Hollywood Casino 400
Location: Kansas City, Kan.
Course: Kansas Speedway
Format: 1.5-mile tri-oval
Laps: 267
NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 Race Preview
Team Penske kicked off the second round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in style, dominating the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with Ryan Blaney winning to become the first driver to secure his place among the final eight championship contenders. It was a near perfect day for Penske, which put two drivers in the top five and had the Wood Brothers Racing sister car of Josh Berry finish second. Penske's performance shows that getting out of the gate quickly grows increasingly important with each round of playoff eliminations as being among those to advance gets harder and harder every week the championship finale draws closer.
This week, the series heads back to Kansas Speedway where Hendrick Motorsports and Kyle Larson dominated in the spring race. Hendrick placed two of their drivers in the top five that day while Larson led 221 of 267 laps from pole to win. However, that race was in May and Larson has not won since. Larson and teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott all placed inside the top 10 last week at New Hampshire, but they've been locked out of Victory Lane by Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske since the playoffs began. Only two races remain to shore up the final seven spots remaining in the next round of playoff eliminations, and the margin for error grows more narrow each week. The return to Kansas could prove to be a deciding moment in the battle amongst the top contenders.
Key Stats at Kansas Speedway
- Number of races: 39
- Winners from pole: 8
- Winners from top-5 starters: 19
- Winners from top-10 starters: 26
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 3
- Fastest race: 152.057 mph
Previous 10 Kansas Winners
2025 spring - Kyle Larson
2024 fall - Ross Chastain
2024 spring - Kyle Larson
2023 fall - Tyler Reddick
2023 spring - Denny Hamlin
2022 fall - Bubba Wallace
2022 spring - Kurt Busch
2021 fall - Kyle Larson
2021 spring - Kyle Busch
2020 fall - Joey Logano
Kansas Speedway and its progressive banking tends to produce some exciting and close racing. However, Kyle Larson's dominant showing at the track in May proves that a quick car can be difficult to beat. There have been 39 series races held at Kansas since it joined the calendar in 2001, and the majority of races have been won by drivers starting in the top 10. Larson's win in May came from pole and Ross Chastain's victory from 20th in this race last season was the furthest back any driver started and won at the track since Denny Hamlin in 2019. Track position is critical, and it helps to be driving a Chevrolet or Toyota, too. Those two manufacturers have recently held the upper hand, taking every win at the circuit run with the current generation of car.
Joey Logano was the last driver to win at the circuit for Ford back in 2020, and Ryan Blaney was the only Ford to finish in the top five there earlier this season. Typically, the track produces many lead changes and enables drivers to run high or low through the turns to make passes. However, starting up front and having the clean air that comes with it is critical. With multiple cautions relatively common here, pit strategies can be aggressive and teams can make up track position by making the right call at the right time. May's race saw seven cautions with 15 lead changes despite Larson's domination. In short, fantasy players should look for drivers that top practice and qualifying sessions as the most likely contenders for the win will come from the top 10 of those rankings.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Hollywood Casino 400 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Kyle Larson - $11,000
Ryan Blaney - $10,700
Denny Hamlin - $10,500
William Byron - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Tyler Reddick - $9,700
Chase Briscoe - $9,500
Joey Logano - $9,200
Chase Elliott - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Bubba Wallace - $8,700
Ross Chastain - $8,500
Josh Berry - $8,200
Chris Buescher - $8,000
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Alex Bowman - $7,800
Ty Gibbs - $7,400
Carson Hocevar - $7,100
Ryan Preece - $6,900
NASCAR DFS Picks for the Hollywood Casino 400
William Byron - $10,000
Chase Elliott - $9,000
Josh Berry - $8,200
Chris Buescher - $8,000
Alex Bowman - $7,800
Ryan Preece - $6,900
Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets dominated the Kansas race back in May. However, to take advantage of current driver trends and save salary space for other picks further down the pricelist, William Byron (DK $10,000, FD $12,000) is my most expensive choice this week. Byron was not one of the two Hendrick drivers that dominated here back in May. He started seventh and finished 24th. His third-place finish last week at New Hampshire makes him a top choice this week, though. After a low-key five races, Byron is back in the top five, and we know how good he typically is in the playoffs. His time to turn that fire on is now. At Kansas, he has a best finish of second from this race last season along with eight top-10s and a pole position from 15 tries. Byron could be on an upswing of form at the perfect moment.
