September 29, 2025
Tyler Reddick's mind was obviously elsewhere as his four-month old son Rookie is currently in an intensive care unit in North Carolina where he has been hooked up to a ventilator and is showing signs of heart failure. Despite that fact and a botched pit stop, Reddick recovered to be an outside contender for the win on the race's late restarts. While his teammate Bubba Wallace led on the final two restarts, Reddick restarted behind him but Wallace grew upset when he attempted to pass him for the lead instead of pushing him past Christopher Bell. After failing to score any stage points and fading to a seventh-place finish, Reddick fell 29 points behind Joey Logano for the last transfer spot in the Round of 8 in 11th. To pass three drivers from that far behind, he would likely need to win at the Charlotte roval, but since Shane van Gisbergen will be entered, that is not likely to happen.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 29, 2025
Shane van Gisbergen earned his best oval finish of 10th in Sunday's Kansas race after deftly avoiding a string of wrecks in Stage 3. Although he wasn't very fast with an average running position of only 24th, and he only spent 23.8% of laps inside the top 15, his great control from Supercars often helps him navigate his way through messy races. He typically had a history of being faster there in the races (especially late in the race) than in qualifying, so maybe this shouldn't have come as much of a surprise as it did on the surface. He actually passed his teammate, Ross Chastain (who had outrun him all race), on the last lap, which is even more surprising because one would think Trackhouse Racing would've made sure to maximize Chastain's points, given that he is still in the playoffs, while SVG is not.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 28, 2025
Noah Gragson of Front Row Motorsports will start the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway this week from the 14th position. Gragson outqualified his two FRM teammates and was the only driver from the team to collect a starting position inside the top 20. In six Cup starts at Kansas, Gragson has five top-20 finishes and an average finish of 17.7. In 30 races completed this season, Gragson has eight top-20 finishes and an average finish of 25.0. In practice for this week's race, Gragson ranked 19th in overall lap averages, eighth in 10 consecutive lap averages, and sixth in 15 consecutive lap averages. Although Gragson does not offer as much upside as some drivers in the value tier, he does have favorable track history at Kansas and fast practice speeds. Gragson is best suited for tournament lineups and can be a sneaky DFS option for this week's race.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
September 28, 2025
Todd Gilliland will start this week's Hollywood Casino 400 from the 23rd position at Kansas Speedway. Gilliland matched his career-best starting position at the site this week, which he had achieved earlier in the 2025 season. In seven starts at Kansas in his Cup career, Gilliland has two top-20 finishes and has collected positive Place Differential every time. Through 30 races so far in the 2025 season, Gilliland has 12 top-20 finishes with an average finish of 22.2. In practice, Gilliland ranked eighth in overall lap averages and 14th in 10 consecutive lap averages. Gilliland is an excellent value option to consider for all DFS formats who will save on cap flexibility, especially with equipment that is capable of competing for a top-20 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
September 28, 2025
Three-time Kansas Speedway winner, Kyle Larson, is the favorite to take the checkered flag in this weekend's Hollywood Casino 400 as well. The No. 5 Chevrolet was one of the fastest cars in practice on Saturday afternoon, and Larson went out and qualified third for this weekend's race as well. In the Next Gen era at Kansas, Kyle Larson has led a series-high 497 laps, and just to put that into perspective, the next-highest on that list is Christopher Bell with 197 laps led. Larson also has the best average finish over that seven-race span (6.3), and the best average driver rating as well (111.4). Barring any major mechanical issue or overall mistakes, there's no reason to think that Larson won't be the guy to beat in Kansas on Sunday afternoon. He's a premier DFS play because of his dominator likelihood, even at the high salary of $11,000 on DraftKings.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
September 28, 2025
Ryan Blaney is the obvious place-differential DFS pick for this weekend's race at Kansas Speedway. In practice on Saturday afternoon, the No. 12 Ford blew a tire, which sent Blaney hard into the wall, causing the Team Penske group to pull out the backup car for the race on Sunday. Blaney didn't even attempt a lap in qualifying, which means he will start from dead last for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400, giving him sky-high Place Differential upside for the race. Blaney is typically very strong at Kansas, as he has walked away with top-five finishes in the last two races at this track. He also has a third-place finish at Texas earlier this season (another low-wear, 1.5-mile track) and had one of the best cars at Las Vegas back in March before wrecking out. Vegas, by the way, is the sister track of Kansas. All in all, Blaney is one of the best DFS plays on the slate this weekend (even at his hefty $10,700 salary on DraftKings) due to the Place Differential upside.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
September 28, 2025
Four-time Kansas Speedway winner, Denny Hamlin, should be a contender once again in this weekend's Hollywood Casino 400. Hamlin qualified on the front row for this weekend's race and looked strong in practice on Saturday afternoon, with the No. 11 Toyota ranking third-fastest when it came to 20-lap average in the session. Hamlin is a typically a contender when the Cup Series visits Kansas Speedway, as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has posted a top-five finish in six of the last eight races at this track (including his most recent win here in 2023). With that being said, Hamlin hasn't had the best finishes at low-wear 1.5-mile tracks this season, so that could be something to keep an eye on. At Las Vegas in March, he finished 25th, and then wound up 38th at Texas. He finished 36th in the first Kansas race this season and 16th at Charlotte. Now, the No. 11 Toyota was stronger than those finishes show, but it's still noteworthy as the series heads into the fifth race on this track type this year.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
September 28, 2025
