This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Kansas Lottery 200
Location: Kansas City, Kan.
Course: Kansas Speedway
Format: 1.5-mile tri-oval
Laps: 134
NASCAR Trucks Kansas Lottery 200 Race Preview
The first round of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series playoffs concludes with this week's Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway. The eight drivers that will continue their quest for the 2023 series championship will be decided Friday night. Four drivers have already booked their place in the next round, but Ben Rhodes and Matt DiBenedetto enter the race behind the cutoff line and will be doing their best to be among the eight remaining contenders. It will be the 27th time the series has raced at Kansas, and Grant Enfinger was the one who came out on top in May. He, along with Corey Heim, Christian Eckes, and Ty Majeski are the only drivers assured of advancing in the playoff battle. Nick Sanchez will enter the weekend in the final transfer position, hoping to defend a small three-point gap to Rhodes. With many playoff clinching scenarios in play, Friday's night's Kansas Lottery 200 could keep the playoff battle in the balance until the final laps.
Key Stats at Kansas Speedway
- Number of races: 26
- Winners from pole: 4
- Winners from top-5 starters: 17
- Winners from top-10 starters: 24
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 0
- Fastest race: 139.875 mph
Previous 10 Kansas Winners
2023 spring - Grant Enfinger
2022 fall - John Hunter Nemechek
2022 spring - Zane Smith
2021 - Kyle Busch
2020 III - Brett Moffitt
2020 II - Matt Crafton
2020 I - Austin Hill
2019 - Ross Chastain
2018 - Noah Gragson
2017 - Kyle Busch
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks gears up for its second trip to Kansas of the season. The 1.5-mile oval favors positive track position, and team will focus on qualifying up front in order to get this Friday's race started on the best possible foot. If qualifying isn't as successful, teams will have to find opportunities to gain track position during the race through caution periods or pit strategy. Restarts will be another focus for moving forward, too. Races at this track have frequently produced late cautions, which means the entire night could come down to one final restart. However, Kansas typically has relatively few cautions throughout the race, which often enables drivers that qualify well to separate themselves from the pack. No driver has started worse than 12th and won at this track in its 26-race history in the series. Qualifying will be an important indicator for fantasy players to monitor this week as they select their lineups.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Trucks Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Kansas Lottery 200 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Corey Heim - $11,000
Ty Majeski - $10,800
Zane Smith - $10,700
Carson Hocevar - $10,400
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Ben Rhodes - $9,700
Matt Crafton - $9,400
Nick Sanchez - $9,200
Stewart Friesen - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Matt DiBenedetto - $8,800
Taylor Gray - $8,500
Rajah Caruth - $8,300
Bayley Currey - $8,000
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Jesse Love - $7,300
Tyler Ankrum - $6,900
Jake Drew - $6,500
Daniel Dye - $5,900
NASCAR DFS Picks for the Kansas Lottery 200
Carson Hocevar - $10,400
Nick Sanchez - $9,200
Taylor Gray - $8,500
Jake Garcia - $7,700
Jesse Love - $7,300
Tyler Ankrum - $6,900
While continuing to build NASCAR Cup Series experience, Carson Hocevar is seeking a championship in the CRAFSTMAN Trucks. He will be doing double duty in both series this week at Kansas, which gives him some extra seat time through the weekend. Trucks are his first priority, though. He has four series starts at Kansas with a best finish of second last fall. Sitting fifth in the playoff standings, Hocevar is poised to clinch his spot in the next elimination round through points or a win this week. Nick Sanchez faces a more challenging situation at Kansas. He enters the weekend on the playoff bubble and needing a good outing Friday night. His 24th-place finish last time out at Milwaukee did not help his playoff hopes and was his worst result since May. He started and finished sixth at Kansas earlier this season, which gives him hopes of another top-10 finish this week to help him stay alive in the championship hunt.
A consistent top-15 finisher to consider this week is Taylor Gray. He started 19th at Kansas in May but drove to a ninth-place finish. With just two finishes outside of the top-15 since then, Gray makes a reliable option for most rosters this week. Jake Garcia fits a similar mold. He finished eighth at Kansas in May and only finished outside of the top 16 twice in the races since. Garcia added his eighth top-10 finish of the season at Milwaukee, too. Jesse Love may be a more risky option with upside. He has been finding success in ARCA this season and will make his CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut this week at Kansas. He will be challenged to come up to speed quickly, but this track is one he knows well having won there in ARCA machinery last May. Another driver with top-15 expectations this week is Tyler Ankrum. The Hattori Racing Enterprises driver didn't get 2023 off to the best start, but he recently has been more of a top-15 regular. Prior to August he was on a streak of five straight finishes of 16th or better with two top-10s. The last top-10 he had prior to that run was at this track in May, too.
