Kansas Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Practice Predictions
On Sunday, NASCAR will be racing at Kansas for the Advent Health 400! Kansas is a relatively smooth but aging high-speed 1.5-mile track that has progressive banking. It offers drivers multiple grooves, and they can race from the top of the track to the bottom.
In addition to studying Kansas track history and practice, I would also recommend looking back to the other races held at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks. Here’s a look at High-Speed 1.5-Mile Track Total Speed Rankings since 2023 and 2024 High-Speed 1.5-mile Track Total Speed Rankings.
On Saturday, practice was held for Kansas. Teams only had 20 minutes, and keep in mind teams have different agenda’s (some want to focus on long runs, some just want to feel out their car, some might focus on qualifying so they can start near the front etc.). Make sure you check out our Kansas Practice Notes and Kansas 10,15,20,25 and 30 Lap Average Speed Cheat Sheet.
Here’s Kansas Qualifying Results/Starting Lineup.
Check out our Kansas Quick Rankings if you’re in a rush!
Kansas Full Field Rankings
1) Denny Hamlin
Start 14th/ Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Kansas Outlook – Denny Hamlin is a super-elite performer at Kansas who’ll be tough to beat. Hamlin’s the defending spring winner and if a late caution didn’t come out last fall where he had a 2.2 second lead, Hamlin would’ve had a season sweep. Since 2023 at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks, Hamlin has the 2nd best Track Type Total Speed Ranking with his average finish minus Charlotte 2023 and Texas 2024 being 6.2. This year at high-speed 1.5’s, Hamlin has the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking, having finished 8th at Las Vegas and being the likely winner at Texas before late chaos broke out (finished 30th). In practice, Hamlin was a stopwatch standout and had the best 25-lap average.
Kansas Track Record Breakdown – At Kansas, Denny Hamlin is a three-time winner and in the Next Gen, Hamlin has 1-win, the best average finish (2.3), the best Driver Rating and the best Next Gen Speed Ranking. Last fall, Hamlin was the class of the field, but a late caution cost him certain victory. In the race, Hamlin started 14th, finished 7th in Stage #1, finished 2nd in Stage #2, led 63 laps and had a 2.22 second lead just before the late caution came out with about 8 to go. That late caution had him restarting in 6th, and only advancing up to 2nd at the end. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin ranked #1 for Total Speed Rankings, Green Flag Speed and Speed Late In A Run. Last spring, Hamlin raced his way to victory lane after sending Larson into the wall on the last lap. In the race, Hamlin earned the best driver rating, had a race best 3.6 average running position and led 34 laps. In terms of speed stats, Hamlin ranked #1 across the board in terms of Total Speed Rankings, Green Flag Speed and Speed Late In A Run. In 2022, Hamlin had a stellar year and came home with results of 2nd (fall) and 4th (spring).
DraftKings $11,300/ FanDuel $13,500
Further Recommended Reading – Kansas Finish Projections, DraftKings Kansas Projections, FanDuel Kansas Projections
2) Kyle Larson
Start 4th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – High
Kansas Outlook – Kyle Larson is a super-elite performer at Kansas and on Sunday, the road to victory lane likely goes thru him. Larson all but won last spring, he was stellar last fall and in 2024, Larson could easily be 2 for 2 at reaching victory lane between the two high-speed 1.5’s visited. At Las Vegas which I consider to be the sister track, Larson smoked the field and put on a display of domination en route to victory lane. Since 2023 at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks, Larson has the best Total Speed Ranking and minus misleading results at Charlotte 2023 and Texas (2023 and 2024), Larson has 2-wins and a 2.0 average finish! In practice, Larson had the best 15-lap average.
Kansas Track Record Breakdown – At Kansas, Kyle Larson has thrived and over the last five races, Larson has the 2nd best average finish (3.4), the best average running position (6.3) and the best driver rating. Last fall, Larson finished 4th but you can sort of get out an asterisk mark for that finish. Around the midpoint while he was in 2nd and on old tires, Larson had a bad restart which dropped him back to about 20th. In the race, Larson won Stage #1, led the most laps (99) and had the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking (speed by segments of 1st, 1st, 13th and then 4th). Last spring, Larson had the race all but won until Denny Hamlin dumped him on the last lap while leading. In the race, Larson finished 10th in Stage #1, finished 9th in Stage #2, led 85 laps, ranked 2nd for Speed Late In A Run and then 3rd for both Total Speed Rankings and Green Flag Speed. In 2022, Larson had results of 8th (fall) and 2nd (spring).
DraftKings $11,000/ FanDuel $14,000
3) Tyler Reddick
Start 15th/ Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Kansas Outlook – At Kansas, look for last fall’s winner, Tyler Reddick to be a driver to be reckoned with. Reddick’s performed at a high-level at this multi-grooved mid-west track and in 2024 at high-speed 1.5’s, he’s been stellar, having the best Total Speed Ranking, the best average finish (3.0), the best average running position (6.1) and the 2nd best Driver Rating over the combined races.
Kansas Track Record Breakdown – Tyler Reddick has been fast at Kansas, but the results column isn’t too pretty with him finishing 22nd or worse in 3 of the last 5. Last fall, Reddick had a hot rod and raced his way to victory lane courtesy of a late caution/restart. Prior to that coming out, Reddick was poised to finish in 2nd. In the race, Reddick finished 6th in Stage #1, finished 5th in Stage #2, had a 5.0 average running position and led a grand total of 2-laps, which were the last two. Last spring, Reddick was strong and finished 9th. Additionally, Reddick led 23 laps, had an 8.3 average running position and had the 10th best Total Speed Ranking. In 2022, Reddick was 2 for 2 at being a top five contender but he had problems in the fall while leading which led to his 35th and then in the spring he had problems while running in 3rd which led to his 30th.
DraftKings $10,700/ FanDuel $13,000
