2023 Advent Health 400 in Kansas

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for its second packless 1.5-mile racing oval event of the season. Read on for my daily NASCAR DraftKings picks for Advent Health 400, which airs Sunday, May 7 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

It’s been several weeks since Cup visited an intermediate track like Kansas, the last one being two months ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Atlanta Motor Speedway was changed to a superspeedway type, so it doesn’t count). Although there haven’t been a lot of intermediate races this season, there have been several races at this type of track in 2022 when the Next Gen car made its debut.

So you can take a look at those events to see which drivers generally performed well on that type of track in that car. Also look specifically at historic Kansas stats, as some drivers know how to race ahead there.

Additionally, practices and qualifying are scheduled to take place on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. ET (FS1). Although the trials don’t last very long, you can always check the five-lap averages to see who seems to be fast during the race. And obviously, if a driver in good gear starts at the back, he should be a lock for DraftKings.

Before I share my DraftKings picks for Kansas, here’s a look at the results from Dover Motor Speedway:

DraftKings Salary	Driver	DraftKings Score
$11,500	Kyle Larson	0.4
$10,000	Martin Truex Jr.	92.85
$9,300	Kevin Harvick	18.8
$7,500	Josh Berry	50
$7,300	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	25:15
$6,900	Ryan Precece	39
$6,600	Michael McDowell	30

Yet another run where Kyle Larson ran into trouble when I talk about it on DraftKings. This time Ross Chastain fell on Brennan Poole from behind. Poole slid down the apron and back up the track, straight into Larson’s path.

Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t do as well as I thought (although Stenhouse started ninth after qualifying rain). But at least we had the winner, Martin Truex Jr., in my picks.

Here’s an overview of the DraftKings scoring rules…

The winner on the racetrack totals 45 points, while second place gets 42, third place 41 and so on. 10th place gets 34, while 11th gets 32 and drops by one from there until 20th. This pattern repeats from the 21st to the 30th and again from the 31st to the 40th.

Additionally, drivers can gain or lose a point depending on where they started the race. For example, if William Byron started third and won, he would earn two points in addition to his finishing position points, totaling 47 fantasy points.

Drivers can also earn 0.45 points for each fastest lap and 0.25 for each lap they lead.

NASCAR DraftKings Scoring

Additionally, I will be hosting a free NASCAR DraftKings league that will run weekly for the Cup Series only. Membership is free, but for now, that’s just for bragging rights. You will have the chance to compete against me and some of my colleagues here at Front stretch.

Here is the link to the league:

2023 Frontstretch NASCAR DraftKings League

Now here are my picks for Kansas!

DraftKings Pick: Top Tier ($9,000-$11,200)

William Byron ($10,900)
Kansas career: 10 starts, 0 wins, 1 top 5, 6 top 10s
Final average in Kansas: 15.1

Byron won in Las Vegas after an overtime restart, but he had the better car throughout the race. He dominated, leading 176 laps and recording 59 fastest laps on his way to victory. In fact, it was one of the fastest cars all season, leading 64 or more laps in four races. Last week at Dover he led 193 homers but eventually came fourth.

In Kansas, the #24 Hendrick Motorsports driver raced quite well and led a few laps in a few events, most of them in the fall of 2021 when he was leading 57. Byron finished sixth in that race and duplicated the effort the following year in the fall of 2022. Although his only top five came in 2019, Byron’s strength and speed this season shows he could dominate again and earn a good finish.

Christopher Bell ($10,200)
Kansas career: 6 starts, 0 wins, 2 top 5s, 4 top 10s
Kansas average finish: 12.8

In both races in Kansas last year and in Las Vegas in March of this year, Christopher Bell placed in the top five. Although he didn’t lead many laps or record as many fastest laps as his fellow Toyotas, he still showed that he could run close to the front at 1.5 miles.

Bell has two more top 10s at Kansas, in the fall of 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile, this season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 has a win at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt track as well as five top fives and eight top 10s. Looks like he just needs a little more speed to dominate and potentially earn his second win of the year. Could it happen this week?

Bubba Wallace ($9,000)
Kansas career: 10 starts, 1 win, 1 top 5, 2 top 10s
Kansas average finish: 21.9

Bubba Wallace earned his second career win last fall at Kansas, helping his 23XI Racing team sweep the 1.5-mile course. He was in the lead for 58 laps and set 17 fastest laps; if he can get a good track position, he will have a good chance of emulating that performance.

Two months ago in Las Vegas, Wallace fell from 13th to fourth place, his first top five of 2023. Since then, he has struggled to earn the top 10, with his only other coming at Martinsville Speedway. However, Kansas could be the race to get him back on track and restore his confidence.

Look for Wallace to continue his top-10 streak at Kansas.

Intermediate level ($7,000 to $8,700)

Josh Berry ($7,700)
Xfinity Series career at Kansas: 2 starts, 0 wins, 0 top five, 1 top 10
Ending average Xfinity in Kansas: 20.5

This is Berry’s first visit to Kansas in a Cup car, but he has some experience there. In the Xfinity Series, he placed in the top 10 last fall, despite only completing 93 laps.

With such limited experience, why is he on my initial DraftKings roster? Well, he’s done pretty well this year replacing Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. Berry didn’t have a good result in Las Vegas, but he was 10th last week after starting 23rd in Dover. Additionally, at Richmond Raceway he dropped from 30th to second place, while at Phoenix Raceway he came in 10th.

On top of all that, he’s in the same car that Bowman led 107 laps last fall. I think he will do very well this weekend.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Kansas career: 20 starts, 0 wins, 0 top 5, 1 top 10
Kansas Final Average: 20.1

I know, Stenhouse didn’t do as well as I thought he would last week in Delaware. I still have my eyes on him, though, as he gained 28 positions at last spring’s event in Kansas, earning his first top 10 there. He even led three laps.

One thing I’ve noticed with Stenhouse is that he’s scored a fantastic 32 or more DraftKings points in seven events this year. Most of them were on superspeedways or dirt, but one was in Martinsville. It shows that the #47 JTG Daugherty Racing car can take the lead with the right strategy and if luck can afford it.

Lower Tier ($4,500 to $6,900)

Austin Cindric ($6,500)
Kansas career: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 0 top 10s
Kansas Final Average: 15.0

Austin Cindric has struggled a lot so far this year, as he only has two top 10 finishes. One was at the Circuit of the Americas, but the first came in Las Vegas; he gained three places en route to sixth place. In that event, he totaled 41.5 DraftKings points.

Last season at Kansas, the No. 2 Team Penske driver finished 11th and 12th. Those results are good on their own, but not so much on DraftKings, as he started in the top 10, dropping positions late in the race. Still, Cindric should be able to draw on what he learned back then and in Vegas to earn a good finish this weekend.

Justin Haley ($5,800)
Kansas career: 4 starts, 0 wins, 0 top 5s, 0 top 10s
Kansas average finish: 30.8

Justin Haley’s season was similar to Cindric’s, although his top 10 was at Bristol instead of COTA. But in March, Haley moved up 19 positions to rank eighth, gaining 57.7 points on DraftKings. He could use another effort like this in Kansas.

Speaking of which, Haley moved up a few spots in last fall’s race at Kansas, although it wasn’t quite as high (19th). But it was his best result there, as his other finishes were in the 30s.

Last fall, at two more 1.5 mile runners, Haley also climbed several spots to break into the top 15. In Las Vegas he drove 28th through 14th, while in Texas he started 31st and finished third. Hopefully he can channel that same strength this week in Kansas.

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