The Chase Playoffs roll on this week with a trip to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 this Sunday. Things are really starting to heat up on multiple levels after the Bristol race last week. Ryan Blaney was turned by Carson Hocevar, which led to fists flying on pit road following the race. Blaney’s teammate, Joey Logano, edged out multiple drivers to grab his third win of the season and jumped four spots in the standings, and now sits just 16 points behind the leader. That leader has also changed for the first time in the Chase, as Kyle Larson now has a one-point edge over regular-season champion Denny Hamlin.
In this article, we will preview Kansas Speedway, look at some of the top trends, and go through some of my top targets heading into practice and qualifying on Saturday.
NASCAR DFS: Hollywood Casino 400
Track Preview & Fantasy Angle
Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval intermediate track with 17-20 degrees of progressive banking. It is one of six intermediate tracks on the schedule, and Kansas sits with the highest correlation when looking at track position. The winner has come from a top-5 starting position in three straight and five of the last six races and from the pole position in two of the last three.
When breaking down quality passing, Kansas is fourth out of six intermediate tracks, which also correlates with its fourth-place ranking in place differential upside. The key factor when building lineups for Kansas will be dominator upside. One driver has led 99+ laps in four straight and seven of nine races here in the NextGen era. Of those drivers who led 100 or more in the last four races here, they all started on the front row, so qualifying will be very important.
Top Pre-Qualifying Targets for DraftKings
Kyle Larson ($11,000)
It is crazy how the narratives change over the course of a long season, and none more telling than with Kyle Larson. It wasn’t long ago that many asked when he would win again and end the winless streak, and that has now shifted to him being second in championship odds behind Denny Hamlin. The flip was switched when the Chase started, and Larson picked up a win at Gateway and is the only driver with a top-5 finish in all three races thus far. Even better news as he returns to Kansas, where he has two wins, eight top-10 finishes, and a 5.8 average finish in the nine races here in the NextGen era, all three of which lead the series. Look out for Larson to stay hot this weekend.
Denny Hamlin ($10,500)
The beginning of the Chase hasn’t gone exactly how Hamlin and the #11 team planned, but don’t count them out just yet! Hamlin has been terrific here at Kansas, leading all drivers with seven top-5 finishes, including a win back in 2023. Furthermore, he has been excellent on the intermediate tracks with top-5s in four of his last five while leading all drivers with three wins and a 10.8 average finish since the start of last season. Giving up his lead in the standings might just be a one-week thing if he can figure out how to get by Larson. Stacking them together might just be a core build this week.
Ryan Preece ($7,000)
If we are loading up at the top, we are going to need some value to make it all fit, and once again that starts with Ryan Preece, who checks a lot of boxes. He has been consistent to start the Chase with two top-10s in three races, which has moved him up three spots in the standings. He has also been consistent at Kansas, finishing 11th or better in two of the last three races here and has top-20 finishes in four of his last six. He is 10th in my pre-qualifying model and is an excellent PTS/$ value this week.
Todd Gilliland ($5,200)
Going down the board even further, we find a non-Chase driver who has excellent history here at Kansas. He has finished 17th or better in four of his last five trips to the track, which, at his price, is an excellent return. I also like his floor here as he has not finished worse than 27th here in nine NextGen era races and has positive place differential in all of them.
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