2017 Kansas Lottery 300 Race Predictions

2017 Kansas Lottery 300 Race Predictions
NASCAR Xfinity Series Betting Preview
Saturday October 21st, 3:16PM (EST) at Kansas Speedway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service

After a week off, the Xfinity Series will return to action on Saturday with the running of the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Tomorrow’s event will be known as the start of the Round of 8 for the Xfinity Series Chase as just 3 races remain before the season finale at Homestead. Therefore each race over the next 3 weeks will be critically important towards the 8 remaining Chase drivers hopes for a championship. Tomorrow the race for the championship will intensify when 40 drivers, including several Cup Series stars, unleash onto Kansas Speedway. We take this time to preview tomorrow’s event and provide our 2017 Kansas Lottery 300 race predictions!

Among the Cup Series stars entered in tomorrow’s event include the likes of Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Ryan Blaney, and Erik Jones. Truck Series star Christopher Bell will also join the brigade of Cup Series talent in the field on Saturday as well. Bell is one of those names that jumps off the page because this is just his 5th start in the Xfinity Series and you know he is getting decent odds. If you remember back at Charlotte, Bell got into trouble on the first lap of the race but then battled back to a 4th place finish. A few weeks later he led the most laps at Iowa before getting wrecked by laps cars while leading the race. Therefore, we know Bell can run upfront from a talent perspective. The main concern I had for Bell was that he did not look very impressive in practices on Friday. In fact, the #18 was outside of the top 10 in each session which is very surprising considering the speed that car has possessed all year with different drivers behind the wheel.

From a practices perspective, I thought Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney stood alone as the two best cars in the field. Both Blaney and Jones’ lap times were impressive and consistent. Now the best question would be who is better between the #22 and #20? I don’t think you can distinguish who is going to be better on Saturday from practice speeds because they were so equal in Friday’s sessions. I personally lean toward favoring Blaney over Jones. My reasoning is because Blaney has been so good at the 1.5 mile tracks in the Xfinity Series. I feel like 1.5 mile tracks has been Blaney’s specialty in the Xfinity Series. It is also worth noting that Jones has just 1 prior start at Kansas Speedway in the Xfinity Series if you want to play into the experience angle.

Outside of the known Cup Series threats, let’s take a moment to talk about the Xfinity Series regulars and specifically the Chase drivers participating in tomorrow’s race. I think everyone expects this championship to come down to the JR Motorsports drivers between William Byron, Justin Allgaier, and Elliott Sadler. After all, those guys rank 1-3 on points to start the Round of 8. I personally believe Cole Custer is going to fight his way into a chance at Homestead because he has been running well. For Saturday, I believe the best of the Chase drivers will be Justin Allgaier. His lap times sustained speed when he put together consecutive lap runs and that entire team has performed extremely well in recent weeks. Allgaier may be worth dark horse consideration for the outright win.

I have been personally waiting for Elliott Sadler and William Byron to show up in the Chase. I figured at least one if not both of those drivers would step it up when the Chase began. Sadler has been consistent but he has never been the best of the Chase drivers unlike last year at this time when he caught fire. Byron had a disappointing opening round of the Chase with finishes of 18th, 3rd, and 16th. Considering the finishes of 18th and 16th come at Kentucky and Charlotte, it does not give much confidence that Byron could break out a winning performance after another mediocre round of sessions on Friday.

If you are looking for a potential surprise story, I would look back to the opening race in the Xfinity Series Chase at Kentucky when part-time driver Tyler Reddick stole the show. Reddick dominated the 2nd half of that race to put an exclamation point on his 1st victory in the series. Judging by the Kentucky race and today’s practices, Reddick again looked to have plenty of speed in the #42 machine earlier today. In fact, he posted the best 10 lap average in the opening practice. On paper, Reddick was arguably the best of anyone. Matt Tift was at the top of the charts as well. However, Tift has consistently been a “practice” type of driver and typically fades in race conditions. Reddick on the other hand may be worth another gamble.

2017 Kansas Lottery 300 Race Predictions

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Christopher Bell +1350 (1 unit)
Tyler Reddick +1400 (1 unit)

Two Team Parlay

Ryan Blaney +175 wins Kansas Lottery 300
Team 2 – Open
Risking 1.5 units to win: TBD

H2H Matchups

Tyler Reddick -115 over Cole Custer (3 units)