2016 Kansas Lottery 300 Race Predictions

2016 Kansas Lottery 300 Race Predictions
NASCAR Xfinity Series Betting Preview
Saturday October 15th, 4:16PM (EST) at Kansas Speedway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service

The Xfinity Series will be in action on Saturday at Kansas Speedway with the running of the Kansas Lottery 300. Tomorrow’s event marks the first race in the Xfinity Series Chase Round of 8. As the championship picture continues to unfold among the Xfinity Series regulars, several Sprint Cup Series drivers will be trying to steal the spotlight by capturing the victory in tomorrow’s 300 mile event. Can any of the Xfinity Series drivers upset the likes of Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, or Kyle Larson? Find out our thoughts as we provide our 2016 Kansas Lottery 300 race predictions!

Last week Joey Logano captured the checkered flag at Charlotte in the Drive for the Cure 300. Kyle Larson actually dominated the event by leading 165 of the 200 laps but Logano earned the victory after getting by Larson following a late race caution. However, the Sprint Cup Series drivers led all but 24 laps of last week’s race. We all know that the Cup drivers are heavy favorites in the Xfinity Series events but their dominance last week at a similar 1.5 mile surface only cast similar expectations for tomorrow’s 300 mile race at Kansas. Judging by the looks of practices on Friday, those expectations may be very well vindicated once the green flag waves.

Kyle Busch looked extremely strong in Friday’s practice sessions. He posted the 3rd best 10 lap average on paper but his lap times towards the end of Friday’s final Xfinity Series practice stood out amongst the competition. Busch’s times did not show much fall off as compared to the rest of the field and I clearly think the #18 is the car to beat. Interestingly, Busch has won this race in each of the last two years. If you combine the fact that he has already scored 8 wins in just 15 starts in the Xfinity Series this season, it is obvious why he is the big favorite for Saturday’s race.

The two guys that are expected to be Busch’s biggest competition on Saturday are Joey Logano and Kyle Larson. Logano is going for his 2nd straight win and 3rd overall in the Xfinity Series this year. However, he will be trying to get his first win in the #22 car for Team Penske as both prior wins come in the #12 machine. The #22 team has yet to find victory lane this season which remains one of the biggest surprise stories of the season as that same team won 7 races in 2015. On Friday, Logano was just 10th fastest in final practice and while they had better speed than most cars; they did not appear to have a car capable of winning.

Kyle Larson on the other hand did have a car that appeared capable of winning. Larson posted the fastest lap in final practice and the best 10 lap average. After dominating Charlotte last week, I think this team feels like they let a win slip away. I don’t think Larson was quite as strong as Busch in terms of lap times but I feel very confident that Larson will be a frontrunner when the green waves tomorrow afternoon.

Outside of the Cup favorites, both of the other JGR Toyotas had plenty of speed. Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez looked strong in terms of speed. Suarez actually looked the best of the two but Jones is notorious for getting the most out of his equipment so expect both cars to run well. Another guy that really I thought stood out was the #48 car of Brennan Poole. Poole posted the 2nd fastest lap of Friday’s final practice on his first lap out but he was really solid in race trim towards the end of practice as well. The #48 car is teammates with Kyle Larson who dominated last week on a 1.5 mile surface so the Chip Ganassi cars may hae found a little bit of speed from the looks of things. Therefore, the #48 may be worth the look in a few low tier H2H match-ups.

2016 Kansas Lottery 300 Race Predictions

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Kyle Larson +400 (2 units)
Elliott Sadler +1650 (1 unit)

Two Team Parlay

Kyle Busch -120 wins Kansas Lottery 300
Team 2 – Open for Hollywood Casino 400
Risking 1.5 units to win: TBD

H2H Matchups

Brennan Poole -125 over Brendan Gaughan (3 units)
Elliott Sadler -115 over Justin Allgaier (3 units)
Brandon Jones -125 over Ryan Reed (2 units)