Kansas #2 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings
Erik Jones
Kansas Fantasy Spin – If you’re looking for a dark horse mid-tier driver at Kansas, don’t overlook Darlington winner, Erik Jones. Michigan is a similar track, and Jones recently finished 8th there. At the other two 1.5-mile high-speed intermediate tracks visited this year besides Kansas, Jones finished 14th at Charlotte and at Las Vegas he was running in 7th with 9 laps to go until he crashed which led to his asterisk mark 31st. On Sunday, I’m going to view Jones as a low double-digit to mid-teens driver who might just sneak in a top ten.
Kansas Track History – Erik Jones has had success at Kansas, just not recently. Over the last four races here, he’s finished 20th or worse. In the five prior to that, Jones finished 7th or better every race. This spring, Jones looked sporty and showed potential, but finished an asterisk mark 32nd. In the race, Jones finished 8th in Stage #1 (used some late pit strategy in Stage #1), but then his afternoon went south right after that. During the Stage #1 caution, Jones was penalized for pitting before pit road was open and at that time, he also had his long stop where he fell back 7-laps as his team tried desperately to get off his wheel. After that you could stick a fork in him. In 2021 when the #43 team wasn’t as competitive, Jones had clunker results of 25th and 29th.
Austin Dillon
Kansas Fantasy Spin – Look for Austin Dillon to be a solid low double-digit performer at Kansas. Dillon’s last four Kansas results are in that range, and in 2022 at high-speed intermediate tracks minus Charlotte where he crashed late while battling for the win, Dillon has a 9.8 average finish. I consider Las Vegas and Michigan to be the two most similar tracks, and at those venues his results this year are 11th (Las Vegas) and 13th (Michigan).
Kansas Track History – At Kansas over the last four races, Austin Dillon has an 11.0 average finish and he’s 4 for 4 at finishing between 10th to 13th. This spring, Dillon wasn’t great, but he did finish 13th. In the race, Dillon had a 19.7 average running position, the 19th best green flag speed and the 20th best Total Speed Ranking. I’ll note, Dillon got an early pit penalty but that was no game changer. Dillon just essentially closed strong. Last fall, Dillon was solid. He finished 10th, had a 14.9 average running position, had the 15th best Total Speed Ranking and the 15th best Green Flag Speed. In spring 2021 en route to his 10th, Dillon had a 12.6 average running position, the 12th best Total Speed Ranking and was the 6th Fastest Driver Late In A Run. In fall 2020, Dillon was solid. He finished 11th, had a 14.9 average running position and had the 16th best Total Speed Ranking.
Brad Keselowski
Kansas Fantasy Spin – At Kansas, I think Brad Keselowski has mid to high-teens potential. That’s basically how the #6 team stacks up to the competition “Performance Wise”, and it matches up with how he ran at Kansas this spring. Michigan is a similar track and a few weeks ago at that venue, Keselowski finished 15th.
Kansas Track History – In the #2, Brad Keselowski was a fantasy ace at Kansas. In the #6, you can basically throw out his history from his former ride. This spring, tons of drivers had problems, but not Keselowski and he finished 14th. Additionally, Keselowski had a 17.1 average running position, the 17th best Total Speed Ranking and the 17th best Green Flag Speed. Last fall, Keselowski’s race went downhill early, and he finished a misleading 17th. Around lap 38 while he was running around 14th, he had a flat tire and made an unexpected pit stop. He simply never bounced back, and his Total Speed Ranking was the 13th best. In the three Kansas races prior to that, Keselowski had a 3.0 average finish. In spring 2021, Keselowski finished 4th in Stage #1, 4th in Stage #2, finished 3rd overall, had a 4.2 average running position, the 3rd best driver rating and led 72 laps. In 2020, Keselowski’s results were 2nd and 4th.
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