CJ scored his 5th win of the season but he’s still lagging behind in only getting two cars in the top 10 on Monday in Dover. Greg continues to cut into Eric’s lead with having four cars in the top 10 and five of his eight in the top 15. Eric did get three cars in the top eight and four in the top 12 to maintain his lead in the fantasy standings heading into Sunday’s race at Kansas.

2023 FANTASY STANDINGS

1 TEAM ERIC

2 TEAM GDP – 340 points

3 TEAM CJ – 530 points

1 TEAM ERIC – 2,375 points (2 wins)

C Bell… 440 (1 win)

J Logano… 430 (1 win)

IR/A Bowman… 345

K Harvick… 290

D Hamlin… 240

B Keselowski… 230

D Suarez… 215

B Wallace… 180

A. Almirola… 5

DRIVER CHANGES

4/26 (After Race 10) Placed A Bowman on IR; picked-up A. Almirola for Dover. 

2 TEAM GDP – 2,035 points (3 wins)

K Larson… 355 (2 wins)

R Blaney… 350

R Chastain… 345

T Reddick… 325 (1 win)

C Briscoe… 215

C Buescher… 135

A Cindric… 130

R Stenhouse Jr… 60

Waived/Traded Drivers… (120 points)

DRIVER CHANGES

4/13 (After Race 8) Waived E Jones (80 points) and picked-up R Stenhouse Jr.

3/13 (After Race 4) Waived H Burton (40 points) and picked-up C Buescher. 

3 TEAM CJ – 1,845 points (5 wins)

K Busch… 400 (2 wins)

W Byron… 345 (2 wins)

M Truex Jr… 335 (1 win)

T Gibbs… 185

AJ Allmendinger… 155

C Elliott… 130

A Dillon… 125

R Preece… 75

Waived/Traded Drivers… (95 points)

DRIVER CHANGES

4/13 (After Race 8) Waived R Stenhouse Jr. (95 points) and removed C Elliott from IR. 

3/5 (After Race 2) Placed C Elliott on IR; picked-up R Stenhouse Jr. for Las Vegas. 

Weekly Race Points Standings

Week 11 Dover

1 CJ 210

2 GDP 190

3 ERIC 135

Week 10 Talladega

1 GDP 180

2 CJ 160

3 ERIC 130

Week 9 Martinsville

1 GDP 245

2 ERIC 185

3 CJ 135

Week 8 Bristol Dirt

1 ERIC 175

2 CJ 175

3 GDP 150

Week 7 Richmond

1 ERIC 190

2 GDP 185

3 CJ 95

Week 6 COA

1 GDP 250

2 CJ 170

3 ERIC 80

Week 5 Atlanta

1 ERIC 260

2 GDP 145

3 CJ 105

Week 4 Phoenix

1 CJ 195

2 GDP 185

3 ERIC 160

Week 3 Las Vegas

1 ERIC 210

2 CJ 180

3 GDP 170

Week 2 Fontana

1 CJ 225

2 ERIC 205

3 GDP 95

Week 1 Daytona (Bonus Points)

1 ERIC 645

2 GDP 240

3 CJ 195

Driver Standings (Top 10)

1 C Bell… 440 (ERIC)

2 J Logano… 430 (ERIC)

3 K Busch… 400 (CJ)

4 K Larson… 355 (GDP)

5 R Blaney… 350 (GDP)

6 A Bowman… 345 (ERIC)

6 W Byron… 345 (CJ)

6 R Chastain… 345 (GDP)

9 M Truex Jr… 335 (CJ)

10 T Reddick… 325 (GDP)

TRACK HISTORY/TRENDS

This will be the 35th Cup Series race at the Kansas Speedway. The NASCAR Cup Series 1st started coming to the Sunflower State in 2001.

Recently paved which makes this a very difficult track to pass on too. Outside lane is better, but there is a chance to take the lead from the inside. Mostly a restart/track position track. You can gamble on 2 tires or depending on how late you are in the race, 0 tires. Clean air is key here.

