Fantasy Update: Hendrick, Toyota quick as expected at Kansas

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Dustin Albino

Since the Next Gen car has hit Kansas Speedway, Toyota has largely dominated. The exception was in the spring when Kyle Larson nabbed Chris Buescher in the closest finish in Cup Series history. Hendrick Motorsports returned similar speed this weekend, with all four of its cars being contenders. Alex Bowman caught my eye as the No. 48 Chevrolet was quickest on 15- and 20-lap averages. But you can’t go wrong with Joe Gibbs Racing at Kansas either, so the bulk of my lineup features those two powerhouse organizations.

RELATED: Set your Fantasy Live lineups

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Denny Hamlin

Starter 2: Kyle Larson

Starter 3: William Byron

Starter 4: Christopher Bell

Starter 5: Alex Bowman

Garage pick: Tyler Reddick

NEXT IN LINE: Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney

RISING: It was an adventurous practice session for Briscoe, clocking in just 23 laps. The No. 14 Ford never made a long run and was 31st quickest on single-lap speed. Throughout his career, Briscoe has been notorious for carrying the car, and that continued in qualifying as he was a final-round surprise and qualified ninth. Briscoe didn’t make my lineup, but this late-season surge from Stewart-Haas Racing has been impressive.

The Team Penske duo of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney both churned in quality days on Saturday. Three victories boost Logano’s Kansas resume, but neither driver has been consistent at the 1.5-mile track in recent seasons. The Nos. 12 and 22 Fords both advanced to the final round of qualifying and were competitive on short and long runs in practice.

FALLING: After running 19 laps in practice, Elliott felt as though his engine was down a cylinder, and the No. 9 team swapped engines following qualifying. The good news for Elliott is he was sporty in practice before the engine woes, ranking fourth on 10-lap averages. Kansas is among Elliott’s best intermediate tracks, but he will need to overcome a track position deficit at the beginning of the race. Scoring stage points in Stage 1 could be tricky, but he’s still worth consideration for your lineup.

Wallace salvaged a 13th-place starting position, but it was a rough practice across the board for 23XI Racing. The No. 23 Toyota slotted 27th on 10-lap averages, and this came after a disappointing spring Kansas race for 23XI. Reddick was one spot worse on the long haul but made the final round of qualifying and will start fourth.

FEATURED MATCHUPS:

Kyle Larson vs. Denny Hamlin: It’s always a surprise whenever Larson fails to make the final round of qualifying, particularly at an intermediate track. The No. 5 car looked to be among the best cars in the field during race pace. As did Hamlin, making this a brutal matchup to decide. My brain tells me to stick with Larson since little changed from earlier in the week, and Hendrick Motorsports showed up as the organization to beat in practice.

Christopher Bell vs. William Byron: For the third straight Kansas race, Bell locked up the pole and will bring the field to the green flag on Sunday. He stated that he thought this No. 20 car was the best hot rod he’s ever had at Kansas. Byron led the way on 10-lap averages. It could be a tale of short versus long run, but I’m going to stay with Bell.

Chase Elliott vs. Tyler Reddick: With Elliott having to start in the rear due to an engine change, this matchup became much more intriguing. Reddick hustled his car to a top-five starting position but lacked speed on the long run. That’s where the No. 9 Chevrolet excelled. It’s a long race, and because this is a heads-up matchup, I’m flipping to Elliott, believing he will be a factor for the win.

Ryan Blaney vs. Joey Logano: These Team Penske teammates showed up on Saturday in practice and qualifying and should be worth considering for your lineup. Neither made mine, but it’s a challenge to decipher which one is better. Logano will start one row ahead of Blaney and was quicker than the No. 12 car on single-lap speed, but it was Blaney that squeaked ahead of the No. 22 Ford on long runs. Neither driver has been consistent during their career at Kansas, but Logano has been steadier. Let’s roll with the two-time Cup champion.

Posted on September 28, 2024September 28, 2024 by Reid Spencer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For once, Christopher Bell thinks he has a car that’s race-worthy as well as lightning fast in qualifying at Kansas Speedway.

Navigating the 1.5-mile track in 30.111 seconds (179.336 mph) in the final round of Saturday’s time trials, Bell edged Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs (179.099 mph) by 0.040 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET (3 p.m. ET on USA, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Bell will start the first race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs from a familiar spot. He earned the Busch Light Pole Award at the track for the third consecutive race and fourth time overall.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s the people that work on this race car that made the statement,” said Bell, who claimed his second pole position this season and the 12th of his career. “We showed up with probably the best Kansas car we’ve ever had.

