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Carson Hocevar
Kansas Fantasy Outlook – Carson Hocevar will be a dark horse pick at Kansas. Hocevar’s Kansas track record is quite bad but the key variable I like about him is the speed he’s had at high-speed intermediate tracks. This year over the high-speed 1.5’s + Michigan track grouping, Hocevar ranks 4th in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings but he’s had a lot of problems and as a result his average finish is a not so great 28.6. Over the last three races on this sub-track type, Hocevar was a contender to win Michigan until having to pit for gas, a top five contender at Charlotte until his engine blew up and a top ten contender at Kansas until he had problems late. Heading into the weekend, I would conservatively view him as a top ten contender who might still have upside.
Kansas History – Kansas hasn’t been a bright spot on the schedule for Carson Hocevar and in the Next Gen he has a 25.5 average finish and ranks 19th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. This spring, Hocevar was a top ten contender but finished a misleading 26th. In the race, Hocevar started 22nd, finished around 18th in Stage #1, was caught speeding on pit road during the Stage #1 caution, finished about 15th in Stage #2, spent some time running in the top ten in the final Stage, was in 8th with 20 to go, was in 13th with 10 to go but then with 5-laps to go he got into the wall and then ducked down pit road a few laps later which led to his 26th. In the race, Hocevar had a 14.1 average running position and the 19th best Total Speed Ranking. Last fall, Hocevar looked like a top ten contender for much of the race but finished an asterisk mark 32nd. In the race, Hocevar had a 14.3 average running position, finished 10th in Stage #1, finished 6th in Stage #2 but his afternoon went downhill in the last Stage. The #77 seemed to have lost pace and then on lap 242 while he was back in the 20’s Hocevar spun out with a little bit of help. For the afternoon, Hocevar’s Total Speed Ranking ranked 17th with his speed over the segments being 10th, 16th, 15th and then 29th. In his two starts prior to that, Hocevar had results of 24th (spring 2024) and 20th (fall 2023).

Josh Berry
Kansas Fantasy Outlook – Josh Berry might come into play at Kansas. Berry was strong this spring and in 2025 at high-speed 1.5’s, Berry has a Las Vegas win, ranks 10th in terms of Track Type Total Speed Rankings and his average finish minus Texas where he ran well and led 41 laps but crashed is 6.3. Michigan also has correlation and Berry finished a solid 12th there. It’s hard to feel too optimistic about Berry at this time but I would view him as a dark horse top ten contender heading into the weekend.
Kansas History – This spring at Kansas, Josh Berry had a strong showing and finished 6th. In the race, Berry started 38th, finished 4th in Stage #2 and had the 8th best Total Speed Ranking. Last fall, Berry finished 38th but you can quickly disregard that result. Berry completed exactly ZERO laps and was spun on the first lap, getting flat tires and was then towed to the garage area, getting an instant DNF. Last spring, Berry finished 15th.

Ryan Preece
Kansas Fantasy Outlook – At Kansas, look for Ryan Preece to have a solid showing. The #60 team has been strong at high-speed intermediates and in 2025 over the combined high-speed 1.5’s + Michigan grouping, Preece has the 4th best average finish (11.4), he’s 4 for 5 at finishing in the top ten and his Track Type Total Speed Ranking over those combined races ranks 5th. Heading into the weekend, I would view Preece as a teens driver who might finish in the top ten.
Kansas History – This spring at Kansas, Ryan Preece had a great performance and notched his best Kansas Next Gen result. In the race, Preece started 30th, finished 8th in Stage #1, finished 10th in Stage #2, earned the 6th best Driver Rating, had the 6th best average running position, ranked 7th in terms of Total Speed Rankings and then finished 7th when the checkered flag waved. Last fall in his old ride, Preece started 37th, had a 20.1 average running position, had the 16th best Total Speed Ranking and then finished 16th overall. Last spring, Preece was quite uncompetitive. In the race, Preece finished 28th, had a 30.2 average running position and ranked 36th in terms of Total Speed Rankings. In 2023, Preece finished 18th in the fall and then finished 27th in the spring.

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