Fantasy Fastlane: No place like home for Kyle Larson at Kansas

Editor’s Note: Keep tabs on this page for lineup advice following qualifying, including changes you should consider.

To steal a line from WWE Superstar and 2020 Daytona 500 honorary pace car driver Sheamus, Kansas Speedway has delivered banger after banger after banger in recent seasons. It’s noteworthy that Toyota had the race locked up in the fall until it went haywire at the end. Last spring’s race is also the site of reigning champion Kyle Larson’s last victory, leading 221 laps, the most laps led by any driver in a 400-mile race on a 1.5-mile track in Cup history.

Returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can come play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.

RELATED: NASCAR Fantasy Live hub | Play 36 for 36

MUST START

Driver: Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 7
Comment: Larson sits atop the food chain in the famed barbecue city. He has nine top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 22 Kansas starts, and he is the only repeat winner (three times) in the last 11 visits to the Sunflower State. Since joining HMS in 2021, he’s led 761 laps at Kansas, more than double the next closest driver (Denny Hamlin, 337).

Driver: Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Selections remaining: 6
Comment: While Larson has had recent Kansas success, it could be argued that Hamlin is the gold standard; he has four victories (a track record) and a 12.6 average finish through 35 starts there. In the last nine Kansas events, the No. 11 Toyota has seven top-five and eight top-10 finishes, with the lone outlier being last spring when the car had a mechanical failure.

Driver: Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 8
Comment: It was Elliott who capitalized on Toyota’s mishap in the fall, scoring his second victory at Kansas. His 9.9 average finish at Kansas is the best all-time of drivers who have made at least six starts. His 13 top 10s at Kansas rank second among his personal best at any venue (15 at Martinsville Speedway).

Chase Elliott celebrates in Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway.

DRIVERS TO AVOID

Driver: Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Selections remaining: 9
Comment: Gibbs enters Kansas on a career heater, with six consecutive top-10 finishes, highlighted by his first Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kansas, however, is among his worst tracks on the schedule, with finishes of 25th or worse in five of seven attempts.

Driver: Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Selections remaining: 7
Comment: Logano’s sheer pace in recent years at intermediate tracks remains a mystery. Statistically, Kansas is his worst 1.5-mile venue, with an average finish of 16.7. Take the good with the bad, however, as he has also reached Victory Lane on three occasions.

SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK

Driver: Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: After an adverse start to the 2026 season, which includes missing four races due to vertigo, Kansas could be the calling card for Bowman. The No. 48 team has six top-10 finishes in the last seven races. He holds a 9.75 average finish in 16 Kansas starts with Hendrick.

Driver: Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Preece is well known for his short-track prowess, but as it turns out, he’s adapted well to intermediate tracks with RFK. He has six top-10 finishes in the last nine visits to 1.5-mile venues and scored stage points in both stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the most recent 1.5-mile track.

Alex Bowman walks before a NASCAR Cup Series race.

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Ty Gibbs vs. Bubba Wallace
Pick: Wallace
Comment: Wallace was in position to score his second Kansas victory in the fall until he was nudged out of the way by Hamlin on the final lap. This is arguably Gibbs’ worst track on the schedule, though it’s been a strong point for Toyota overall. It’s time for Wallace to rediscover some of that early-season magic.

Tyler Reddick vs. Kyle Larson
Pick: Larson
Comment: Larson’s statistics speak for themselves at Kansas, but Reddick is no slouch here. He has one Kansas win with 23XI (2023), and it’s the organization’s most successful venue with three victories. But an average finish of 16.9 isn’t that appealing when going up against the Kansas master.

Ross Chastain vs. Chase Elliott
Pick: Elliott
Comment: Chastain could be a sneaky pick for this weekend, having won at Kansas in 2024. But the lack of speed displayed by the No. 1 team through eight races puts a pause on that. Meanwhile, Elliott flies under the radar at Kansas, and when the pay window opens, he’s in the picture.

William Byron vs. Ryan Blaney
Pick: Byron
Comment: It’s hard to argue that any driver is faster on a weekly basis than Blaney. But Team Penske’s intermediate program has been shaky as the No. 12 car was a non-factor at Las Vegas. Byron leads the league with a 9.59 average finish at 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car.

MY LINEUP

Starting five: Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe.
Garage pick: Bubba Wallace.

36 FOR 36

Pick: Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet
Comment: Go big or go home. Larson has led at least 64 laps in six of his 10 Kansas races with Hendrick, resulting in three victories. He has won the spring Kansas race each of the last two seasons by the slimmest of margins — literally the closest finish in NASCAR history — and routing the field. This weekend, it falls somewhere in the middle.

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