“It’s always been a great track for us to qualify, and it seems like whenever we go race, we’re always in the third-to-seventh range. Today it was different. It felt really, really good in practice. I felt really comfortable driving the car.”

Bell has never converted a pole into a victory at Kansas Speedway, a situation he hopes to correct on Sunday as the second round of the playoffs begins.

“The tough thing about Kansas is maintaining the balance,” Bell said. “This place, with these (Next Gen) cars, it swings really, really bad. You’ll start off really comfortable, and depending on how your car is, you might go really tight, you might go really loose.

“Typically, the fast lane is up top, but then you have to really adjust your line to what your balance is doing. I’ve got to drive a little bit better here (Sunday) than I have in the previous Kansas races, but I definitely have the car to do it.”

Bell enters the Round of 12 second in the standings, 24 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 8. Coming off his dominating victory at Bristol, top-seeded Kyle Larson will start 11th on Sunday.

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Gibbs and third-place starter Kyle Busch (178.643 mph) were the only two non-playoff drivers to advance to the final round during Saturday’s time trials.

Tyler Reddick, third in the standings, will occupy the fourth spot on the grid, followed by Joey Logano, William Byron, defending series champion Ryan Blaney, four-time Kansas winner Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suárez.

Larson won the 2024 spring race at Kansas, while Reddick is the defending winner of this event.

Playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott will start 12th, 17th and 38th, respectively. Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy was down a cylinder in practice and qualifying, necessitating an engine change.

Chastain fastest in practice

Trackhouse Racing topped the leaderboard in practice as Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet set the pace at 177.439 mph, besting teammate Daniel Suárez (177.177 mph) and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman (177.026 mph).

Carson Hocevar (177.026 mph) and Ty Gibbs (176.904 mph) rounded out the top five as Chevy drivers swept the first four spots.

MORE: Practice results

Kyle Larson (176.511 mph), Daniel Hemric (176.280 mph), William Byron (176.194 mph), Erik Jones (176.171 mph) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (176.142 mph) completed the top 10.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on September 28, 2024September 28, 2024 by Staff Report

Chase Elliott will start at the rear of the field in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Kansas Speedway after an engine issue cropped up in Saturday’s practice session.

Elliott managed the 15th-fastest lap in practice for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), but the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sat on pit road with its hood up in the second half of the 20-minute session. After his team worked in the engine compartment, Elliott was able to participate in Busch Light Pole Qualifying, but posted the slowest lap in the 38-car field at 166.950 mph — some two seconds off the front-runners’ pace.

Elliott will start last in the opening race of the Round of 12 in the Cup Series postseason. A representative for the No. 9 team indicated that the crew was still evaluating the mechanical issue as qualifying rolled to its completion, and the team said it would change engines before Sunday’s event, according to a post from its social media channels.

“We went through all the things that you can check on pit road,” said Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion. “Obviously, when you have an engine issue like that, it can be difficult to identify what exactly is broke. For me, I came off Turn 2 and basically just felt like it went down a cylinder, audible change, and lost a lot of power, so I knew something was wrong and came in as quick as I could, just to try to keep from messing it up any worse. But such a bummer. What a terrible time to have something go wrong. The Hendrick engine shop has been so good throughout my career. I don’t even think I’ve filled up a hand of engine issues that we’ve had over the course of my entire career, so I hate it, but would much rather have it happen today than tomorrow.”

Elliott advanced through the opening Round of 16 in the postseason, and he enters the three races that make up the Round of 12 ranked seventh among the remaining dozen title contenders. He sits six points ahead of the provisional elimination line entering Sunday’s 400-miler.

Posted on September 28, 2024September 28, 2024 by Cameron Richardson

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Winning the Regular Season Championship offers a driver a substantial buffer to aid them in advancing in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. For the first time in his career, Tyler Reddick earned the honor after the checkered flag waved for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Reddick then advanced to the Round of 12 but needed nearly all of his bonus from the regular-season title to do so after a slow first three outings in his 2024 postseason campaign.

