NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: High commitment drivers to shine at Kansas

Every so often we get to witness a seriously dominant win, and last week at Bristol was pure perfection for Kyle Larson who won the race leading 462 laps. It was an impressive race for Hendrick Motorsports with Chase Elliott finishing second, and Alex Bowman leading 34 laps, finishing ninth. William Byron was the only HMS racer finishing outside the Top 10 with a 17th place finish. 

 

And guess what? We just may see another HMS spanking this week as Chase Elliott has the best average finish here in Kansas with Kyle Larson not lagging too far behind with the fifth-best average, William Byron with the eighth-best, and Alex Bowman with the 10th-best.

 

This Week's Pick Strategy: Kansas seems to favor those drivers who love to race close to the wall.  You know, like Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, and Ross Chastain. I'll go heavy on drivers with high commitment to that high line and with those who are likely to score me some qualifying points. And yes, I do think those Toyotas are going to give the Chevys some tough competition this week. There are a handful of non-Playoff drivers like Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and Chris Buescher who can really shine here.

 

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

By Race
All with 4 - Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Martin Truex Jr.  

All with 3 - Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch

By Track (2019-2023)
Martin Truex Jr. - 8

All with 7 - Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and William Byron 

Both with 6 - Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman

All with 5 - Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell

Last Year's Pole Winner: Christopher Bell

 

Last Year's Race Winner: Tyler Reddick

The Likely Suspects: My Kansas go-tos are Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, William Byron, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. My next picks are Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Ross Chastain. I will complete my roster with Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe.

My Final Four: Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, and Noah Gragson.
 

Second-Look Driver: My sleeper pick this week is Ross Chastain. In his last five races here at Kansas, Chastain has finished second, sixth, third, fifth, 11th, and has led 50 laps. Chastain's all-in, high- commitment attitude could serve him well this weekend. Stay tuned.

Points to Ponder: 

• Four manufacturers have won poles at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series led by Chevrolet with 13 poles, followed by Ford (nine), and Toyota (seven).
• Nine of the 37 NASCAR Cup Series races have been won from the front row (24.32%).
• Hendrick Motorsports leads with the most NASCAR Cup Series wins at Kansas Speedway with nine victories, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing with eight.
• Four manufacturers have won at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series, led by Chevrolet with 14 victories, followed by Toyota with 12. 
  
• Nine of the 18 NASCAR Cup Series Kansas Speedway winners are active this weekend: Denny Hamlin with four wins; Joey Logano with three; Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex Jr. with two each. Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Elliott each have one win at Kansas. 
• Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in runner-up finishes at Kansas Speedway with three second-place finishes each.
• Denny Hamlin leads the NASCAR Cup Series in Top 5s at Kansas Speedway with 14. 
• Martin Truex Jr. leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Top 10 finishes at Kansas Speedway with 18 as well as in laps led with 906 in 32 starts.
• Chase Elliott (17 starts) leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway with an average finishing position with a 10.176. 
  

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 12:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 28th and your final picks by 3 p.m. ET on race day Sunday, September 29th.

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 17 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.

When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.