Congratulations goes out to Denny Hamlin who picked up his first victory of the season by avoiding the big wreck that always seems to happen in the restrictor plate races. Denny ended up in the right lane late in the race and got excellent drafting help in passing Kevin Harvick after a late race restart and he held onto the lead as the caution came out on the last lap for debris on the track. That should be enough to propel him into the Chase.
This week the series heads to Kansas City, KS for the running of the 5-Hour Energy 400. Kansas Speedway is another of the mile and a half tracks on the circuit that make up the majority of schedule. I just hope that there aren’t a lot of tire issues again this weekend.
5-HOUR ENERGY 400
Matt Kenseth: I am picking Matt to get his first win of the season this week at Kansas. Matt has won two of the last three races at Kansas and has finished no worse than eleventh in his last seven starts there. They would like nothing better than to get their first win of the season and get the monkey off their backs and gain a spot in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie has finished in the top ten in ten straight races at Kansas including two victories during that stretch. This is another team that is still looking for their first win of the season so they can lock up a spot in the Chase themselves. I think this could be an all out battle between two of last seasons best drivers with a spot in the Chase up for grabs.
Greg Biffle: Greg came close to getting his first win of the season last Sunday at Talladega and he has always been very good at Kansas. He has won twice here and has finished in the top five in seven of his fifteen starts. This is the type of track that Greg excels on and this weekend should be no different.
Jeff Gordon: Jeff won the first two races ever run at Kansas Speedway. Even though he hasn’t won here since then he has finished in the top five in nine of his sixteen starts at this track. Jeff currently sits in the top spot in the standings, but he would really like to get his first victory of the season and get his spot in the Chase. There are only sixteen races left until the Chase starts and a lot of drivers who are looking for their first win yet.
Carl Edwards: Carl has already won a race this season, but he would like to get his second win before the Chase starts too. Although he has never won a race here he has finished in the top ten in nine of his thirteen starts at this track. I think that the Roush/Fenway engines are some of the best out there this season and can help these drivers get to victory lane.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin won the race here last fall and has looked very good every week this season. As I have said before, if it weren’t for a lot of mechanical failures early this season, Kevin would probably have more than two wins and be sitting on top of the standings right now. He also has seven top ten finishes in his sixteen starts at this track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Dale has never won at Kansas yet, but he has finished in the top ten in seven of his fifteen career starts here. This team has slipped a little bit lately, but this is the type of track where they can get back into victory lane and get back on track like they were at the beginning of the season. Dale has been very good all year at this type of track.
Brad Keselowski: Brad took the blame for a wreck last weekend at Talladega that took out many of the big name drivers. This weekend he will try to redeem himself and should be able to do just that. Both of the Penske teams have been very fast in qualifying all season long and I look for them to continue qualifying well this week also.
Joey Logano: Joey is the other Penske driver that has started towards the front of the field all season long. He also has two wins to go along with his good starting positions and could very easily get his third win of the season this weekend at Kansas Speedway.
YAHOO! FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR KANSAS SPEEDWAY
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Brad Keselowski
- Greg Biffle
- Joey Logano
- Carl Edwards
Yahoo Driver Group C
- Kyle Larson
- Austin Dillon
MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY
- Matt Kenseth
- Jimmie Johnson
- Greg Biffle
- Kevin Harvick
- Brad Keselowski
Dark Horse: Martin Truex Jr.
Stay Away From: Kyle Busch
5 replies on “2014 Kansas Speedway, 5-Hour ENERGY 400”
Stay away from Kyle? What would be the reasoning behind that?
Kyle only has two top ten finishes in thirteen races at Kansas Speedway. His average finish in those thirteen races is 23.31 with a best career finish of seventh. I really don’t know why he has had minimal luck at this track, but I would like to stay away from him this week.
Thanks for the reply. I love your advise.
I am looking for an off sequence Yahoo B pick with some measure of confidence… Paul Menard comes to mind. Seems to have decent stats and some momentum.. I think a top ten is very possible. What do you think?
Paul is a good pick. You could also take a chance with Aric Almirola who has been running well on this type of track lately. If you want to go a little further out on a limb you might take Jamie McMurray or even Martin Truex Jr.