2 months agoStarting near the rear of the field is becoming pretty common for Ryan Preece this season, especially at intermediate tracks. Preece was the second-slowest car in qualifying for this weekend's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway and will roll off the starting grid from 37th on Sunday afternoon. He also qualified 32nd in the first Kansas race this season, and when you look at similar tracks, Preece started from 36th at Las Vegas and 31st at Charlotte. He wound up finishing 23rd and 26th in those two races, respectively. As far as DFS lineup go, you need to have some Ryan Preece exposure just because he has so much room for Place Differential points, plus he's quite affordable, coming in at just $6,100 on DraftKings. Preece will most likely only be able to muster a mid-20s finish on speed alone, but with some attrition during the race on Sunday, he could end up with a teens finish. The No. 41 Ford ranks 34th-fastest on intermediates this season (out of 36 cars).
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2
months
agoPerhaps
the
most
improved
driver
since
the
first
half
of
the
season,
Zane
Smith
qualified
15th
for
this
weekend's
Hollywood
Casino
400
at
Kansas
Speedway
as
he
looks
to
keep
the
good
times
rolling
on
Sunday.
And
while
that
top-half
qualifying
effort
is
going
to
spook
most
DFS
read more...
2 months agoIf you're looking for a high-risk, potentially high-reward driver for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, consider Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who is reasonably priced at $6,700 on DraftKings. The JTG Daugherty driver tends to excel on steep intermediate tracks, and here at Kansas specifically, Stenhouse has finishes of 16th, 12th, and eighth to his credit in the Next Gen era. Additionally, Ricky finished 17th at Las Vegas earlier this season (the sister track to Kansas) and recently finished 13th at Michigan, which is a larger track yet still an intermediate venue. By qualifying 18th for this weekend's race at Kansas, Stenhouse is likely to be quite low-owned in DFS tournaments, but the upside is there for him to potentially sneak in a top-10 finish if things go right. The No. 47 Chevrolet ranked 10th-fastest during practice on Saturday afternoon. Stenhouse has finished 13th or better in eight of his 23 career starts at Kansas Speedway (34.8%).
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
2 months agoBristol Motor Speedway is one of the most treacherous tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, as drivers have to wheel their race cars around the half-mile bullring for 500 laps every time the series stops there. That's why Kyle Larson's completely domination in Saturday evening's Bass Pro Shop Night Race was quite surprising, even though it was Kyle Larson and we've seen him perform like that many times in the past. Larson led 462 of the 500 laps on Saturday night, driving a near-perfect race, with an average running position of 1.11. This was Larson's fifth win of the 2024 season and his second career Cup Series victory at Bristol.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: USA Today
2 months agoHeading into the Bass Pro Shops Night Race weekend, many people were looking at Brad Keselowski as a potential winner of the race. Once the green flag flew, though, it was quickly figured out that the No. 6 Ford had nowhere near the speed to compete. In fact, Keselowski had one of his worst performances of his career at Bristol, finishing a disappointing 26th with a driver rating of 49.3. After the race, Keselowski noted that their car was probably set up for "the other tire," referencing the spring race at Bristol earlier this season that saw significant tire wear, which did not happen on Saturday night.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Yardbarker
2 months agoA speeding penalty seemingly doomed Ty Gibbs early on in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday evening, but the Joe Gibbs Racing driver still had a chance in the final stage at Bristol. The talented rookie drove to seventh after the final restart and was battling to stay in the playoff picture. However, when it was all said and done, Gibbs was eliminated from the postseason, as the No. 54 Toyota ended up with a 15th-place finish. Gibbs burned up his rear tires on the final run, which significantly impacted his speed. After the race, he said, "Just unfortunate. Speeding penalty is on me." Gibbs is still searching for his first win in the Cup Series.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
2 months agoSurprisingly enough, Bristol Motor Speedway has been a weak spot for Tyler Reddick, and the 23XI Racing driver struggled once again in Saturday evening's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Using a bold strategy call, the No. 45 team was able to pick up some valuable points in the second Stage, but Reddick ultimately finished in 20th-place when it was all said and done after having an average running position of 18.85--ranking just 19th-best in that statistical category. However, that was all that the regular season points champion needed, as Reddick still advanced to the Round of 12 in the playoffs. With the points now reset, Reddick has a 20-point advantage on the cut line for the next round.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
2 months agoChristopher Bell has been one of the best at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Next Gen era, and that was on display once again in Saturday evening's Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Bell had the second-best average running position in the race (4.18) despite struggling with handling issues off and on, and was able to wheel his No. 20 Toyota to a fifth-place finish when the checkered flag flew. With the points reset for the Round of 12, Bell now has a solid 24-point advantage over the cut line as the Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway next weekend to kick off the next stint of the playoffs.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
2
months
agoJoe
Gibbs
Racing
driver
Martin
Truex
Jr.