With back-to-back results of 27th and 20th, respectively, across the last two race weekends, the No. 45 Toyota driver is in need of a quick turnaround Sunday at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

“It was definitely not a good first round for us,” Reddick said during a press conference Saturday. “I think a number of things played into that, but we’ve done a really good job all year long of, at our worst, being able to still get a top 10 out of it. Some of the handling issues that we had at tracks where normally it’s not an issue for us really set that in stone for that first round. We still could have scored decent points, especially the last two races, but we were just missing things a little bit, made mistakes in qualifying on my behalf that put us back there.”

After the points reset to begin the Round of 12, Reddick stands 20 points above the elimination line in fourth place. It’s not the most comfortable gap for the 28-year-old wheelman, and it’ll be emphasized further after struggles for the No. 45 and the entire 23XI Racing organization at Kansas in the spring.

Reddick started 15th and ended up with a 20th-place result in that race. He attributed the lack of pace to several variables that occurred throughout the event.

“Qualifying didn’t exactly pan out perfect,” said Reddick, who starts fourth Sunday. “Made some mistakes on my end that put us out of the top 10. But as for the race itself, I’d say we were decent. I think we could have ran top five but certainly hitting the wall the way that I did to start the race, racing with the 48 did a lot of damage to our car and from there, it spiraled out of control. We ran something over, put a hole in the floor in the car. Just a lot of things went wrong to really hurt the performance.

“Seeing some of the tire wear that we had that some of the others didn’t, there’s things to be learned there. The finish wasn’t great, but as we prepared for this coming weekend, we weren’t panicked or in any kind of freak-out coming back here because the other Toyotas ran good, and we know where they’re at, and we’ve been very close to winning speed and had that potential in years past. So we knew that we weren’t going to have to look at a lot of things to improve or change coming back.”

MORE: Cup Series standings | Kansas weekend schedule

The next three races could be a feast for Reddick as he’s the defending winner of the Kansas playoff race, the most recent victor at Talladega Superspeedway and has three top 10s in four starts in the Round of 12’s finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Knowing what awaits in the coming weeks and rounds beyond, the No. 45’s ceiling appears to be high.

“We’re able to look at the results and understand why we were there,” Reddick said. “We’re not scratching our heads as to why we ran that bad. We know what caused it. It is what it is. It stinks but we get to reset and start over this round where we were to begin it.”

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Team Release

LEXINGTON, N.C. (Sept. 28, 2024) — Kaulig Racing announced that Ty Dillon will drive the team’s No.10 Chevrolet in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The team will release the rights to the No. 31 at the conclusion of the 2024 season and acquire the No. 10 for the 2025 season. Daniel Hemric, the current driver of the No. 31 Chevy, will not return to the team in 2025, the driver announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We’re excited to be able to acquire the rights of the No. 10 for the 2025 Cup Series season,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “When we decided to move to the Cup Series, the number was not available, so we are looking forward to having familiarity and synergy across both series with the Nos. 10 and 16.”

Dillon, who has made 244 total Cup starts, competed full-time for six seasons in the series between 2017 and 2023. Most notably, Dillon competed at Germain Racing for four seasons before the team ceased operations following the 2020 season. Kaulig Racing went on to purchase the building, renovate it and currently operates out of the building.

“I am incredibly grateful for another opportunity to run full-time in the Cup Series, and to be able to do it with the men and women at Kaulig Racing means a lot to me personally,” said Dillon. “They gave me a chance this year to go out and prove myself in a handful of starts. The team and I were able to connect early on, and we put together a few strong runs in the No. 16. I’m really looking forward to what 2025 brings with this team. We have a bright future ahead of us and we’re going to give it our all each and every race next season.”

Dillon is currently competing in a part-time schedule for Kaulig Racing in the team’s No. 16 Chevrolet, finishing in the top 20 in two of his four starts for the team.

“Ty has done a really great job for us this year in our No. 16 car, competing in a limited schedule,” said team owner Matt Kaulig. “He has been consistent each time he gets in the car and has really helped our program grow this season. We think he will be instrumental in continuing our Cup program in alliance with Richard Childress Racing.”

MORE: 2025 Cup Series schedule

Dillon will compete in his final Cup race of the season with Kaulig Racing Sunday at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) before taking over the No. 10 Chevrolet in 2025. Information regarding partnerships for 2025 will be announced at a later date.

Posted on September 27, 2024September 28, 2024 by Cameron Richardson

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Friday evening’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway was straightforward for its 134-lap duration.

Just one caution for cause bunched the field back up but all that was yet to be determined in the final stage was who would be the final driver to race their way into the Round of 8 of the 2024 postseason.

