NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: AdventHealth 400 at Kansas

 

I guess last week's race winner and 2024 NASCAR Champion Joey Logano proved that although track position is king, starting in 27th on the grid and winning at Texas is absolutely possible. It was also a bit of redemption for the No. 22 team after being disqualified just the week before at Talladega Superspeedway for a missing nut on a spoiler bracket. The victory was Logano's first win of the season,  his second win at Texas Motor Speedway, and the 37th of his Cup Series career.

This Week's Pick Strategy:
As we roll into Kansas Speedway this weekend, I have my eyes on those daring, "all-in" drivers. Kansas is a super-fast, high commitment track -- the kind where drivers who qualify well actually come out of their cars shaking from the adrenaline. When picking this week don't be timid about picking drivers who love that high line or who are totally comfortable with going three wide up the middle and making moves on the track that make you nervous. 

For me, chief among the drivers in the field who fit that description well are Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Ty Gibbs. Good luck with your picks this week. It should be a fun race.

 

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

By Race
Denny Hamlin - 4 

All with 3 - Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Alex Bowman

By Track (2020-2024)
Denny Hamlin - 8

All with 7 - Chase Elliott, William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman  

Kyle Larson - 6

Kyle Busch - 5

Last Year's Pole Winner: Christopher Bell

 

Last Year's Race Winner: Kyle Larson

The Likely Suspects: My Kansas go-tos are Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Chris Buescher.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is a tie between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. My next picks are Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Elliott. I will complete my roster with Ross Chastain, and Chris Buescher.

My Fabulous 5 (Drivers most likely to finish in the Top 5):  Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, and Chase Elliott.

NASCAR Fantasy Live Line Up:. Denny Hamlin, Noah Gragson, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Ty Gibbs. And in the garage, Chase Elliott.

        Featured Match Ups: Cindric over Bowman, Chastain over Larson. Busch over Logano, and

        Dillon over Gragson
 

Points to Ponder: 

• Christopher Bell leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in poles at Kansas Speedway with four (2022, 2023, 2024 sweep).
• Nine of the 38 NASCAR Cup Series races have been won from the front row (23.68%).
• Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing are tied with for the most NASCAR Cup Series wins at Kansas Speedway with eight victories each. 
• Four manufacturers have won at Kansas Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series, led by Chevrolet with 15 victories, followed by Toyota with 12 and Ford with nine.
  
• Nine of the 19 NASCAR Cup Series Kansas Speedway winners are active this weekend: Denny Hamlin with four wins; Joey Logano with three; Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch with two each. Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott each have one win at Kansas. 
• Denny Hamlin (2015, 2022, 2023), Martin Truex Jr. (2012 sweep, 2018), and Kyle Larson (2014, 2022, 2023) are tied for the series-most runner-up finishes at Kansas with three each. 
• Denny Hamlin (2015, 2022, 2023) and Kyle Larson (2014, 2022, 2023) are tied for the series-most runner-up finishes at Kansas with three each.
• Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Top 10s at Kansas with 16 top 10s each. 
• Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway with an average finishing position with a 10.111 in 18 starts. 
• Kyle Larson leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in laps led at Kansas with 703 in 20 starts.

If you are playing NASCAR Fantasy Live, remember to make your picks by 2:55 p.m. EST on race day Sunday, May 11th. Don't forget to select your bonus matchups.

 

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 18 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.