One of the Hendrick drivers that was dominant in May is Chase Elliott (DK $9,000, FD $11,000). He finished second to Kyle Larson in both stages of that race and led 29 laps. A slow pit stop in the final stage knocked him out of contention for the victory, though. He is a former winner at this track and drove from last to finish ninth in this race last year. Elliott is fast at Kansas and this should be a great week to choose him.
Also fast earlier this season was the Ford of Josh Berry (DK $8,200, FD $8,500). The Wood Brothers Racing driver started at the tail end of the field in that race but stormed forward to finish sixth. Berry also won at Las Vegas earlier this season, which is the most similar track to Kansas on the schedule. In short, Berry has been excellent on these types of circuits this season and could make another excellent fantasy choice this time, too.
Fellow Ford driver Chris Buescher (DK $8,000, FD $8,000) may not have had that same superlative speed, but he has been consistently good over time at Kansas. He typically finishes inside the top 15 and hasn't finished lower than 11th at the track in the last three races. In total, he has five top-10 Kansas finishes including his eighth-place finish from the second starting spot in May.
Flying under the radar from a price perspective this week is Alex Bowman (DK $7,800, FD $8,200). He may no longer be in the playoffs, but this is a track he could run up front and help his teammates who are. Bowman has 11 top-10 finishes at Kansas from 19 tries. He also hasn't finished lower than 11th at the track since the spring race of 2021 either. He finished fifth in the race earlier this season, which was his sixth straight top-10 Kansas finish. The only concern I have with choosing Bowman this week is his potential to sacrifice a top finish for one of his teammates, but him taking points away from playoff contenders could be equally as helpful at this point in the round.
Lastly, Ryan Preece (DK $6,900, FD $7,000) cuts an attractive selection this week, too. The RFK Racing driver got his best Kansas finish earlier this season with a seventh-place result. That was his first top-15 at the track, which is even more impressive considering he started the race 30th. The RFK Fords were quick at Kansas earlier this season, and fantasy players should expect Preece to be in similar circumstances this time, too.
NASCAR Cup Series Best Bets for the Hollywood Casino 400
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 11:30 AM ET Friday
Race Winner - Chase Elliott +1300, Josh Berry +2800
Top-Five Finish - Josh Berry +350
Top-10 Finish - Alex Bowman +120
Group Winner - Kyle Busch +240, Bubba Wallace +250, Brad Keselowski +250, Alex Bowman +300
Chase Elliott had one of the fastest cars earlier this season at Kansas, but he was unable to capitalize on it after a slow pit stop late in the running. He qualified ninth and finished the race 15th despite finishing second in both initial stages. Comparing his pace at similar Las Vegas, he started 16th and finished 10th, too. Those are confident numbers heading into a return trip to Kansas, but it gets even better. Last week at New Hampshire, Elliott qualified just 27th but stormed his way forward to finish fifth. That was his second top-five in the last three races. All signs are pointing to another strong race for Elliott this weekend if he and the team can avoid problems, and his odds of winning are favorable in comparison to other top contenders, which wagerers should take advantage of.
Josh Berry has also been very competitive at Kansas and Las Vegas. He won at Las Vegas in March and finished sixth at Kansas in May. That sixth-place finish came from the 38th starting spot, too. Couple those results with a return to form last week at New Hampshire and Berry could make a strong case to finish in the top 10 again this week. His playoff woes appear to be behind him, and with the speed he has shown at this track already this season, he appears to have a potent combination that makes him a nice longshot pick for the victory or a confident top-10 option.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman is also offering attractive odds. Bowman was not as dominant as teammates Larson and Elliott at Kansas earlier this season, but he has been quite good at the track through his career and was fast again last May. From 19 series Kansas starts, Bowman claims 11 top-10 finishes with no finishes lower than 11th since the fall of 2021. He drove to fifth from the 21st starting spot earlier this season, and a better qualifying effort this week could propel him even further up the order. Odds for a top-10 finish or winning the group against Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Brad Keselowski are both worth taking this week. Wagerers are benefitting on these offers due to Larson attracting much of the attention from his dominant race in the spring, leaving oddsmakers to overlook Bowman's potential this weekend.
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