Micah Roberts’ Sprint Cup Driver Ratings, Oct. 21
Hollywood Casino 400
Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
11 a.m. today, ESPN (30); race starts at 11:16
Rating Driver Odds Practice 1 Qualified Practice 2 Practice 3
1. Jimmie Johnson 5/1 6th 7th 21st 3rd Two-time winner; track-best 7.9 average finish; using chassis that won at Indy and Dover
2. Greg Biffle 7/1 1st 11th 1st 13th Two-time winner; eighth-place average finish; using new chassis
3. Matt Kenseth 12/1 8th 12th 4th 1st Career-best fourth-place finish in past two starts; using new chassis
4. Kasey Kahne 8/1 5th 1st 3rd 4th Runner-up last fall; chassis has three top-three finishes, including Charlotte win
5. Denny Hamlin 5/1 21st 9th 12th 10th Won April 22 race, first of two wins on 1.5-mile tracks this year; 15 points back in Chase
6. Mark Martin 15/1 14th 2nd 10th 7th 2005 winner; best 10 consecutive lap average in final practice; using Indy chassis
7. Regan Smith 30/1 7th 39th 24th 2nd Driving No. 88 car for injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.; using winning Michigan chassis
8. Martin Truex Jr. 15/1 20th 16th 5th 5th Led four times for race-high 173 laps in April 22 race en route to runner-up finish
9. Clint Bowyer 15/1 12th 3rd 13th 16th Emporia, Kan., native with a career-best runner-up in 2007; 28 points behind in Chase
10. Brad Keselowski 8/1 19th 25th 16th 6th 2011 winner; two wins on 1.5-mile tracks this season; using winning Chicago chassis
Note: Kansas Speedway recently was resurfaced, giving the 1.5-track a progressive banking that makes it run similar to Homestead. Some drivers compared it to Michigan.
Odds courtesy of LVH.
Micah Roberts, a former sports book director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights on the race, go to The Linemakers on SportingNews.com or follow on Twitter: MicahRoberts7.
