Regular season champion Kyle Larson has won the past two NASCAR Cup playoff races. His latest win at Texas to open the Round of 8 locked him into the Championship 4 at Phoenix in November. Seven other drivers are looking to secure their spot in that season finale showdown with a win this weekend at Kansas Speedway.
The Hollywood Casino 400 is Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBCSN.
Larson is starting the race on the pole with Ryan Blaney in the front row. Kyle Busch, who starts fourth this weekend behind Brad Keselowski in third, won NASCAR’s last Cup race at Kansas during the regular season. This is the final 1.5-mile track on the schedule this year with only Martinsville and Phoenix remaining after Sunday.
Joey Logano, who starts eighth, leads the Cup Series in playoff wins at Kansas with three victories, his latest being in 2020. However, Larson’s consistency on 1.5-mile tracks makes him the favorite to win for the second week in a row, per BetMGM odds. He is favored at +225 followed by Denny Hamlin (+600), Kyle Busch (+700) and Chase Elliott (+750), according to the site. Among those drivers, only Hamlin has won a playoff race so far this year. His two post-season victories came at Darlington and Las Vegas.
Larson leads the series in points standings followed by Blaney (+17), Hamlin (+9), Busch (+8), Elliott (-8), Keselowski (-15), Truex (-22) and Logano (-43).
NASCAR AT KANSAS PREDICTIONS
Busch might have the latest win at Kansas, but he was frustrated with the speed and setup of his car last weekend at Texas, which is a 1.5-mile, 550 horsepower package track like Kansas. Larson, meanwhile, looked smooth the whole race, winning the second stage and battling alongside teammate William Byron. Three Ford cars finished in the top five in the last race at Kansas (Kevin Harvick, Keselowski and Matt DiBenedetto in second through fourth, respectively), so this race could provide a breakthrough opportunity for a Penske car during what has been an otherwise quiet postseason for the team. But can they by Larson to win it? Based on the No. 5 team’s recent performance, I doubt it. I predict Larson will make it three wins in a row this weekend.
HOW TO WATCH NASCAR AT KANSAS CUP RACE
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Race: Hollywood Casino 400
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Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps) with stages ending on laps 80, 160 and 267
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Where: Kansas Speedway
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When: Sunday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. EST
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TV: NBCSN
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Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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Purse: $7,972,577
NASCAR AT KANSAS STARTING LINEUP
|
Order |
Driver |
Car No. |
|
1 |
Kyle Larson |
5 |
|
2 |
Ryan Blaney |
12 |
|
3 |
Brad Keselowski |
2 |
|
4 |
Kyle Busch |
18 |
|
5 |
Chase Elliott |
9 |
|
6 |
Denny Hamlin |
11 |
|
7 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
19 |
|
8 |
Joey Logano |
22 |
|
9 |
William Byron |
24 |
|
10 |
Christopher Bell |
20 |
|
11 |
Kevin Harvick |
4 |
|
12 |
Tyler Reddick |
8 |
|
13 |
Kurt Busch |
1 |
|
14 |
Austin Dillon |
3 |
|
15 |
Matt DiBenedetto |
21 |
|
16 |
Daniel Suárez |
99 |
|
17 |
Erik Jones |
43 |
|
18 |
Michael McDowell |
34 |
|
19 |
Chase Briscoe |
14 |
|
20 |
Aric Almirola |
10 |
|
21 |
Chris Buescher |
17 |
|
22 |
Cole Custer |
41 |
|
23 |
Corey LaJoie |
7 |
|
24 |
Ross Chastain |
42 |
|
25 |
Alex Bowman |
48 |
|
26 |
BJ McLeod |
78 |
|
27 |
Bubba Wallace |
23 |
|
28 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
47 |
|
29 |
Anthony Alfredo |
38 |
|
30 |
Josh Bilicki |
52 |
|
31 |
Ryan Newman |
6 |
|
32 |
Ryan Preece |
37 |
|
33 |
Justin Haley |
77 |
|
34 |
Ryan Ellis |
15 |
|
35 |
Quin Houff |
0 |
|
36 |
Cody Ware |
51 |
|
37 |
Chad Finchum |
66 |
|
38 |
David Starr |
13 |
|
39 |
Joey Gase |
53 |
|
40 |
Parker Kilgerman |
96 |