NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Digital Ally 400 at Kansas

Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):

By Race

Kevin Harvick -5
All with 3 -  Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch

By Track

Kyle Busch - 8
Both with 7 - Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano
Martin Truex Jr. - 6
Both with 5 - Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch  

Recent Pole Winners:  

2018 Kevin Harvick
2017 Ryan Blaney

Last Year's Race Winner: Kevin Harvick

The Likely Suspects: Don't be surprised if you see a lot of the same drivers running up front this week. Although Kansas Speedway is an intermediate track, many of the same drivers that excel at Dover also run well here, too. Here are my Kansas elites: Kevin Harvick, last week's winner Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney.

My 2 Cents: My Kansas my no-brainer pick is Kevin Harvick. My next picks are Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones. My final picks are Ty Dillon and Matt DiBenedetto.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Bubba Wallace. He has scored finishes of 23rd and 26th in his two Kansas starts and led a pair of laps in the fall race. He earned a seventh-place finish here in the 2013 Gander Trucks race though. Kansas could be the track where this struggling team turns a corner. Last week's second-look driver Daniel Suárez made the most out of his race, starting 15th, finishing 11th and leading 21 laps. Although he couldn't get the car adjusted enough to his liking in the turns, he got the most out of what was probably a 12th-place car.

My Final Four: Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch and Ty Dillon.

Points to ponder:

• Kevin Harvick leads the Monster Energy Series in poles at Kansas Speedway with four (fall 2013, 2014 sweep and spring 2018).
• Jimmie Johnson (2007-2008) and Kevin Harvick (three straight: fall of 2013 and 2014 sweep) are the only two drivers to win consecutive Busch poles at Kansas Speedway.
• Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series active drivers with three victories each.
• Martin Truex Jr. is the only active Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver that has posted consecutive wins at Kansas Speedway.
• A total of six of the 26 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway have been won from the pole, the most proficient starting spot in the field.
• Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in wins at Kansas with seven.
• Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. lead the Monster Energy Series in runner-up finishes at Kansas with three second-place finishes each.
• Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the Monster Energy Series in top-five finishes at Kansas Speedway with nine as well as top 10s with 17.
• Kevin Harvick (26 starts) leads all active drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway with an average finishing position of 9.692.

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your picks by 8 a.m. ET on Friday, May 10th, and pick your starters by 7:30 p.m. ET on race day, Saturday, May 11th.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D’Agostino wields fantasy-racing superpowers. Each week, Carol researches statistics and combs through her personal racing notes to provide fans with fantasy racing advice at NASCAR Fantasy Fusion, a column she has written for Skirts & Scuffs since October 2011. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway, and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. This year she joins the NASCAR Expert Picks panel at
Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet When she isn’t crunching numbers, you’ll find Carol in business meetings or hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat.