The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) heads to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, October 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. This season marks the first time Kansas Speedway has hosted the seventh race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and the first race of the Round of 8.
With nine wins, 19 top-5s, and 25 top-10s, Kevin Harvick has the best season-to-date driver rating at 108.7 heading into Kansas. Harvick has three wins, nine top-5s, 16 top 10s, and five poles in previous races at Kansas.
Denny Hamlin currently holds the second-best season-to-date driver rating at 101.0. Hamlin has seven wins, 17 top-5s, and 19 top-10s this season. Both Harvick and Hamlin would be a good wager at Delaware sports lottery this weekend at Kansas.
Below are the top 8 in the NCS playoff standings heading into Kansas Speedway with the average finish based on the last 24 races from 2005-2020 at Kansas.
| Rank | Driver | Races | Poles | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | DNFs | Average Finish | Driver Rating |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 29 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 9.6 | 108.6 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 24 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 14.5 | 90.4 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | 21 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 92.8 |
| 4 | Chase Elliott | 9 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11.6 | 95.2 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 22 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 18.2 | 87.4 |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr | 24 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 13.4 | 100.7 |
| 7 | Alex Bowman | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 19.6 | 69.8 |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | 29 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 15.1 | 88.6 |
If you are waging your bets on the starting position, Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Ryan Newman are the only three drivers who have started all 29 NCS races and lead the series in starts at Kansas Speedway. Brad Keselowski with 21 starts leads all active drivers with the average starting position at 10.333. Followed by Ryan Blaney at 10.909 (11 races), Joey Logano at 11.091 (22 races), Martin Truex Jr. at 11.167 (24 races), and Hamlin at 12.458 (24 races).
Harvick leads the NCS in poles at Kansas at five poles (2013, 2014, 2018, and 2019) and Ryan Blaney is the youngest series Kansas pole winner at 23 years, 2 months, 43 days captured on May 13, 2017. Chase Elliott will start on pole position this weekend at Kansas. The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner points position, the driver’s results from a previous Cup race, the owner’s results from a previous Cup race, and the fastest lap established from a previous Cup race.
If you are placing your wager on the past, Chase Elliott is the youngest series Kansas winner at 22 years, 10 months, 23 days captured on October 21, 2018. Among the active drivers this weekend, Harvick won in 2013, 2016, 2018, Jimmie Johnson in 2008, 2011, 2015, and Hamlin in 2012, 2019, 2020 and they lead the NCS in wins at Kansas Speedway with three victories each.
Based on the starting position, it pays off as far as the winning percentage. The pole position has an average winning percentage of 20.69% with 6 wins.
| Start | Wins | Winning % |
| 1 | 6 | 20.69% |
| 2 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 3 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 4 | 3 | 10.34% |
| 5 | 2 | 6.90% |
| 6 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 7 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 10 | 2 | 6.90% |
| 11 | 2 | 6.90% |
| 12 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 13 | 2 | 6.90% |
| 14 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 19 | 3 | 10.34% |
| 21 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 23 | 1 | 3.45% |
| 25 | 1 | 3.45% |
Driver finishing stats that are sometimes overlooked could be Harvick in 2014, 2015, 2016, and Truex Jr. in 2012, spring 2018 and the Playoff race in 2018 lead the NCS in runner-up finishes at Kansas with three second-place finishes each.
Harvick leads all active drivers in the NCS at Kansas with an average finishing position of a 9.586 and he also leads in the most laps led at Kansas with 864 laps in 29 starts.