CR7 Motorsports’ Grant Enfinger outdueled two-time series champion Ben Rhodes for the final spot by 25 points after the No. 99 ThorSport Racing driver ran out of fuel with two laps to go after trying to stretch his tank for the full 52-lap run to the end.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“Kind of knew, just racing with Ben and knowing the situation they’re in, they were going to throw that “Hail Mary,” Enfinger said. “We had contemplated trying to cover that just to make sure he couldn’t jump us 12 spots just to stay on the same strategy as him but we were still a couple laps out of our window so Jeff (Stankiewicz, crew chief) opted not to do that and he made the right call for sure.

“But Ben definitely kept us honest and he definitely took a couple years off mine and Jeff’s life.”

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

Struggling with handling issues for the duration of the race, Rhodes failed to score points in either of the first two stages. Attempting to go without a stop for the final green-flag run kept the bubble battle close with Enfinger but the ill-fated No. 99 neither had the pace nor fuel to pull off the last-ditch effort.

“I’ve got a couple [hypotheses],” Rhodes told NASCAR.com in regards to how his truck raced. “Maybe.. possibly, bar load, but I’m gonna have to go back and talk with guys and investigate, figure out what went wrong. It’s pretty crazy how we were able to qualify fourth, the truck drove so well, and then fire off the race where you’re absolute junk. We made really, really, really, really big adjustments on it and nothing really made a difference except one, which leads me to believe somehow bar load, something happened there.”

Despite not having the night or opening round Enfinger wanted out of his No. 9 Chevrolet Silverado, the team will get to enter the Round of 8 for a second consecutive season as the 39-year-old veteran continues to chase his first championship after last year’s heartbreak at Phoenix.

However, he’ll have work to do heading to his home track of Talladega Superspeedway as he enters the semi-final round 11 points below the Championship 4 cutoff.

“This is definitely not a three-race stint that we’re proud of by any means at CR7 Motorsports,” Enfinger said. “Feel like we turned a corner earlier in the year and then we stumbled here this Round of 10. So looking forward to getting back on track next week at Talladega, and anything can happen there obviously but it’s my home track. I love racing there. We’ll get through there and go on.”

This season will mark the first time since 2020 Rhodes failed to make the Championship 4 and while the 27-year-old will be etched in series history as a multi-time titleholder, getting eliminated never gets easy.

“Oh yeah, they all hurt if you don’t have the trophy, especially after you win a couple now, it makes everything hurt a lot worse,” Rhodes lamented. “You just demand more performance out of yourself and your team. For us to be so far off in the race is quite crazy, especially with the changes we threw at it. So we just got to go back and research, figure out what happened, and I’m going to use the rest of season to develop now and try to make sure that next year we can get ourselves solid performances.”

Alejandro Alvarez | NASCAR Digital Media

Posted on September 27, 2024September 28, 2024 by Reid Spencer

KANSAS City, Kan. — Corey Heim won Friday night’s Kubota Tractor 200 in the fastest truck, but he needed help from fellow playoff driver Ty Majeski to secure the victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Round of 10 elimination race at Kansas Speedway.

Majeski ran out of fuel approaching the white flag while leading, allowing Heim to surge past in his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota and claim his sixth victory of the season in a race that saw reigning series champion Ben Rhodes and playoff rookie Daniel Dye eliminated from title contention.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Kansas

Under the third and final caution on Lap 78 of the 134-lap race, Majeski came to pit road for tires and fuel, along with ThorSport Racing teammate Rhodes and eventual fourth-place finisher Kaden Honeycutt.

Heim, runner-up Layne Riggs and third-place finisher Christian Eckes stayed on track during the caution and made green-flag pit stops within the final 30 laps. Heim, who started the race from the rear of the field after hitting the outside wall and cutting a tire in practice earlier in the day, was chasing Majeski when the latter ran out of fuel.

Majeski, who had clinched a berth in the Round of 8 with his win in Stage 1, rolled home in 15th, the last driver on the lead lap.

“We were the best truck all night—it’s my favorite track, I love coming here,” said Heim, who won at the 1.5-mile speedway in the spring. “I look forward to this. I had a smile on my face all week coming to this place.

“I just thought we could sweep the year here. It’s an awesome place to come. I certainly thought we had it lost there to the 98 (Majeski), almost making it on fuel, but it just shows my team made the right call.”

Sean Gardner | Getty Images

The victory was Heim’s second at Kansas and the 11th of his career. He led a race-high 64 laps in an event that featured 10 lead changes among three drivers.

