Kansas 2 Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions
It’s Elimination Sunday in Kansas this weekend, as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field will be cut from 12 to 8 drivers at the conclusion of the Hollywood Casino 400. Currently, Brad Keselowski (-18 points), Ryan Blaney (-22 points), Kyle Larson (-36 points), and Alex Bowman (-68 points) are the drivers set to be cut, and honestly it’s looking like it will take a win from one of them to keep their championship hopes alive. Of course, we could see some kind of catastrophic failure from one of the drivers currently “in the green” in the points standings, but at a track like Kansas Speedway, that’s not very likely.
Joey Logano won the pole for Sunday’s elimination race and he’ll have “Big Three” member (and defending winner at Kansas) Kevin Harvick starting alongside him. Overall, Ford took the top 5 starting spots this weekend, and only one Chevy made the final round of qualifying: Alex Bowman, who will start 10th. The full starting lineup for the Hollywood Casino 400 can be found by clicking here. There were then two practice sessions on Saturday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Most agreed that they wouldn’t learn much from the morning practice, but if you’re interested, our speeds and notes can be found here: Practice #2 Speeds – Practice #2 Notes. You can find those two pieces of information for more relevant final practice here: Happy Hour Speeds – Happy Hour Notes.
[themify_box ]Want to be a better fantasy racer? Get the ifantasyrace advantage and read all of our full, exclusive content. We offer tons of content every week to help you dominate your leagues, both season-long and DFS weekly. Click here to Join Now![/themify_box]
Final Top 25 Rankings for Kansas 2
1. Kevin Harvick – Starts 2nd – DraftKings Price: $12,300 – FanDuel Price: $14,200
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
There’s no reason to bet against Kevin Harvick this weekend. He’s the most recent race winner here at Kansas Speedway and has also finished 3rd or better in four of the last five races here. The only exception during that span? An 8th-place result in this race one year ago. As far as the 1.5-mile tracks go this season, his 40th at Charlotte and his 39th at Las Vegas 2 really bring down his averages a bit, but “Happy” still has the best adjusted average driver rating in the series–and it’s really not even close (129.8 compared to Kyle Busch’s 119.5). This weekend, the #4 Ford was 2nd-fastest in qualifying on Friday and then posted the 16th-fastest lap in Happy Hour on Saturday along with the 4th-best ten-lap average. Technically Harvick isn’t locked into the next round of the Playoffs, and a catastrophic Sunday could eliminate him, but what are the chances of that happening? Not very likely.
2. Kyle Busch – Starts 7th – DraftKings Price: $11,800 – FanDuel Price: $13,800
**Risk Factor: Low Risk**
All eyes will (understandably) be on Kevin Harvick this Sunday, but let’s not forget about the most consistent finisher on 1.5-mile tracks this season…Kyle Busch. In the eight races on this track type in 2018, Rowdy has an average finish of 4.1, which is over three positions better than 2nd-best Truex at 7.3. Additionally, Busch is averaging 72.6 laps led per race on this track type this season, which is second only to Kevin Harvick’s 101.8 per race. As far as Kansas goes specifically, Kyle hasn’t finished worse than 10th here since the 2014 season, and over the last seven races here, he’s finished inside the top 5 five times–including a win back in 2016. The #18 Toyota was 5th-fastest in Practice #2 on Saturday morning and then 4th-fastest in Happy Hour, and Busch ranked P1 in both sessions when it came to ten-lap average. Rowdy only has a 46-point cushion heading into Sunday (compared to Harvick’s 63) and should likewise not have an issue moving on.
3. Brad Keselowski – Starts 5th – DraftKings Price: $10,500 – FanDuel Price: $12,700
**Risk Factor: Low-to-Medium Risk**
Heading into Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, Brad Keselowski is 18 points below the cut line and will probably need a win to advance on in the Playoffs. The good news? Well, there’s quite a bit, actually. First, the Penske Fords all look super fast this weekend. Looking at the #2 Ford specifically, Kez qualified 5th on Friday and then ended up 12th-fastest in Practice #2 on Saturday with the 4th-best ten-lap average. In Happy Hour, Brad ranked 7th on each of those charts. Additionally, Keselowski is the most recent race winner on a 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas 2), and he does have a win here at Kansas (back in 2011). Brad also finished 2nd in the first race here last season since some people like to do gambling online and sites like 12bet online are perfect for this sort of people, who like to bet on races. I don’t think the #2 Ford is the best car heading into Sunday’s big race, but if Paul Wolfe can get the car out front, I’m not about to bet against Keselowski with so much on the line.
