keselowski had finished second in back-to-back races, a testament to how competitive this team has been all season. Heading into thisread more...
12 hours agoComing off back-to-back top 10 finishes at Talladega and Dover, Daniel Hemric will look to build off this momentum on Sunday when he starts 33rd in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. As a driver who failed to crack the top 20 in six straight races this season,read more...
12 hours agoTruck Series regular Corey Heim will start 20th in Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Heim, who is in his second week of relief duty for the injured Erik Jones, did a respectable job last week at Dover in what was his first-ever Cup start. After starting 32nd,read more...
12 hours agoChase Elliott, who currently sits third in the NASCAR playoff standings, will start ninth in Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. With four top-five finishes in the last five races this season, Elliott enters the race as one of the hottest drivers in the Cup Series. Despiteread more...
13 hours agoOn Saturday afternoon, Chris Buescher qualified 12th for the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. In his 16 Cup starts in The Sunflower State, Buescher has been largely underwhelming as he has just three top-10s and an average overall finish of 18.9. While an average finish in the top-20 is not disastrous, his efforts in the Next Gen Car at this track have been. In his last four starts at Kansas, the RFK Racing star is averaging just 17.84 DraftKings points, which is the sixth lowest among active full-time Cup drivers. Despite winning at Michigan last summer, in his last eight races on D-shaped ovals (which Kansas is considered) he is averaging 22.44 DraftKings points, which ranks 22nd in the series. Although he should not be considered a complete fade, his overall lack of production on this type of track makes the No. 17 a driver you will want to limit your exposure to in DFS this weekend. Source: Racing-Reference.info