This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Kansas Lottery 300
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Course: Kansas Speedway
Format: Tri-Oval
Laps: 200
NASCAR Xfinity Kansas Lottery 300
We've reached the opening round of the Xfinity playoffs after a shocking conclusion to the regular season that saw Cole Custer claim the regular season title. Despite the regular season standings, Chandler Smith is the favorite to be the Xfinity Series champion after banking six stage wins and 11 top-five finishes. The first round of the playoffs follows round two of the Cup Series, with Talladega and the Roval following Kansas. That latter two could cause chaos, so locking in points at Kansas will be key for weaker drivers at superspeedways or road courses.
Key Stats at Kansas
- Number of Races: 24
- Winners from Pole: 2
- Winners from top-five starters: 10
- Winners from top-10 starters: 17
Previous 10 Kansas Winners
2023 – John Hunter Nemechek
2022- Noah Gragson
2021- Ty Gibbs
2020- Chase Briscoe
2019- Brandon Jones
2018- Brandon Jones
2017- John Hunter Nemechek
2016- Kyle Busch
2015 – Kyle Busch
2014 -Kyle Busch
Kansas is a relatively new track, as it was constructed in the late 90s and early 2000s. The first NASCAR and Xfinity series race took place in 2001 and the Xfinity series has come every year since. Interestingly, the stats and snapshot of recent winners paint something of a different picture. Drivers can certainly dominate this race, as we see several multi-time winners. Despite that, there's often good racing at the track in terms of passing, competitiveness and drama.
As for the track itself, it has an asphalt service with progressive banking by lines on the track that spans from 17 to 20 degrees on the turns, making Las Vegas another very similar track to gauge driver history from.
NASCAR Xfinity DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Kansas Lottery 300
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 DraftKings Values
Justin Allgaier - $11,000
Chandler Smith - $10,500
Austin Hill - $10,000
Tier 2 DraftKings Values
AJ Allmendinger - $9,000
Connor Zilisch- $8,800
Brandon Jones- $8,500
Tier 3 DraftKings Values
Ryan Sieg -$7,800
Parker Kligerman - $7,500
Anthony Alfredo - $7,000
Parker Retzlaff - $6,900
NASCAR Xfinity Picks for the Kansas Lottery 300
Austin Hill-$10,000
AJ Allmendinger - $9,000
Brandon Jones - $8,500
Ryan Sieg - $7,800
Parker Kligerman - $7,500
Anthony Alfredo - $7,000
It's natural to want from the top of the price pool down, but this week dictates something different based on track history and pricing. The two priorities of the weekend are Brandon Jones and Parker Kligerman. Kligerman is in his final season as a full-time NASCAR driver, and this is a week he'll need to make an impression if he wants to keep his playoff run. He enters the playoffs in 12th place and 12 points from the cut line. In his only recent race at Kansas, he finished fourth after starting 15th. If we dig into the history books, he's started on the pole and seventh on two occasions, which covers his entire four-race history. The majority of that history comes from 10+ years ago, meaning it's not overly relevant to his projection but it does illustrate his experience and ability to navigate the track at an exceptionally cheap price.
There's a better case for Jones, who didn't make the playoff cut. He has nine races on his ledger at Kansas, and he's turned in a driver rating over 100 in five of them—including five of the last six races. We see his two wins at the track, but he has two additional top-five performances. He also pops on our optimizer as the fourth-best value available.
Allmendinger is next on the priority list and only slips a bit priority wise due to his price relative to Jones and Kligerman. However, his results dictate that he should be priced closer to the top tier of drivers. He's been at the track twice in recent history, qualifying fourth and fifth and finishing sixth and third, respectively. With the combination of his success on the track and his veteran status in NASCAR, it's s surprise to see Allmendinger at this price.
From there, it's all about making the pieces fit. Smith is my favorite option from Tier 1, but the gap between he and Hill is smaller than the gap than the projections throughout the midfield options we've already covered. It's not as if Hill doesn't fit as a top-flight option. He's tied for the Xfinity Series lead with three wins and has two top-five finishes in his last three races in Kansas.
We have our fairly typical punt options to round out the lineup, who are competent if unexciting.
