It’s time to go to Kansas Speedway! This multi-groove intermediate track routinely provides some of the best racing every year. Why? Well, we’ve seen plenty of passing, you can put your car anywhere on the track and make moves, and we have tire wear. If you were bored last week, hopefully that’s not the case on Sunday. This is the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12. Truthfully, I think this track should host the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race. But Kansas isn’t exactly a “destination city” the first weekend of November every year. But the racing is top notch and a win on Sunday will lock somebody into the Round of Eight. Here are the top drivers and lineups building strategies for this week’s NASCAR DFS Hollywood Casino 400 picks!
Hollywood Casino 400 Picks: The Top 10
- Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Ty Gibbs (#54 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Kyle Busch (#8 Richard Childress Racing)
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske)
- William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Ryan Blaney (#12 Team Penske)
- Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Chase Briscoe (#14 Stewart-Haas Racing)
- Daniel Suarez (#99 Trackhouse Racing)
Well as fate would have it, Christopher Bell won’t be as contrarian as I thought he would be earlier in this week’s Kansas preview. I love that putting him in the preview was justified but it sucks that there won’t be much leverage. Just outside the top 10 we have Kyle Larson starting P11. So between Bell, Hamlin, and Larson we have our dominator contenders starting very well. Hamlin and Larson will be especially popular for this race. Sure, the contests on DraftKings and FanDuel aren’t great. But either way, they’ll draw heavy rostership. They’ve been great on the comparable tracks this year. I will acknowledge that Tyler Reddick is a good contrarian option. He may come in at under 15% ownership because practice speeds weren’t great. But they made adjustments ahead of qualifying to start P4.
Which Value-Priced Hollywood Casino 400 Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?
DraftKings
- Noah Gragson – $7,200; Starting P24
- Josh Berry – $6,900; Starting P29
- Ryan Preece – $6,100; Starting P37
- Todd Gilliland – $6,000; Starting P33
- John Hunter Nemechek – $5,600; Starting P31
- Daniel Hemric – $5,300; Starting P30
FanDuel
- Noah Gragson – $6,800; Starting P24
- Josh Berry – $6,200; Starting P29
- Todd Gilliland – $5,000; Starting P33
- Ryan Preece – $4,800; Starting P37
- John Hunter Nemechek – $4,200; Starting P31
- Daniel Hemric – $2,500; Starting P30
Look at that. Nice and clean. The same six value plays on both sites. Open and shut case! There are some plays here that are obviously safer than others for the Hollywood Casino 400 picks. Gragson made the preview article earlier this week because of his success on comparable intermediate tracks. John Hunter Nemechek also appeared in the article as a punt play. Ryan Preece is probably a cash game play. He starts very deep in the field, but he may struggle to maintain the lead lap. Todd Gilliland is a good play that has shown top 20 upside and that should be the case this week. He finished 14th at Kansas earlier this year. And Daniel Hemric rounds out the group as the cheapest punt on both sites. But if you need the salary relief, he can get your 20+ fantasy points on DraftKings.
Which Higher-Priced Drivers Got A Similar Bump?
- Chase Elliott – Starting P38
- Martin Truex Jr. – Starting P19
- Chris Buescher – Starting P25
- Brad Keselowski – Starting P26
- Ross Chastain – Starting P20
If you’re playing cash games for Sunday’s race, just go ahead and put Chase Elliott in your build. He starts dead last. So he can’t possibly get you negative points. He starts at the rear for an engine change. But even prior to the change the car was arguably top 10 so hopefully the new engine has no issues. Brad Keselowski should also draw a lot of ownership. He qualifying lap is on par with his single lap speed. However, he was top 10 in 10-lap average so it’s very likely he, and Chris Buescher, are set up for the longer run for Sunday’s race. Both are viable and good position differential plays. But it’ll be hard trying to play two of these drivers in addition to two dominators we discussed earlier in the article.
Hollywood Casino 400 Picks
DraftKings
- Denny Hamlin – $11,000; Starting P8
- Chase Elliott – $10,000; Starting P38
- Brad Keselowski – $8,300; Starting P26
- Alex Bowman – $8,000; Starting P12
- Noah Gragson – $7,200; Starting P24
- Daniel Hemric – $5,300; Starting P30
On the surface, this lineup goes against my usual process for Kansas construction. Our Hollywood Casino 400 picks clearly have three popular options in the top tier: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott. It will be very difficult to fit all three in your lineup on DraftKings. Going that route only leaves you with $17,500 for your final three drivers. This lineup reads more like a cash game build. It’s safe, has win equity, and good PD plays. Even Alex Bowman has four straight top 10 finishes here so his floor feels fine. But if you wanted to get a second dominator in your lineup, the logical pivot is off Elliott. But even if Elliott finishes in the top 10 without any dominator points, he’s looking at 62 fantasy points on DraftKings. Spread exposure around and cover yourself in the event one of these chalk plays blows up.
FanDuel
- Denny Hamlin – $13,500; Starting P8
- Chase Elliott – $11,500; Starting P38
- Brad Keselowski – $9,500; Starting P26
- Alex Bowman – $7,800; Starting P12
- Noah Gragson – $6,800; Starting P24
Look at that, a very similar build to the DraftKings lineup we submitted. This one is all about finishing position. There are enough laps to go around where you can pay up and fit both Hamlin and Larson in your lineup. You can even make some pivots on this build and go with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, and Todd Gilliland. That lineup leaves no money on the table, but with Haley and Gilliland you don’t have much top 10 equity. The lineup above has a chance to get all five drivers in the top 10 and we have some position differential to boot. It leaves $900 in salary, so you have room to make pivots if you don’t like submitting lineups on both sites that are a bit similar. But with the Hollywood Casino 400 picks, you have plenty of options to consider.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
It’s a good week to possibly treat this as your last “go big” Sunday for NASCAR DFS contests. Talladega is on the schedule next week and that’s always a race we scale things back just a bit. Unfortunately, qualifying for our Hollywood Casino 400 picks left us with some questions. We normally want to target two dominators at minimum. But Elliott doesn’t need dominator points to match the ceilings of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, William Byron, or Tyler Reddick. In fact, he can’t get you negative points at all. Needless to say, we should value those drivers that were better in the long run in practice because they may have the right aero setup to account for the tire fall off. Best of luck with Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 picks!