2 months agoIn qualifying for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Carson Hocevar nabbed a starting position of 14th, his highest to date in his cup career at the site. In two previous races at Kansas, Hocevar's best finish was 20th, while in the Truck Series, he has two top-10 finishes in five races, including a runner-up result in September 2022. After 29 races this season, Hocevar has 19 top-20 finishes, including two at 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks. In practice, Hocevar ranked fourth in overall lap averages and 10 consecutive lap averages while having the best five consecutive lap average. Although Hocevar's practice speeds do favor a top-10 finish, his track history has been inconsistent, dating back to the Truck Series. Hocevar is recommended for tournament lineups as he has the potential to place in the Top 10 but otherwise, he is not a top recommendation due to his lower-than-average upside based on his DFS salary.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoFor Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Denny Hamlin qualified eighth, matching his highest starting position since 2022, when the Next-Gen car was introduced. In 32 races at Kansas, Hamlin has four wins (leading active drivers), 15 top-10 finishes, and 517 laps led (fourth-best of active drivers). The No. 11 Toyota driver has been great at the site recently, with a streak of six consecutive top-5 finishes going into this week's race. Through 29 races this season, Hamlin has three wins, 13 top-10 finishes, and 917 laps led (Second-most of all drivers), including a finish of fifth earlier at Kansas after leading 71 laps in the Spring. In practice, Hamlin ranked in the Top 10 of all categories on speed compared to the rest of the field. Hamlin must not be overlooked for this week's race in DFS based on his Kansas history, practice speeds, and equipment.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoFront Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland will start deep in the field in the 33rd position after qualifying for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. This will be the lowest starting position of his Cup Series career to date at Kansas. In five races at the site, Gilliland has five top-25 finishes with positive Place Differential. This includes his best career finish of 14th at the site, which he scored earlier in the season. In 29 Cup races so far this year, Gilliland has 16 top-20 finishes and nabbed positive PD 17 times overall. In practice, Gilliland ranked 36th in overall and five consecutive lap averages. Despite his lackluster practice speeds, Gilliland has favorable track history at Kansas, and his equipment from FRM generally competes for top-20 finishes regardless of track type. Gilliland is one of the more favorable value options this week and worth rostering in any DFS format.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoDuring qualifying for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Austin Dillon obtained a starting position of 22nd, marking his worst start position at the site since October 2018. In 22 races at Kansas, Dillon has 16 top-20 finishes, including six of the last eight Cup events at the site. In 29 races this season, Dillon has 10 top-20 finishes, with two coming at 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks (Las Vegas and Texas). In practice, Dillon ranked 12th in overall lap averages and 16th in five consecutive lap averages. Although Dillon's history at Kansas is solid, his performance at Intermediate tracks this season has been mixed, making him one of the more difficult drivers to trust this week for DFS. Overall, fantasy players should mainly roster Dillon in tournament lineups as a contrarian option since his rostership is expected to be below average.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoWilliam Byron collected a starting position of sixth during qualifying for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. This will be the fourth time that Byron will start inside the Top 10 at the site since 2022. In 13 starts at Kansas, Byron has seven top-10 finishes, all gathered in his last 10 appearances at the track. With 29 races completed this season, Byron has three wins and 14 top-10 finishes, including three at 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks. In practice, Byron ranked first of all drivers in 10 consecutive lap averages and second in overall lap averages. Due to his top-notch equipment, practice speeds, and performances at 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks this year, Byron is likely to place in the Top 5 and be a factor for the win.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2
months
agoRFK
Racing
driver
Chris
Buescher
will
start
25th
after
qualifying
for
this
week's
Hollywood
Casino
400
at
Kansas
Speedway.
It
will
be
the
lowest
starting
position
of
Buescher's
career
since
the
May
2022
race
at
Kansas,
the
first
race
at
the
site
in
the
Next-Gen
car.
In
17
read more...
2
months
agoRyan
Blaney
qualified
seventh
for
this
Sunday's
Hollywood
Casino
400
at
Kansas
Speedway,
which
will
be
the
best
starting
position
for
the
defending
Cup
champion
since
2022.
In
19
races
in
Kansas,
Blaney
has
seven
top-10
finishes,
with
his
last
one
being
scored
during
the
September
2022
event
read more...
