Pearce Dietrich gives his top NASCAR bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400, a pivotal playoff race on a challenging 1.5-mile oval with progressive banking. Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman stand out as strong betting options, given their impressive track records at Kansas. Here’s a breakdown of why these Hendrick Motorsports drivers are prime picks on DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Race Winner — Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas
Kyle Larson +370
This is not a get-rich pick, nor a get-broke pick. Larson has been quiet lately, a product of the schedule and parity. However, the schedule shifts in his favor this week. Progressively banked intermediate tracks suit Larson’s style — he’s great everywhere, but Bristol stands out. Racer tracks favor racers, which lessens Larson’s legend status on vanilla 1.5-mile ovals. Kansas, though, isn’t pure vanilla. It’s progressive banking and ever-shifting fastest racing line create a huge advantage for the greatest dirt-track racer ever. Larson can run any line and instinctively discern the fastest way around the track as it evolves. The stats clearly bear this out: no one runs higher, and Larson excels at running the bottom or middle as well.
Races can hinge on circumstances. Poorly timed cautions can flip a race upside down, which is an unpredictable factor. If the bet is on luck and circumstance, drivers with longer odds might be the pick, as surprise winners often emerge from fortunate cycles or late-race restarts. Without chaos, though, Larson dominates. In the last eight races at Kansas, he has three wins, six top-5 finishes and seven top-10s.
Top-10 Finish — Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas
Alex Bowman +180
Hendrick Motorsports has not been dominant this season. Larson isn’t a killer. Chase Elliott doesn’t win races. William Byron is a Hall of Very Good driver. The weakest link in the stable is Alex Bowman, always the odd man out. It makes sense — he’s the least talented, and his team is the least supported. Against the odds, Bowman still manages to qualify for the playoffs. That’s been his career: somehow, he makes it. But since making it, he hasn’t gone anywhere. He grabs a win here and there, but he’s just a top-15 to top-10 guy. That’s all that’s needed for this bet.
Kansas is Bowman’s best track. He’s finished 11th or better in his last seven races at Kansas, with an average finish of seventh. He’s never finished outside the top 10 in the Gen-7 car at Kansas. Earlier this season, Bowman finished seventh at a similar 1.5-mile oval in Las Vegas.