• 8 of the last 12 Kansas winners have come from the top six of the starting lineup including 4 of the last 5.
• 12 of the last 14 Kansas winners started in the top 6 Rows.
• Toyota has won 5 of the last 7 Kansas races including 7 of the last 12. They swept last year.
• Toyota’s went 1-3-4-5-6 in the spring race (171 of 267 laps led) and 1-2-3-5 in the Fall (94 of 267 laps led). They combined to lead 265 of 534 laps (49.6%) a year ago.
• We’ve seen 10 different winners in the last 11 Kansas races. Only repeat winner is Denny Hamlin.
• There’s been no OT finishes in each of the last 6 races including 12 of the last 14 in general.
• The eventual race winner scored stage points in every first stage under the stage era with the exception of last year’s spring race.
• The eventual race winner finished in the top 5 in 6 of the last 7 2nd stages and 9 of the 12 overall second stages.
• The odd thing is, just twice has the eventual race winner at Kansas actually won a second stage (2019 playoff race, May 2022).
• Since 2011, every Kansas winner has won a series championship with the exception of Hamlin and Bubba Wallace.
• In fact, only Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Joe Nemechek and Wallace have won at Kansas and not also won a Cup title. Kyle Larson joined that list but only for a few months in the Fall of 2021 before he became a champion.

Favorites

Chase Elliott

He’s had six top six finishes in his last nine Kansas starts including being fifth and second in 2021 and 29th and 11th last year.

Kyle Larson

He dominated in leading the most laps but not winning the 2021 spring race. He then would win the playoff race though in the Fall of 2021. He was runner-up and eighth respectively last year for his sixth top 8, four of which being in the Top-4 in his last eight Kansas tries. Larson led 63 laps and finished runner-up this spring in Vegas too.

William Byron

He has six Top-10 finishes in his last seven starts at Kansas including being ninth and sixth respectively last year. Byron also led 176 laps in a Vegas win this spring too.

Denny Hamlin

The only driver to have won multiple times here in the last 11 races and was fourth and second here last year.

Martin Truex Jr.

Since 2017, he’s had a Top-10 finish in all but one Kansas start including sweeping both race wins in 2017. He finished sixth and fifth last year and was seventh this past March in Vegas.

Kyle Busch

He won in May of 2021 and has six Top-5 finishes in his last nine Kansas starts including a third place run last May.

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Sleepers

Alex Bowman

Bowman has seven top 11 results on the 1.5-mile track in his last 10 tries including being runner-up in the spring race in 2019, eighth and fourth respectively in 2020 and ninth and fourth last year. He won on a similar track in Las Vegas last spring and was third this past spring there too.

Ross Chastain

Seventh in both races last year lands him here. So does being 12th in Vegas.

Kevin Harvick

Harvick, has eight top two finishes at Kansas since 2013 including a second-place result in two of his last five starts there in general. He was only 15th in May last year but ninth in the Fall.

Christopher Bell

He scored his first Xfinity race win at this very track a few years ago as well as being 10th, eighth and third in the last three Kansas playoff races and fifth in the spring race last year. Bell was also fifth in Vegas too.

23XI Racing

The 45 car swept both races last year via Kurt Busch in the spring and Bubba Wallace in the Fall. Busch led 116 of 267 laps in last year’s May race while Wallace led 58 laps in his October win. Wallace was also fourth this past spring in Vegas too. Tyler Reddick with RCR last year was seventh and 35th but that 35th was a crash after leading 38 laps.

Austin Dillon

He was 10th in both races in 2021 to go along with being 11th in the 2020 playoff race and 13th and 14th last year.

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Fades

Team Penske:

Austin Cindric was 11th and 12th respectively last year as a rookie. Ryan Blaney has had five of his last eight Kansas races have seen him finish 20th or worse and 12th and ninth last year. For Joey Logano, he’s finished 15th or worse in six of his last eight at Kansas. They were sixth (Cindric), 13th (Blaney) and 36th (Logano) in Vegas.

Daniel Suarez

33rd and 10th last year.

Chase Briscoe

He was 24th and 13th a year ago.

Aric Almirola

No top five finishes in 22 starts puts him on this list.