5 days agoThe NASCAR Cup Series is at a 1.5-mile intermediate track (Kansas Speedway) this weekend, so you have to have Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on your radar. Here at Kansas specifically, Stenhouse has posted finishes of 12th and eighth in the last two spring events, and he came home with top-10 results at both Charlotte and Texas last season. Earlier this year at Las Vegas (the sister track of Kansas), Stenhouse walked away with a respectable 17th-place finish. During practice this weekend, Stenhouse's No. 47 Chevrolet was seventh-fastest on the speed chart, which is another good sign for this JTG Daugherty Racing team. Stenhouse is priced at $6,600 on DraftKings this weekend and starts 21st, making him a viable DFS option on race day.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
5 days agoAustin Dillon is having the worst season of his NASCAR Cup Series career this year, but that shouldn't make you stay away from him this weekend at Kansas Speedway. We just went through a very rough stretch of races for Dillon, so his struggles are likely a little over-blown right now. The fact of the matter is, Austin Dillon has been a solid sleeper on low-wear, 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen era, and he has that potential at Kansas this weekend. Additionally, over the last seven races at this track, Austin has finished between 10th and 14th six times. AD3 qualified 16th for this weekend's AdventHealth 400, and while it's risky to take a struggling driver starting that high in DFS, Dillon is definitely a tournament option to consider in DraftKings this weekend with his $6,500 salary and his record of getting decent finishes at this track type.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: DriverAverages
5 days agoAt intermediate race tracks such as Kansas Speedway, you can typically pencil Todd Gilliland in for a finish in the high-20s, although sometimes he is able to sneak in a better result if there is some attrition. He ended up 24th at Las Vegas earlier this season, and last year at Kansas he was able to walk away with 24th- and 25th-place finishes in the two events. This weekend for the AdventHealth 400, Gilliland qualified in 25th-place for the big race, which makes him an interesting DFS option because he typically starts further back than that. At just $5,200 on DraftKings, though, Gilliland could end up being a cheap value play for DFS players. His 10-lap average during practice ranked 22nd-fastest, so with a little bit of track position late, we could see Gilliland find himself in the mix for a top-20 result. He's a viable option to round out for DraftKings lineups this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
5 days agoJosh Berry started off practice around 25th griping about tightness in his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. As qualifying went on, the car seemed to gain a little speed. That resulted in a 17th-place effort. That is the good news. Now, the bad news for the No. 4 Ford was again late-run speed in those lap intervals. Berry started around 30.3 seconds in practice but after 20 laps, those times were going above 31 seconds. Berry's Ford kept losing speed and grip off the turns. The 1.5-mile track could cause issues for the Ford driver as speed slips away on longer runs on Sunday.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 days agoJoey Logano turned in a nice qualifying lap at Kansas, which gave him a starting position of 11th for Sunday. However, the Team Penske Ford endured a much rougher practice session with frequent laps of 31-plus seconds. He was 30th overall in practice and was griping about several issues in the car. One was late-run speed. That may become more and more of an issue on Sunday. Logano's higher qualifying position could impact place differential if the same problems persist. This makes Logano less attractive for DFS and betting purposes despite fifth- and sixth-place finishes last year on the intermediate track.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 days agoKaulig Racing had one rough Saturday as Derek Knaus finished 38th in qualifying for Sunday's AdventHealth 400. Kraus had issues similar to William Byron but was 1.775 seconds off the pole lap by Christopher Bell. Kraus was 36th in practice, running laps a little above 175 mph. His lap averages in the No. 16 car seemed to get worse and worse. His overall performance in practice was 31.545 seconds. With 15- and 20-lap averages approaching 31.6 seconds, the likelihood is that Knaus stays very close to the bottom of the field on Sunday. Place differential is only possible if there is a lot of field attrition.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 days agoAustin Hill had a rough Saturday in the Richard Childress Racing Chevy. Hill qualified 34th overall for Sunday afternoon's race in Kansas. It did not help that the No. 33 car had all sorts of issues coming out of the turns. Furthermore, turning in 31+ second laps during practice will not get it done on this track. At least in qualifying, Hill managed a lap of 30.392 seconds. It was a marked improvement but still 0.901 seconds off from Christopher Bell's pole lap. Hill also qualified 34th at Texas and some of the same issues persisted. Sunday could see Hill slow down again.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 days 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.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
5 days 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.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
5 days 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.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
5 days 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.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
5 days 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.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
5 days 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.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
5 days agoChase Briscoe qualified 10th 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 in for the win, but a top-10 showing is probably likelier than oddsmakers project.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
5 days 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.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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