2 years agoChase Briscoe needs all the help he can get as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver is now nine points away from 12th place in the NASCAR Playoff Chase standings. It helps that he is qualified second for the Bristol race on Saturday. However, he likely needs a top-ten result or better. Briscoe's Ford finished 13th on the dirt track as he went for the win but spun out Tyler Reddick and himself instead. That gave Kyle Busch a gift of a win. Briscoe has the ability to get to the front but can he stay there? Discipline is essential for Briscoe as he tries to advance to the "Round Of 12". --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAric Almirola snagged the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday night. Almirola got around the 0.533-mile track in just 14.946 seconds. The one thing about the 500-lap race at Bristol is it goes by extremely fast. Almirola and the Ford's were quite fast on the high-banked turns. This may be a track that he does not necessarily excel at but the Stewart-Haas setup looked great in practice this week. It will be something to see what happens in race conditions. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR,com

2 years agoDenny Hamlin qualified nearly 3/4 of a second off the pace for the Kansas race on Sunday. That put him into 25th position. Hamlin is fortunate to have a 30-point cushion early in the playoff chase but has some solid results to fall back on at the intermediate track. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won twice in his last seven appearances with four top-five outcomes. That includes a fifth last Fall and a fourth this Spring in the Next-Gen car. The fourth was after beginning 18th in May. There is an expectation he can move up the standings in expedient order. By Stage 2 in the Spring, he was eighth and carried the second best speed over the final half of the race. Watch for Hamlin late. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoChase Elliott qualified just 22nd for Sunday's race at Kansas. It does appear the Hendrick Motorsports Racing car has some good late speed on this 1.5-mile intermediate track. Elliott has an average finish of 8.6 and four top-five results in his last seven races. It does appear the No. 9 car is getting better and better on these types of tracks. Last Fall, Elliott nearly won finishing in second. In the Spring, the driver was in the top five after the first two stages and fell victim to bad luck, a few bumps, and a 29th place result. Elliott might not lead as many laps but the car is quick enough to easily move up position-wise Sunday to gain some playoff points.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoKyle Busch starts 20th on Sunday in the Joe Gibbs Racing car. The No. 18 has much speculation to his future but the present is simpler. Busch is 11th in the playoff chase currently and very much on the bubble so to speak. He qualified nearly six tenths of a second off the pole run of Tyler Reddick. Busch had an excellent car in the Spring. He was first and second in the stages then wound up third at the end of the race. Does that translate on Sunday with some of the rear tire-wearing issues seen in practice? The going thought is it could as Busch moves up the field. That makes for some good DFS chances.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoCould Daniel Suarez slip a bit under the radar compared to his teammate Ross Chastain? The TrackHouse Racing driver suffered in the Spring with a number of issues that knocked him down to 33rd. However, he did finish 15th and 11th respectively last year. Every so often, the No. 99 has shown some signs of success here. It becomes more a question if Suarez can run incident-free. Suarez is also currently on the playoff chase bubble. Again, the middle segment could be pivotal here. Does he have the late speed? That again is a question.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoKevin Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford qualified 14th for the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday. Harvick and Kansas are quite synonymous with consistency. He has five top-ten results and the highest average finish (6.9) among all active drivers. Harvick finished third in the race last Fall but the concern is his 15th in the Spring. The Ford never quite got going and it did not help that Harvick started 23rd that race. What did his team learn between then and now? That will be telling on Sunday. Harvick after his fiery end last week needs a result this week. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAustin Dillon needs a good result at Kansas on Sunday. The Richard Childress Racing Chevy starts in 11th position just 0.152 seconds off the pole position time of Tyler Reddick. Dillon has a couple of top ten results on the 1.5-mile intermediate track. The No. 3 car has been oddly consistent at Kansas in his previous four appearances. His results have ranged from 10th to 13th. While that might help his playoff aspirations a bit, it may not be that big of a boost. Either way, Dillon's Chevy may not have the long-run ability to win as he lost a good deal of time in 15-lap and longer intervals (more than a second) in practice. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoThe best news for William Byron is how steady he is typically at Kansas. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing car has five top-tens in his last seven appearances. He even has managed to lead 6.2% of the laps in spite of just one top-five result. The No. 24 Chevy finished 0.281 seconds behind Tyler Reddick in qualifying. Byron has had some bad luck at Kansas in his past two races. He was near the front almost all last Fall but fell off late (incident). Byron was in the top ten again in the Spring but lost position late again ending in 16th. There is a chance that Byron could surprise on Sunday.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAustin Cindric and his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano appear in a good position for Sunday's race. Cindric begins Kansas in eighth position. The rookie has had some year in NASCAR. He made the playoff chase, won Daytona, and has proven to be not just a one-race wonder. The No. 2 Ford was in the top-five (fourth) late this Spring but had a few issues that knocked him just outside the top ten. Conditions again are expected to be pretty akin to the Spring too. With the Penske Ford's showing good performance despite the Goodyear tires, Cindric stands to have a solid run. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoKyle Larson begins seventh at Kansas while leading the most laps over the past three seasons (a 26% rate). That includes a win with several top-ten results. The Hendricks Motorsports Racing car ended up a couple of tenths of a second slower than teammate Alex Bowman. However, that concerns Larson and his pit crew very little. It did seem the No. 5 car was faster in 10 and 15-lap runs by several tenths of a second per lap. Larson finished second behind Joey Logano in the Spring and won the Fall race last year. He led a race-high 130 laps last year and could lead quite a few laps once more. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoBubba Wallace and the No. 45 car combined forces to end up sixth in qualifying on Saturday for the Kansas race. Wallace results plus Busch's car makes for interesting bedfellows so to speak. The Busch car had two top tens in its last four races at Kansas. It does seem to be the better car for 23XI Racing at least on this track. Kurt Busch's wisdom could help here for Wallace. At Kansas, the elder Busch had five top-tens in his last seven appearances plus one win. While Wallace is not expected to win, contending is increasingly likely. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoRoss Chastain's race problems aside hid the fact that the Chevy enjoyed a good qualifying run on Saturday. Chastain begins fifth for Sunday's race at Kansas just 0.167 seconds off from Tyler Reddick's time. The TrackHouse Racing driver does not quite have the track record at Kansas that some of the qualifiers around him possess. Some experts suggested this first Chase segment hurts a driver like Chastain. That may be true but Chastain did finish seventh in the Spring race. With somewhat similar conditions, a top ten is not out of the realm of possibilities. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoChristopher Bell and his Joe Gibbs Racing car will start the Hollywood Casino 400 in fourth place on Sunday. Bell has three top-tens in his five appearances on the track. He even sprinkled in a top-five as well. The No. 20 car has the long-run speed to contend but has not truly ended up in a position to contend for a checkered flag at Kansas. Could that change on Sunday? It is possible. Bell tends to find himself in a better position and he did lead 37 laps in the Spring race (fifth place result). Do not underestimate his intermediate track driving skills. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAlex Bowman turned out to be the fastest Hendrick Motorsports Racing car on Saturday in qualifying. He was quicker than Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott even. Bowman ended up in the final round and will start the Hollywood Casino 400 third. Normally, the No. 48 is the fourth best when it comes to results but not on Saturday. He was about two tenths of a second faster than his teammates. It will be intriguing to see if Bowman can maintain this speed on longer runs Sunday. His 8.9 average finish at Kansas is not a fluke as Bowman ended up ninth this Spring.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com