KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Joey Logano will lead the field to green for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). After three practice sessions and qualifying determining the starting order, we’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions.
PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the playoff game works
Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Also, your garage play can only be swapped for a driver of similar classification. (A playoff garage driver can only be swapped for a playoff driver in your lineup; a non-playoff garage driver can only be swapped for a non-playoff driver in your lineup.)
RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race-day at Kansas:
Playoff driver 1: Kevin Harvick
Playoff driver 2: Kyle Busch
Non-playoff driver 1: Erik Jones
Non-playoff driver 2: Denny Hamlin
Garage: Ryan Blaney
MORE: Fantasy analysis for Kansas | Driver stats | 10-lap averages | Lineup
Analysis: The Fantasy Live Playoff Game is in Week 6! Four-fifths of my lineup remains the same. Harvick and Busch have won six of the eight races on 1.5-mile tracks this year. Busch topped the 10-lap board in both practice sessions and Harvick has been in the top-four in that category. Jones was second in final practice on the speed chart and fifth on the 10-lap board — highest among the non-playoff competitors. He has also been a solid play all year on 1.5-mile tracks. Hamlin has solid 10-lap times and has two straight top-five finishes at Kansas and on the season. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is a pretty popular play for a non-playoff driver so if you looking for a lesser owned option look at someone like Paul Menard.
For the garage play, I debated Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. pretty heavily. All would be good choices. Truex has won two of the last three races here. Logano will sit on the pole and has won the fall race at Kansas two times. Ultimately, I am sticking Blaney in the garage and moving away from my original play of Truex. He has three top-five finishes in his last five Kansas starts. He was strong in the spring race as he won a stage and earned 18 stage points before a wreck with Kyle Larson ended his night late in the race. He qualified fourth and again should be aggressive on stage points given his points position — 22 points out from the final spot. There is risk with playing a driver that is a tough playoff position, but I feel like I have ample protection with two of the best on 1.5-mile tracks in my main lineup.
With stage winners, I am taking Harvick to win Stage 1 and Stage 2 with Busch as the race winner. One wrinkle: I will be taking Ford as the manufacturer pick given the abundance of strong blue oval cars from Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske this weekend.