Heim, Eckes and Nick Sanchez had clinched spots in the Round of 8 in the second race of the Round of 10 at Bristol. Majeski, seventh-place finisher Rajah Caruth, ninth-place Grant Enfinger, 14th-place Tyler Ankrum and 18th-place Taylor Gray advanced on points Friday night.

In the closing laps, there was real suspense regarding the fortunes of two-time series champion Rhodes and Enfinger. Rhodes was on the same strategy as Majeski and ran as high as third as the race neared its conclusion.

But Enfinger gained positions as Rhodes lost them in the late going, and the die was cast when Rhodes ran out of fuel just before the white flag.

“We qualified fourth, and at the start of the race — massive changes with the truck,” said Rhodes, who won titles in 2021 and 2023. “We could not get it tightened up… Still kind of unacceptable. If we’d have gotten our stage points, it would have taken care of itself.”

MORE: Weekend schedule: Kansas

Rhodes came home 22nd after running out of fuel and fell 25 points short of Enfinger for the final spot in the Round of 8.

“It was definitely a little bit stressful, definitely too close for comfort there,” Enfinger said. “This is a round we want to forget. We snuck through here, and now we’re looking forward to going to Talladega next week (for the first race in the Round of 8).”

Dye scraped the outside wall twice during the first stage and made multiple pit stops, falling three laps down. He finished 27th and, like Enfinger, was 25 points away from advancing to the next round.

Riggs, who didn’t qualify for the Playoffs in his rookie season, added the runner-up finish to his two victories in the previous two races.

Dawson Sutton ran fifth, followed by Tanner Gray, Caruth, Bayley Currey, Enfinger and Connor Mosack.

The Truck Series will begin the Round of 8 at Talladega Superspeedway next Friday (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage at Kansas Speedway was completed without issue, confirming Heim as the race winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Steve Luvender

NASCAR.com’s 36 for 36 continues at Kansas Speedway.

With 36 races and 36 full-time Charter cars, our players select one car per race, but there’s a simple twist: once they’ve made the pick, they can’t choose that car again for the rest of the 36-race season. Yes, that means every car will be selected exactly once … a survivor pool, by another name.

Follow along weekly as our panel of pickers — Dustin Albino from Jayski, along with Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson from NASCAR.com — embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and prove their picking prowess.

We’ll also feature a fourth “community” 36 for 36 pick each week, as decided by fan vote on the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-timers?

Current Standings:

Steve Luvender: 737
Dustin Albino: -61
r/NASCAR Community: -89
Cameron Richardson: -136

Race 30 of 36: Kansas

Saturday night’s Bristol Night Race was a tough one for two of our pickers. Cameron Richardson and the r/NASCAR community both selected John Hunter Nemechek, who ran into trouble early and finished 33rd. By picking William Byron for 26 points, Steve Luvender added one point to his points lead over Dustin Albino, who went with Ty Gibbs.

Kansas kicks off the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and it’s also the home stretch in 36 for 36 — players have whittled their picks down to just seven drivers. What’s their plan for this week?

Jayski’s Dustin Albino: No. 11, Denny Hamlin

Dustin’s pick last week: No. 54, Ty Gibbs (25 points)

Total season points: 676 (second place)

Dustin: Hamlin is the only driver that has top-five finishes in all five Next Gen races at Kansas. That was highlighted by his last-lap dustup with Kyle Larson in the spring of 2023, propelling the No. 11 Toyota to Victory Lane. Three of his last four Kansas results have ended in the top two positions. Dating back to the fall of 2021, he has six straight top fives here. Simply put, Hamlin is elite at Kansas, and his four wins sit atop the all-time wins list at the 1.5-mile venue. It seems like the perfect weekend to use Hamlin, who needs a stellar run this weekend with Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course looming in the Round of 12.

NASCAR.com’s Steve Luvender: No. 23, Bubba Wallace

Steve’s pick last week: No. 24, William Byron (26 points)

Total season points: 37 (first place)

Steve: I’m going with 2022 Kansas playoff race winner Bubba Wallace this weekend. 23XI Racing seems to have this track figured out, and Wallace has momentum on his side after a third-place finish at Bristol last week. I considered Wallace’s teammate Tyler Reddick, who won this race last year, but I have my eye on him for another race. This week, I’m all in on No. 23.

