Let’s go — last week’s NASCAR DFS picks article pretty much nailed it. I recommended a stack-the-front approach featuring Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson, the latter of whom led almost the entire race. Ryan Blaney got us some nice place differential points, and both of my lineups were solidly in the green in the main contest. Sports bettors even made money thanks to our winning Ryan Preece top-10 ticket at +650 via my Tails By OddsShopper page. Without further ado, let’s dive into our top NASCAR DFS picks for the 2024 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas, including Christopher Bell.
NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas
Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR DFS Picks & Strategy | Kansas Motor Speedway
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The two main strategies in NASCAR DFS are stacking the front (and hoping for little change) and stacking the back (and hoping for lots of change). Short tracks like Bristol favor the former strategy due to the number of high dominator points available; longer tracks like Talladega favor the latter due to the low number of dominator points.
But we’re at Kansas this week, which is a 1.5-mile (or intermediate) track. By shape alone, it doesn’t fit neatly into either category. However, by track history, we can tell this is a pretty good spot to stack the front. Every winner in the NextGen era (since 2022) started no worse than eighth. Only one driver who led the most laps started worse than 10th.
Polesitters also jump out as valuable. In that five-race sample, the polesitter went on to finish no worse than eighth in four events. The lone exception was Tyler Reddick, who crashed out in September 2022. This year, Christopher Bell will start on the pole, with Ty Gibbs starting in second.
Christopher Bell & Ty Gibbs
We may lose some position differential points by featuring Christopher Bell ($10,300) in our lineups, but when Bell was in this position last September, he was content to lead early and stay up front, piloting his No. 20 Toyota to an eighth-place finish. That performance, while not remarkable, helped propel Bell forward in the playoffs.
It’s the same situation for Bell this year. While he only led 15 laps in last year’s race, he also was only 19th-fastest in practice. This year he was 12th-fastest in practice and posted the sixth-best 10 consecutive lap average. He should have an easier job keeping the No. 20 Toyota near — or in — the lead this year.
Let’s stack Bell with his teammate, Ty Gibbs ($9,200). This strategy may expose us to the engine issues we’ve seen from the Toyota camp of late, but the speed they showed in qualifying and practice makes them worth stacking. Gibbs ran the fifth-fastest single lap and 10 consecutive lap average.
Gibbs has made two Xfinity Series starts at Kansas. He won in his debut and finished third in his second start. Gibbs may have three finishes outside the top 30 here in Kansas during his short time in the Cup Series, but he had speed in each race, and I’m happy to get him at such a reasonable price.
Justin Haley & Spire Motorsports
With this being a stack-the-front race, finding salary relief is pivotal. Your best option far down the board is Justin Haley ($6,400). Haley will be making his first start in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, which has a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. All three Spire cars were top-20 in practice for single-lap speed.
Haley’s teammate, Carson Hocevar ($6,600), ran the fifth-best single lap and the third-best 10 consecutive lap average. He is a decent source of salary relief but will start in 14th, risking negative place differential points. Haley may have less speed, but he’ll start in 23rd, making it easier for him to earn positive place differential points.
Haley replaces Corey LaJoie, a less talented driver who steered the No. 7 to a 26th-place finish this spring. He hasn’t shown much pace on high-speed intermediates, but both of his teammates, Hocever and Zane Smith ($5,400), scored top-10 results at a similarly high-speed Michigan track a few months back.
Smith has some value as well, especially due to his much lower price tag, but he also qualified well. He’ll start in 15th. Unlike Hocevar, Smith did not flash long-run speed in practice, scoring the 24th-ranked 10 consecutive lap average.
