DraftKings NASCAR DFS Picks for Kansas: Fantasy NASCAR DFS Strategy and Picks for the Hollywood Casino 400

NASCAR is back at its classic track type — the 1.5-mile oval — this weekend at Kansas Speedway.

Kansas is arguably the most exciting track on the circuit, famously featuring the closest finish in NASCAR history earlier this year when Kyle Larson barely pipped Chris Buescher at the line this spring.

A straightforward practice session, a race here earlier this year, and plenty of intermediate track data gives us a solid base to work with for our DFS picks for Kansas.

Before we jump into my picks, don’t forget all my NASCAR projections can be found in the NASCAR Models on FantasyLabs, complete with floor, ceiling, median, and ownership projections.

Let’s not skip the best part — my Perfect% metric — a metric that tells you how often certain racers appear in the optimal lineup when running 10,000 race simulations.

And don’t forget about the tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, like our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups, or our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.

Here are my NASCAR DFS picks for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Kansas DraftKings DFS Cash Game Strategy

Kyle Larson ($11,500) is the defending Kansas winner, and was clearly the best car in practice as measured by my FLAGS metric. Starting 11th, he adds some place-differential potential as well.

Chase Elliott ($10,000) is a cash-game lock. If you don’t play him, you’re just hoping he has issues, but he was a top-five car in practice and starts dead last after an engine issue. That makes him an absolute must-play in DraftKings cash-game formats, where place differential matters a ton.

Daniel Hemric ($5300) has a rock-bottom price for a driver who ended up in the top third of the field in practice FLAGS but starts 30th, which makes him an easy stuff into your cash-game lineup knowing you’re rostering some high-dollar drivers along with him.

Kansas DraftKings DFS Tournament Strategy

With 267 laps scheduled, you’ll likely need two dominators at Kansas, but one- and three-dominator builds are possible too. Here’s who my model plus my subjectivity combined like the most to dominate:

1. Christopher Bell
2. Kyle Larson
3. William Byron
4. Ty Gibbs
5. Ryan Blaney

The top four are a clear tier above Blaney. After Blaney, there’s a muddle of guys that includes Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, and to a lesser extent Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. If (and probably when) Chase Elliott gets to the front of the field, he’s a second-half-of-the-race dominator candidate as well as one of the best cars in practice.

The Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing duo of Chris Buescher ($8500) and Brad Keselowski ($8300) start 25th and 26th respectively, and both were solid in practice. Buescher nearly won the first Kansas race this year, while Keselowski starts one spot behind him and is $200 cheaper. They’re both fine plays outside of the top tier.

That said, if you’re looking for a pivot off one or the other, Alex Bowman ($8000) is your guy. He practiced sixth in my FLAGS metric, and he offers up enough upside to be worth playing him overweight to the field, especially as a pivot off the RFK chalk.

Further down in price, Justin Haley ($6400) is a tournament-only play as a pivot off the chalkier John Hunter Nemechek ($5600), but both make fine options after showing practice speed.

Kansas DraftKings DFS Paul Menard Pick of the Week

Erik Jones ($6300) has some high upside after ranking 10th in my practice FLAGS metric.

If you listened to the Running Hot podcast, I talked about Jones’ upside at intermediate and higher-speed tracks, and he backed that up with the strong practice showing.

By rolling off 16th, he still gives us some place-differential potential, while keeping himself far enough forward that he won’t be a chalky play.

I projected him less than 10% rostered, but would play him closer to 15% to get some leverage on the field.