NASCAR.com’s Cameron Richardson: No. 45, Tyler Reddick

Cameron’s pick last week: No. 42, John Hunter Nemechek (4 points)

Total season points: 601 (fourth place)

Cameron: Like Denny Hamlin is at Kansas, the No. 45 Toyota has been the same in the fall playoff race. The No. 45 has been victorious in the last two Kansas playoff races, with Bubba Wallace playing spoiler in 2022 and Tyler Reddick holding off the field in overtime last season to win his way into the Round of 12. After a mum start to his playoff campaign, Kansas would be the perfect track for Reddick to gain back momentum as the title favorite after winning the Regular Season Championship. My only concern for Reddick: 23XI did not have the speed in the spring weekend, and with how my picks have performed this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if misfortunes unfold on Sunday.

r/NASCAR Community: No. 9, Chase Elliott

r/NASCAR’s pick last week: No. 42, John Hunter Nemechek (4 points)

Total season points: 648 (third place)

The NASCAR subreddit voted Chase Elliott as their Kansas pick in this week’s voting thread. Here’s what Redditors had to say:

u/Extreme-Bite-9123: “Elliot here. His stats here are great, he’s going to be trying to maximize points, Hendrick damn near owns this place, and he finished third here in the spring.”

u/FridgusDomin8or: “I could definitely see the appeal here for Elliott — he’s going to run pretty well, not be involved in anything, get some good points, and he finished third here in the spring”

u/HomerWillNotD1e34782: “Chase Definitely could be up front and contend for the Win, He’s Good at the Track, and Could be a Sneaky Good Pick.”

u/DependentAd3724: “Reddick is a better fit at Homestead, this is one of Chase’s best, definitely the best place we have to use him in the context of the other drivers”

Check back next week to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36 for 36 journey continues.

And, if you’ve got a competitive itch beyond meticulously managing your Fantasy Live lineup each week, feel free to save or print your own 36 for 36 sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Seth Sharp

Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.

Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before this Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

John Harrelson | Getty Images

2012 Hollywood Casino 400:

The freshly repaved Kansas Speedway turned out to put on a wild race, as the fifth event of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs produced the yellow flag 14 times.

Despite all of the cautions, the race turned out to be mostly smooth for the playoff field. Two drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, bounced back from separate issues to recover for top-10 finishes.

Johnson, who entered the race second in points, was just one driver who found himself in trouble. He hit the wall near the halfway point of the event, bringing out the sixth caution flag of the day. The No. 48 team repaired his car over a handful of pit stops and came back to finish ninth.

Stewart had two separate issues that plagued him throughout the event, after starting deep in the field in the 33rd position. He was caught speeding on pit road early on and later spun with just about 100 laps remaining. Stewart managed to finish fifth.

Matt Kenseth, who was racing in his final season for team owner Jack Roush, led 78 laps and held off a late charge from Martin Truex Jr. to capture the victory. It was announced one month earlier that Kenseth would leave his longtime team and join Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2013 season.

Paul Menard and his No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet had an impressive third-place finish, their best finish of the season. The only other non-playoff driver to finish in the top 11 was Regan Smith.

Smith was driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. and finished seventh after starting 39th.

The standings following the race saw Brad Keselowski leave with a seven-point advantage over Jimmie Johnson with Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounding out the remainder of the top five with just four races remaining on the schedule.

Getty Images

2015 Hollywood Casino 400:

The elimination-style playoff format had already proved to be intense throughout its first year of existence and the 2015 playoff race at Kansas was no different.

Matt Kenseth dominated the contest, leading 153 of the race’s 269 laps but chaos ensued when Joey Logano and Kenseth battled for the victory as the final laps passed by.

The two drivers were racing for the win and Kenseth tried to hold off Logano but contact sent Kenseth out of the way, bringing out the caution.

The final restart of the day saw Logano stay out front of the field and capture his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Kenseth wasn’t as lucky. He was not able to recover from the late slide and finished 14th. If he could have held on for the victory, it would have clinched Kenseth a spot in the next round of the playoffs. Thanks to a 42nd-place finish at Charlotte the previous week, he needed to win at Talladega if he wanted to move on and continue his quest for his second series title.

The incident proved to be a battle of opinions between the two drivers as they disagreed on what happened on the track.

Logano called it “good hard racing,” saying that Kenseth raced him hard and he followed suit.

Kenseth on the other hand, was far from agreeing with Logano. He blamed Logano for wrecking him, saying it was not a great decision for him. He said that he was always a fan of Logano but not anymore.

