Wise Power 200
Location: Kansas City, Kan.
Course: Kansas Speedway
Format: 1.5-mile tri-oval
Laps: 134
Race Preview
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns this week at Kansas Speedway after a short break. The series raced three times at the track last season in an altered schedule due to the pandemic. Austin Hill, Matt Crafton and Brett Moffitt shared the spoils and none of them have a victory yet in 2021. Kansas has produced 19 different winners from 22 races, and Crafton leads active series drivers with three wins at the track. Toyota has been the leading manufacturer in 2021 with six straight wins. This is only the fourth time in series history that a manufacturer has started a season with as many wins, and it is the second time Toyota has done it. Kyle Busch Motorsports has four of those six victories, and teammates John Hunter Nemechek and Kyle Busch will get an early advantage by starting on the front row this weekend.
Key Stats at Kansas Speedway
- Number of races: 22
- Winners from pole: 3
- Winners from top-5 starters: 14
- Winners from top-10 starters: 21
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 0
- Fastest race: 139.875 mph
Previous 10 Kansas Winners
2020 III - Brett Moffitt
2020 II - Matt Crafton
2020 I - Austin Hill
2019 - Ross Chastain
2018 - Noah Gragson
2017 - Kyle Busch
2016 - William Byron
2015 - Matt Crafton
2014 - Kyle Busch
2013 - Matt Crafton
Kansas Speedway is a traditional 1.5-mile tri-oval. Horsepower and handling are the keys to winning. Pit strategy can be a bigger factor at this circuit, unlike what we've seen the past few weeks. Teams may try to pit off sequence or try to gain positions on pit road using two-tire stops. Capitalizing on restarts and refining handling for long runs has proven successful here in the past, too. Two of the three Kansas races last season only had four cautions including the stage breaks. All three visits produced cautions in the final 50 laps, however. That trend means teams will be working to give their trucks the best track position possible in the final stops. Fantasy players should expect to see two-tire stops and teams opting to stay out as long as possible as they wait for those late cautions to appear, but selections should focus on the top-10 starting positions. No one has ever won without starting in the first six rows.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Kyle Busch - $15,000
Ross Chastain - $12,000
Chase Briscoe - $11,500
Grant Enfinger - $10,500
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
John Hunter Nemechek - $10,100
Sheldon Creed - $9,400
Zane Smith - $9,100
Austin Hill - $8,900
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Matt Crafton - $8,700
Derek Kraus - $8,500
Ben Rhodes - $8,300
Christian Eckes - $8,100
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Tyler Ankrum - $7,800
Johnny Sauter - $7,300
Timothy Peters - $6,300
Hailie Deegan - $5,300
My Picks
John Hunter Nemechek - $10,100
Zane Smith - $9,100
Matt Crafton - $8,700
Ben Rhodes - $8,300
Tyler Ankrum - $7,800
Hailie Deegan - $5,300
Nemechek has two wins already this season and has proven himself capable of outracing team owner Kyle Busch on multiple occasions. He will start from pole Saturday and finished third and fourth in his last two series starts at Kansas. With two top-10s from three Kansas starts Zane Smith should be a good option for fantasy rosters this week. He has a top-10 starting position and has led 104 laps across his three series appearances at the circuit. Three-time Kansas winner Crafton won from the 12th starting position at the track last fall and will start there again this week. He has only failed to finish in the top 10 once at the track since 2013. Ben Rhodes will start on the second row Saturday. He finished seventh or better in three of the last four Kansas races. Tyler Ankrum will start 13th and is still looking for his first Kansas top-10 finish. He crashed out of two races there last season, but his third-place finish at Richmond two weeks ago should give him a shot of confidence heading into this weekend's race. Hailie Deegan made her series debut at this track last fall. She will start 20th this week and will hope to better her finish of 16th from last season.
