By Gary Walstrom
The Buschy McBusch Race 400 (yes, I’m serious, that’s what it’s called) at Kansas Speedway is set for this Sunday, May 2nd, at 3:00 PM EST. Tune in on Fox Sports 1, MRN radio, or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 to catch all of Sunday afternoon's action - NASCAR heads to the midwest for this weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, which features a 1.5-mile tri-oval track with 17–20-degree banking in the corners. This race will come down to who is fast on restarts and tire strategy. It can become a very unpredictable race with pit strategy being so important as well. Who is willing to pit for two tires, or gamble and stay out for the long run? Whoever it is, I hope they find a new sponsor title for next year.
Best Bets Recap
Ricky Stenhouse Jr Top 10 Finish (+120 DraftKings): Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received minor damage during the stage 1 Joey Logano crash, and he was still in the top 20 with 34 laps to go when he got spun out by another driver coming to pit road. He finished five laps down and could never recover for us. – Loss
Kyle Busch Winner (+1800 DraftKings): The younger Busch brother was cruising in 10th place with just four laps to go when the caution came out. He and teammate Bubba Wallace decided to pit, and everyone else stayed out. Busch lost his track position accordingly and ended up finishing 18th overall. – Loss
Alex Bowman (-112 FanDuel) vs. William Byron: William Byron got turned and hit Alex Bowman, and both went through the same patch of grass. Byron’s car came out perfectly fine, but Bowman’s car was seriously damaged from the grass. It’s the luck I have been having lately. Regression soon, right? – Loss
Twitter Matchup Best Bet
Ricky Stenhouse Jr (+130 BetOnline) vs. Kurt Busch- Late in stage 2, the elder Busch brother had an oil line issue which resulted in the front left wheel well area catching fire. He had to go to the garage for repairs but was still able to come back out and run the remainder of the race, finishing six laps down. That’s it! We beat a guy whose car was on fire. So goes NASCAR betting these days. I'll take it. – Win
Drivers to Look Out For
Denny Hamlin (+550 FanDuel): Denny Hamlin was a back-to-back winner here at Kansas Speedway in the fall of 2019 and in the spring of 2020. In last year’s spring race he was super-fast in running 88% of his laps inside of the top five and every lap inside of the top 10. Hamlin was "Mr. Consistent" until last week’s crash at Talladega as well. He now needs a win, and he definitely knows how to get the job done here.
Martin Truex Jr (+600 FanDuel): Martin Truex Jr has finished inside the top 10 in his the last three races here, and in last year’s spring race he ran very well, finishing with a 76% clip inside the top 5 and coming away with a third place finish. In the fall race last year it was very cold and the setup didn’t meet the track conditions, yet he still was able to come away with a ninth place finish, running 64% of his laps inside the top 10. He was caught up in the Hamlin wreck last week, so expect this Joe Gibbs car to have a strong run.
Brad Keselowski (+800 FanDuel): Brad Keselowski has finished inside of the top five in three out of the last four races here (fourth, second and first overall). His one hiccup was in the 2019 fall race where he finished 19th. In last year’s spring race, however, he finished in fourth place and ran 83% of his laps inside of the top five. Keselowski has the momentum he needs after winning last week at Talladega, and he now starts on the pole. He will also aim to become the first Penske driver to have multiple wins this year.
Best Value Bet
Kurt Busch (-112 FanDuel) vs Austin Dillon- In three out of the last four races Kurt Busch has finished inside the top 10 (ninth, fourth and seventh). During the fall race last year Busch had engine troubles on lap 195 that made him retire early from the race. Before his engine trouble though, he was running 7th. On the other side of this matchup bet, Austin Dillon has not had much success here in Kansas. In his last four races at Kansas he has finishes of 11th, 27th, 20th, and 17th. Because of Busch’s poor finish last week he will start 27th, while Dillon will start 6th. Busch is the most senior veteran in NASCAR, so be patient and let Busch slowly work his way up. We only care about the last lap, and I trust him to run well late here.