Eleven of the 12 remaining playoff drivers finished 16th or better, leaving a tight points battle for the final playoff spots in the next round up for grabs heading into the wild card that was Talladega.

With just the first eight drivers moving on to the next round, second through 10th place in the standings were only separated by 20 points.

Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

2022 Hollywood Casino 400:

As the playoff drivers looked to cash in on a victory to move on to the second round, Bubba Wallace played spoiler.

Wallace, who was driving the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, led the final 43 laps en route to the second victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career.

Normally the driver of the No. 23 car for the team, Wallace moved over to drive its No. 45 car following Kurt Busch’s injury as the No. 45 car was eligible for the owners’ championship.

He held off his car owner Denny Hamlin, who was looking for a victory to help move him on to the second round of the playoffs. Hamlin still managed to leave Kansas sitting third in points with a comfortable advantage of almost 40 points with one race remaining in the round.

Three playoff drivers found themselves leaving Kansas in a tough position following a rough day.

Tyler Reddick, who won the pole for the race, crashed and slipped to 12th in the standings, leaving him in a must-win situation at Bristol the following week.

Kyle Busch also had a tough day, finishing 26th, putting him 13th in points, and 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick finished last following an early accident. He sat 16th in the standings, almost 40 points below the elimination line.

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Cameron Richardson

William Byron will likely be the one to tell you he’s no stranger to a midseason slump. It happened again this year as the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver has been winless since April after he was victorious in three of the year’s first eight races.

No matter how bad the slump may have gotten in the past, Byron always turned it on once the 10-race postseason kicked off.

However, 2024 has thrown Byron a bit of a curveball early in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as he was only able to muster a best finish of ninth in the Round of 16 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s just the second time in his career Byron failed to score a top-five result in the first three races of the postseason, with the other being in 2019, his first playoff appearance.

Despite the slow start in this year’s championship quest, Byron and the No. 24 camp aren’t pressing the panic button any time soon.

RELATED: Kansas schedule | Cup playoff standings

“I feel like that’s what makes our group really good is we’ve really come together during this time and we know we’re not where we want to be or need to be,” Byron told NASCAR.com. “But now is the time to start showing that and now is when it matters.”

This weekend will matter substantially for the 12 drivers remaining in the battle for the Bill France Trophy as Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) opens another potentially chaotic round that ends with Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Byron has a mixed bag of results in 13 starts in the Sunflower State. His last two finishes at the track have been outside the top 10, with 15th- and 23rd-place results, respectively. Neither was due to a lack of speed, but mistakes in both events from the 26-year-old wheelman.

“Just kind of had some trouble early in both of those weekends,” Byron said. “Feel like we had a lot of speed, but we just had some difficulties. In ’23, I spun out in the first stage, kind of damaged the car some and then in the spring this year, hit the wall in qualifying. Just kind of a little bit of driver mistakes and feel like it kind of took us out of the rest of the weekend or damaged our car potential. This weekend, just looking to have a solid weekend, start to finish and I feel like we always have the speed at Kansas and just trying to find that right balance for longer runs and just have what we need to go there and perform.”

With two 1.5-mile ovals waiting in the Round of 8, Kansas will set the tone for how the playoff drivers will fare for the rest of the season.

In 2023, three of the four drivers eliminated in the Round of 16 finished outside the top 10 when Kansas was the middle race of that round and in 2022, the four drivers eliminated in the opening round all finished outside the top 10 at the oval.

“It’s definitely a really important track and it’s really a good judge of where everyone is speed-wise and how they are execution-wise because pit stops are important in Kansas,” Byron said. “It’s one of those places where I think it’ll be really important for the future of the playoffs and kind of where you stack up. There’s just a lot of points that you can get and it’s a little bit more in your control than Talladega. If you go out and get top five in stage points, both stages, you’re going to be in really good shape.”

A points reset starting the Round of 12 sees Byron 14 points above the elimination line and in fourth place of the playoff field. It offers the No. 24 team a golden opportunity to reboot and get its championship hopes back on track.

“I feel like our group is really well prepared. We prepare better than anyone I feel like on our team,” Byron said. “I just think that it’s about things starting to come together and come our way. A couple little things here and there and it’s going to add up and make a difference. So I feel good about where our group is and what we’re capable of. We’ve shown that over the last 14 to 18 months of what we’re able to do and races were able to win.

“I’m excited, and I feel like our team is ready to go.”