Cup Series Kansas DFS Picks

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend for racing on the 1.5 mile track for their second 1.5 mile race in a row on the schedule. Kansas was the home of the closest finish in NASCAR history last season and has showcased some great racing in recent events. I would expect there to be a few main dominators in the race that will get the majority of the laps led. We also saw some flat tires in practice so that could be an issue if teams start their tire pressures too low in the race

Potential Dominators

Kyle Larson

William Byron

Tyler Reddick

Denny Hamlin

Kyle Larson was one of the fastest cars in practice with the fastest 10 lap average in the session. He then went out and got the pole so he should be able to get the lead early and will have the opportunity to lead a lot of laps in the race making him a top option for DFS. Byron was really good on the long run in practice as he had the best 20 lap averages of anyone. He should be at the front all day and contend for the race win at the end of the day. Reddick was another that was really good in practice and should be one of the top cars this week. Especially if the top line end up being the fastest, Reddick and Larson are great at running the top and will be hard to beat on Sunday. Hamlin was really happy with his car in practice and didn’t have any complaints or anything to work on so they ended their session a little earlier than they needed to. He is pretty good at Kansas and starts in 14th so he has some place differential points that come with him as well.

Place Differential Plays

Ross Chastain

Kyle Busch

Alex Bowman

Josh Berry

Brad Keselowski

Chastain had solid speed in practice but starts back in 26th so he has a lot of room to move forward. He has struggled qualifying this year but has raced a lot better like he did last week finishing 2nd. Busch was really good in practice as he had top 5 speed in 15 and 20 lap averages. He starts way back in 35th and he will be a popular play this weekend with so much place differential upside. Bowman has had some good runs at Kansas and had good speed in practice as well. He starts in 21st and I would expect him to have top 10 potential in the race. Berry has been great on 1.5 mile tracks this season and he starts dead last this week after almost wrecking in qualifying. He will be a popular play with guaranteed positive place differential at a good salary this week. Keselowski has struggled this season and didn’t show much in practice. But you would have to assume he can move forward and be a solid play at his price.

Cheap Options

AJ Allmendinger

Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Austin Dillon

Zane Smith

Ty Dillon

Allmendinger has had a good season and especially has been really solid on 1.5 mile tracks. He was not great in practice but his teammate Ty Dillon was solid so I would expect them to be a lot better in the race. He starts 33rd so he has a lot of place differential as he should have top 20 potential in the race. Stenhouse is in the same boat as he generally runs good on 1.5 mile tracks but he was a little better than Allmendinger in practice. He starts in 27th so he has some room to move forward and should be a solid option. Austin Dillon and Zane Smith are a little riskier plays as they start 20th and 18th so they have less place differential potential so they will be lower owned than some other drivers. But they were better in practice and I would not be surprised to see either run top 15 and be solid options. Ty Dillon will be a great cheap option as he had good lap times in practice and should have top 20 upside in the race.