finished
Saturday's
Bass
Pro
Shops
Night
Race
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway
in
24th
after
a
strong
run
through
most
of
the
day.
Beginning
the
race
from
the
fourth
position,
Truex
needed
to
make
up
a
decent
deficit
of
14
points.
In
read more...
2
months
agoIn
Saturday's
Bass
Pro
Shops
Night
Race
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway,
Denny
Hamlin
finished
fourth
and
had
a
solid
points
day.
Starting
the
race
from
the
eighth
position,
Hamlin
kept
himself
in
play
for
a
great
finish
throughout
the
day.
In
the
first
stage,
Hamlin
ran
in
the
read more...
2 months agoHendrick Motorsports driver William Byron obtained a disappointing finish of 17th during Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Beginning the race from the third position, Byron looked as fast as teammates on speed in the early stages of the race. In the first stage, Byron faded back to fifth but still scored stage points. In the second stage, Byron began to struggle with the race conditions, and his car's lackluster handling would make him 11th by the end of the stage, barely missing out on stage points. Byron's team continued to try to make adjustments to the car during the final stage, but ultimately, the No. 24 Chevrolet driver fell off the lead lap and landed in 17th by the end of the race, marking his second consecutive Bristol finish outside of the Top 10. Byron still advanced to the Round of 12 in the playoffs despite his struggles, but he could be a factor in the next Cup race at Kansas, where he has seven top-10 finishes in 13 starts.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2
months
agoAlex
Bowman
placed
ninth
at
the
end
of
Saturday's
Bass
Pro
Shops
Night
Race
at
Bristol
Motor
Speedway.
Starting
from
the
first
position,
Bowman
was
one
of
the
race's
top
performers
in
the
early
portion.
In
the
first
stage,
Bowman
led
the
opening
34
laps
until
his
Hendrick
read more...
2 months agoTeam Penske driver Ryan Blaney finished sixth on Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Starting from the 22nd position, Blaney methodically worked his way through the field during the entire race. In the first stage, Blaney went from his starting position all the way up to 11th, falling short of earning stage points. In the second stage, the No. 12 Ford driver quietly made his way to the ninth position and scored two stage points. During the final stage, Blaney stayed out of trouble, executed on his pit stops without penalties, and gained a few more positions on track to finish sixth, his best finish at Bristol since the introduction of the Next-Gen car in 2022. As a result, Blaney moves onto the Round of 12 in the 2024 playoffs, and with the Cup Series next heading to Kansas, he will look to earn another favorable result as he placed 12th or better in four of the last five Cup events at the site.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoBubba Wallace was the highest-finishing of the non-playoff drivers in yesterday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, where he finished third after starting 11th. This continues his run as one of the lowkey best short track drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series this year as he has now posted top fives at each of the three short tracks on the current schedule and they were his best three finishes of the season. Although Wallace's teammate Tyler Reddick has been one of the leading championship contenders, Wallace has been consistently faster than Reddick on the short tracks and that continued last night as Wallace ran in the top ten for nearly the entire race while Reddick was mostly midpack throughout. Since the run of short tracks has passed, Talladega is likely Wallace's last great shot at a win this year.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 months agoDespite having arguably his worst run of the entire 2024 season at Bristol last night, Daniel Suarez still advanced to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Apart from his outlier race at Richmond, Suarez has really struggled on short tracks lately and Bristol was no exception as he started 35th and finished 31st four laps down while his teammate Ross Chastain finished 10th on the lead lap. Nonetheless, he had enough of a cushion from the first two races in the Round of 16 to carry him forward even though he hardly made any progress for the entire race, was the third-slowest driver, and had his worst driver rating of the year. Suarez's playoff bid will probably end here though as he had a miserable run at Kansas in the spring and he has been far less competitive at Talladega than at Atlanta.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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