2 months agoFor Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing's Josh Berry will start 29th, matching the worst Cup Series start of his career at the site. In two previous Kansas races in the Cup Series, Berry's best finish was 15th, which he gained earlier in the season. The No. 4 Ford driver also has two finishes with positive Place Differential in his Cup career at Kansas so far, and Berry has two top-10 finishes in two starts in the Xfinity Series. Through 29 races this season, Berry has 12 top-20 finishes, including three at 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks. In practice, Berry ranked ninth in overall lap averages and seventh in 15 and 20 consecutive lap averages of Group B drivers. With high upside and favorable results at Intermediate tracks this season, Berry is worth consideration in all DFS formats this week at Kansas.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoFor the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Christopher Bell qualified in the pole position for the third time in a row. In nine races at Kansas, Bell has six top-10 finishes, including five of the last six Cup events. Bell also led multiple laps and scored a Driver Rating of 100 four times in the last five Kansas races. In 29 races completed this year, Bell has three wins, 17 top-10 finishes (second-best of all drivers), and 721 laps led (third-best of all drivers). In practice, Bell ranked as one of the Top 10 fastest in all eligible speed categories, including first in 10 and 30 consecutive lap averages of Group B drivers. Expect Bell to dominate early and compete for the win based on his equipment, great Kansas history, and practice speeds.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 months agoDespite a nearly comatose summer stretch, Daniel Suarez had a significant uptick in performance in the past couple months until his dismal Bristol Night Race run cratered his momentum. Nonetheless, it was not enough for him to fall out of the Round of 12 and now he seems to be back on track again as he qualified 10th at Kansas, giving him his fourth-best qualifying run of the season. Although he has only scored two top tens there, he drove from 19th to 4th in the 2022 spring race, so he has had speed at Kansas in the past, but that came in a year when the Trackhouse Racing cars were much faster than they are this year. His qualifying and momentum suggests a strong run may be likely, but his usual Kansas form suggests he'll finish just outside the top ten, which probably won't be enough to advance.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoAlthough John Hunter Nemechek only qualified 31st for today's Kansas race, he does have a better finishing record there than at most other tracks. His average finish of 16.3 at Kansas is better than his average finish at any other non-drafting oval and he has also won two NASCAR Xfinity Series races and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the track. However, much of his NASCAR Cup Series performance is likely luck since he hasn't had a crash DNF there unlike many other tracks, not to mention that his 13th-place finish last spring was far better than he ran because he got lucky due to caution timing. He only qualified 31st for today's race far behind Erik Jones, so while he'll probably finish better than that, he still doesn't have as much speed at the track where his father won 20 years ago as his record makes it look.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoCorey LaJoie makes his debut with Rick Ware Racing starting 27th in this afternoon's Kansas race after Spire Motorsports traded him for Justin Haley. While the mainstream NASCAR fanbase is completely done with LaJoie and seems unhappy that he hasn't been reduced to stacking burgers, don't be surprised if he actually improves. The Ware cars are probably slower than the Spire cars, but LaJoie did outperform Haley when they were teammates before and Chris Lawson is a much better crew chief than Ryan Sparks. Furthermore, LaJoie seemed to do better with slower cars as in his previous years with Spire, he seldom overdrove and he mostly did so this year to compete with Carson Hocevar. Now that Kaz Grala is his teammate, he will be the team leader again and with lower expectations, he'll probably only take what the car gives him. Expect a finish in the low 20s.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoErik Jones has had an extremely forgettable season as he sits a miserable 29th in points with 0 laps led, but Kansas may provide Jones with one of his best opportunities to turn that around. His 16th-place qualifying run is actually his best since his injury at Talladega. It seems like a combination of his injury and the reduced level of Toyota support did him in this season although maybe his stronger qualifying suggests he is beginning to heal. Kansas has been a good track for Jones as he did get his only top five last year in this race when he finished third and he also got five finishes of 7th or better with Joe Gibbs Racing before that. While he has been one of the most invisible drivers this season, Jones does look like a decent dark horse contender for a top ten.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoJimmie Johnson qualified 35th for today's Kansas race. Although he thrice won there in days of yore, he has not been remotely competitive since his return to the NASCAR Cup Series in the Next Gen era as his best finish is 28th and his best average running position is 19th. He did run the Kansas race in the spring where he finished last after being wrecked by Corey LaJoie, but he was only running 27th before that although he was ahead of both of his teammates John Hunter Nemechek and Corey Heim at the time he wrecked. While the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing will almost certainly be very fast, it's obvious Legacy Motor Club is getting far less support from Toyota, so even if he had speed, he probably wouldn't be competitive. Expect him to finish around 30th.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoDaniel Hemric was replaced by Ty Dillon at Kaulig Racing for 2025 yesterday with Hemric's No. 31 team turning into Dillon's No. 10 team for next year. Hemric's firing is understandable since he has been the second-slowest full-time driver this year. While Dillon won't likely do any better, his hiring may attract greater support from Chevrolet and Richard Childress Racing, which could result in faster cars. Hemric only narrowly outqualified Dillon for Kaulig in this race, with Hemric starting 30th to Dillon's 32nd. While Hemric did improbably win a pole there as a rookie for RCR in 2019, he's done little else. While one can expect him to improve from his weak starting position as he nearly always does, it's hard to imagine him finishing much better than 20th.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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