By Walker Polivka
The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continue today with the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by Barstool Sportsbook at Kansas Speedway. Read on below to see our prediction for who will win the race, as well as our top 10, dark horse, and driver to fade predictions.
Driver to Fade: Chase Briscoe- Briscoe has had a quiet year, with 1 win, 3 top 5’s, and 4 top 10’s, having the majority of his success earlier in the season. Briscoe has been pretty cold of late, finishing outside the top 10 in each of the last 13 races and finishing 20th or worse in each of the last 6 races. Briscoe has a best finish of 19th at Kansas, which doesn’t bode well for a strong Playoff run. Briscoe will continue to struggle and finish outside the top 20 today.
Dark Horse: Bubba Wallace- Wallace is in the midst of a career season, with 4 top 5’s and 7 top 10 finishes. Wallace’s car has come to life here in the back half of the season, with 5 top 10’s and 9 top 15’s over the last 11 races. Wallace showed great speed yesterday, placing in the top 10 in both Practice and Qualifying. Wallace finished 10th here back in the spring and will start today’s race from 6th place. He may not have race winning speed, but we predict that Wallace will bring home another top 10 finish.
Top 10: Kyle Larson- The defending Cup Series Champion, Larson has put together an excellent title defense campaign so far, with 2 wins, 10 top 5’s, and 13 top 10’s. Larson has done very well at Kansas, with 1 win, 5 top 5’s, and 7 top 10’s in 15 career starts. Larson has had a lot of success on the mile and a half tracks this season, finishing 2nd at both Las Vegas and Kansas earlier in the year. Larson will no doubt be in the mix for the win late in the race, but a top 10 finish is a lock.
Winner: Tyler Reddick- Reddick is in the midst of a break-through season, with 2 wins, 9 top 5’s, and 12 top 10’s. Reddick has been very hot the last 2 weeks, finishing 2nd at Daytona and 3rd at Darlington. Reddick has shown pace at Kansas in his career, but only has 2 top 10 finishes in 6 career starts here. Reddick was the fastest in Practice across the board on both short runs and long runs and will start today’s race from the Pole position. Reddick has shown a lot of pace at a lot of tracks this season, but just can’t seem to close the deal as much as he should. We predict that will change today with Reddick punching his ticket into the next round of the Playoffs with a victory at Kansas Speedway!