Most DFS players will likely be targeting Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney for the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday afternoon, as the former has major dominator upside and the latter has huge place-differential potential. But if you're looking for a pivot option that has a mix of both upsides, consider William Byron. Willy B qualified in 11th place for this weekend's race at Kansas Speedway, which gives him some decent track position to start with on Sunday while also giving him some room for Place Differential in daily fantasy contests. Byron finished second here at Kansas in this race last season after leading 24 laps, and the No. 24 Chevrolet has been the fastest on the high-speed intermediate tracks this year. Now, Byron usually thrives when he gets out front and can control the race, which he won't be able to do right off the rip this weekend. Still, he should have a solid race day and could compete for his first Kansas win.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
September 28, 2025
Some drivers have certain tracks that they are wildly consistent at. One of those tracks for Alex Bowman is Kansas Speedway. Over the last 13 races here, Bowman has finished 11th or better 12 times, with the only exception being an 18th-place effort in 2021. Over the last six races at this track, the Hendrick Motorsports driver hasn't finished outside of the top 10 at all. Will that streak continue this weekend? Bowman qualified in 17th-place for Sunday afternoon's Hollywood Casino 400 and has had one of the strongest race cars on intermediate tracks this season, specifically at Las Vegas (which is the sister track of Kansas). Considering his track record here and his Place Differential upside in DFS, Alex Bowman makes for a strong fantasy pick this weekend as the series races around the 1.5-mile track in Kansas once again.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
September 28, 2025
One mid-tier driver that has had solid speed on the intermediate race tracks this season is Ryan Preece. When it comes to the high-speed intermediates in 2025, Preece ranks fifth-fastest in terms of Total Speed Ranking, and he's got some good finishes to back it up as well. In addition to finishing third at Las Vegas earlier this season, Preece also posted a ninth-place result at both Charlotte and Michigan, as well as a seventh-place finish at Kansas. This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series is at Kansas once again, and Preece will be looking to build off of his top-10 finish from last time. In the spring, he starts back in 30th and ended up seventh by the end of it, and this time around, he will roll off the starting grid from 19th-place. Don't be surprised if the No. 60 Ford challenges for another top-10 result this weekend. Preece looks to be a great value DFS play at just $6,900 on DraftKings.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
September 27, 2025
Although Christopher Bell is one of the best drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, intermediates to some extent have been his Achilles' heel. Despite winning four poles at Kansas, Bell has rarely factored for the win here but last year's fall race was a big exception when he led 122 laps until hitting the wall near the end of Stage 2. Despite that mishap, he has finished 8th or better in seven of his last eight starts and will probably do so again unless he crashes in this race. Having said that, his fifth-place starting position means he has the potential to finish worse than he starts, thereby costing him valuable Place Differential points. Bell is still a very strong option, but it's somewhat hard to justify starting him when Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Blaney are all starting in the 30s.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 27, 2025
A week after dominating the first half of the race at Loudon, Joey Logano was astonishingly slow in Kansas qualifying, where he starts 35th and was even outqualified by Cody Ware, although he starts one row ahead of his teammate Ryan Blaney after Blaney crashed in practice and Logano blew a tire. Nonetheless, you should strongly consider starting both teammates even though they weren't fast in practice either because it is very rare that you get the opportunity for that many Place Differential points from them. Blaney is probably a better choice Logano since his recent record here is better while Logano has only led 14 laps with this car here and has never finished better than 5th, but even if he only finishes 15th, he'll outscore several drivers who finish better. Since he's not locked into the Round of 8 while Blaney is, which may make him more intensely motivated to move through the field.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 27, 2025
Chase Elliott is aimlessly drifting through the playoffs via consistency despite not factoring for many race wins, but with Kansas and the Charlotte roval remaining in this round, he probably should advance to the Round of 8 regardless. Elliott starts fourth tomorrow and he leads more races here than not with six races where he led between 29 and 48 laps in his last 14 starts including his win in 2018. While he was never really dominant, he was always competitive as he only finished worse than 15th once, but he tended to finish worse than where he is starting tomorrow in most of those races so other drivers who are starting worse might score more points. However, Elliott is no sure thing to advance to the Round of 8 since he only leads Ross Chastain by 14 points with polesitter Chase Briscoe in between, which may incrase Elliott's motivation for this race.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 27, 2025
Austin Cindric is probably not going to advance to the Round of 8 this year since he rarely posts good finishes, even though he has a lot of good runs. Cindric sits 19 points behind his former Xfinity Series rival Chase Briscoe for the final transfer spot, but Briscoe is starting on the pole while Cindric only qualified 26th at a track where he has never led a lap or finished better than 11th. Briscoe will likely score a lot of stage points while Cindric will not, which will likely put him out of contention. Cindric did qualify poorly enough to make him a possibly strong option for DFS play, but the thing is, his superior Penske teammates, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, are both starting even worse, which means they would be better bets for place-differential points unless you want to save money for another top driver since Cindric costs much less at $7,200.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
September 27, 2025
Ty Gibbs's historical record at Kansas is quite similar to the early record of his predecessor, Kyle Busch, when Kansas was generally regarded as his best track. Despite the consistent speed his grandfather's team has shown at the track, Gibbs has tended to qualify well and consistently finish worse than he starts. He did finish fifth in last year's fall race after starting second, but aside from that, he only finished better than 28th once. Since he is starting eighth and is very likely to lose positions from his starting position and score negative place-differential points, you likely don't want to start him, even though he is in a Joe Gibbs Racing car and is very inexpensive with a $7,400 salary.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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