NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Top Picks
NASCAR Cup Series: Super Star Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway
Thursday, July 22, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN) in Kansas City, Kansas
Race Info
On Thursday evening, the NASCAR Cup Series continues with the Super Star Batteries 400 at Kansas City’s Kansas Speedway.
Thursday’s event is so-called because, in completing 267 laps, drivers will have completed 400.5 miles.
There are three Stages in this race. Stage 1 and Stage 2 both require 80 laps each. Stage 3 concludes with 107 laps.
Track Info
Kansas City’s Kansas Speedway is considered an intermediate track. One lap requires 1.5 miles.
This course’s shape is designated as a tri-oval.
Its surface is asphalt, which was last repaved in 2012.
As part of the changes that it underwent in 2012, the Kansas Speedway began to feature new, progressive banking.
There are four turns. Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 17 degrees. Turns 3 and 4 are banked at 20 degrees.
We will also behold more banking on the straightaways than we’ve seen on other tracks.
The frontstretch is banked at 9 to 11 degrees. The backstretch is banked at 5 degrees.
Starting Lineup
Whereas Texas’s track is notorious for being hard to pass on, Kansas's features very wide lanes.
So starting position won’t be as important as it was in Texas.
This isn’t to say that passing at Kansas is a cinch. The track can run very fast and it can be surprisingly hard to find space to pass drivers and surprisingly easy to brush the wall with the side of the car.
But, given its measurements and the race length, this is not a track where you need to wait for the starting lineup to be announced before placing your bets.
Match-Up Betting
Oddsmakers have released an alluring variety of match-up betting opportunities.
These are basically head-to-head match-ups that are created by oddsmakers where we bet on one driver in the created match-up to finish ahead of the other.
For Thursday’s race, I like Martin Truex Jr to finish ahead of Ryan Blaney.
Misleading Form
Truex Jr is a really attractive pick in his match-up with Blaney because we are getting him at plus value.
Oddsmakers are disrespecting Truex Jr, I believe, because he seems to be exhibiting poor driving form in apparent contrast to Blaney.
But these appearances are misleading.
It is true that Truex Jr finished 29th at Texas’ much narrower race track and 10th at Bristol (in the All-Star Race).
We should, though, expect Truex Jr to finish poorly at those two tracks because they are two of his five worst tracks based on average finishing position.
In the race before those two, at Kentucky, Truex Jr finished second as Kentucky is one of his better tracks. This strong performance shows that Truex is not suffering from poor form.
As for Blaney, two of his last three top-seven efforts came at some of his stronger venues. So while his form isn’t bad, it is by no means positive enough to warrant the heavy chalk that he is drawing.
History
The main difference between Truex Jr and Blaney is their respective histories in Kansas.
Blaney finished outside the top 20 in his last two appearances at Kansas.
Truex Jr, conversely, has finished top-six at Kansas in five of his last six efforts there. Of those six attempts, he finished top-two three times.
The Verdict
Blaney is favored because his form seems to be so much stronger than Truex Jr’s.
But it’s rather the case that Truex Jr has recently had more bad luck in terms of track selection.
Since there is no deficiency in Truex Jr's form, there is no justification for oddsmakers disrespecting him.
Moreover, Truex Jr is consistently very good at Kansas. His superior history at Kansas should make him favored over Blaney.
Because, for the above reasons, I cannot understand why Truex Jr is the underdog, I am betting on him to finish ahead of Blaney.
Best Bet: Truex Jr (+105) Over Blaney With BetOnline
NASCAR Cup Series: Super Star Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway
Thursday, July 22, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN) in Kansas City, Kansas
Race Info
On Thursday evening, the NASCAR Cup Series continues with the Super Star Batteries 400 at Kansas City’s Kansas Speedway.
Thursday’s event is so-called because, in completing 267 laps, drivers will have completed 400.5 miles.
There are three Stages in this race. Stage 1 and Stage 2 both require 80 laps each. Stage 3 concludes with 107 laps.
Track Info
Kansas City’s Kansas Speedway is considered an intermediate track. One lap requires 1.5 miles.
This course’s shape is designated as a tri-oval.
Its surface is asphalt, which was last repaved in 2012.
As part of the changes that it underwent in 2012, the Kansas Speedway began to feature new, progressive banking.
There are four turns. Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 17 degrees. Turns 3 and 4 are banked at 20 degrees.
We will also behold more banking on the straightaways than we’ve seen on other tracks.
The frontstretch is banked at 9 to 11 degrees. The backstretch is banked at 5 degrees.
Starting Lineup
Whereas Texas’s track is notorious for being hard to pass on, Kansas's features very wide lanes.
So starting position won’t be as important as it was in Texas.
This isn’t to say that passing at Kansas is a cinch. The track can run very fast and it can be surprisingly hard to find space to pass drivers and surprisingly easy to brush the wall with the side of the car.
But, given its measurements and the race length, this is not a track where you need to wait for the starting lineup to be announced before placing your bets.
Match-Up Betting
Oddsmakers have released an alluring variety of match-up betting opportunities.
These are basically head-to-head match-ups that are created by oddsmakers where we bet on one driver in the created match-up to finish ahead of the other.
For Thursday’s race, I like Martin Truex Jr to finish ahead of Ryan Blaney.
Misleading Form
Truex Jr is a really attractive pick in his match-up with Blaney because we are getting him at plus value.
Oddsmakers are disrespecting Truex Jr, I believe, because he seems to be exhibiting poor driving form in apparent contrast to Blaney.
But these appearances are misleading.
It is true that Truex Jr finished 29th at Texas’ much narrower race track and 10th at Bristol (in the All-Star Race).
We should, though, expect Truex Jr to finish poorly at those two tracks because they are two of his five worst tracks based on average finishing position.
In the race before those two, at Kentucky, Truex Jr finished second as Kentucky is one of his better tracks. This strong performance shows that Truex is not suffering from poor form.
As for Blaney, two of his last three top-seven efforts came at some of his stronger venues. So while his form isn’t bad, it is by no means positive enough to warrant the heavy chalk that he is drawing.
History
The main difference between Truex Jr and Blaney is their respective histories in Kansas.
Blaney finished outside the top 20 in his last two appearances at Kansas.
Truex Jr, conversely, has finished top-six at Kansas in five of his last six efforts there. Of those six attempts, he finished top-two three times.
The Verdict
Blaney is favored because his form seems to be so much stronger than Truex Jr’s.
But it’s rather the case that Truex Jr has recently had more bad luck in terms of track selection.
Since there is no deficiency in Truex Jr's form, there is no justification for oddsmakers disrespecting him.
Moreover, Truex Jr is consistently very good at Kansas. His superior history at Kansas should make him favored over Blaney.
Because, for the above reasons, I cannot understand why Truex Jr is the underdog, I am betting on him to finish ahead of Blaney.
Best Bet: Truex Jr (+105) Over Blaney With BetOnline
