Top South Point 400 Fantasy Live Picks

Picks for your Fantasy Live and Head-to-Head for the Kansas Playoff race.

Larson put domination at the Charlotte Roval even with road course aces AJ Allmendinger and Shane Van Gisbergen. To open up the round of eight, we head to a city where gambling is in their blood. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a one-and-a-half mile, rough, banked, and multi-grove oval. Vegas does not tend to see too much chaos but more tire failures. With few cautions, this leads to longer green flag runs.

Strategy

Uses

With four races left, it's pretty safe to use anyone as long as you have two or more uses. I would only save your driver if you had only one use remaining. Blaney, Byron, Chase, and Logano are the only drivers I would recommend saving.

Picks

Using practice data again could help, but looking more into the Kansas fall race we had a few weeks ago could also help. Kansas is a similar track the last time we ran this package. Using both datasets can help narrow down your picks. Pit crew and momentum are also good stats to look into.

Drivers

Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs

Both eliminated Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota still have speed, as both qualified inside the top twelve. Ty's slight falloff, in the long run, is a bit concerning, but he managed to qualify eight and should figure it out in the race. Ty also finished well at Kansas and the Spring Vegas race with a pair of tens. Gibbs can help save other top driver’s uses as well as MTJ. Truex also finished well in the spring Vegas race and had a stunning Kansas fall race where he finished third. Truex seems to be a bit faster in the car than Gibbs, but it barely missed out on round two of qualifying. Marty’s 12th-place starting spot does not worry me, and I think you can fire up Truex as well.

Ross Chastain

The Fall Kansas winner again looks to have speed, as he posted the top three times in practice and backed it up with a seventh-place qualifying spot. Chastain has been known to have good cars on intermediate tracks, especially at Vegas, and can help save other top drivers if they run thin on use.

Sleepers

RFK has had stellar intermediate performances, with Buescher finishing second at Kansas Spring and Brad finishing second at the Coke-Cola 600. However, their pace was not there recently, and Buescher methodically finished eleventh as his average running position was 17.36, while Brad was only a bit better at 15.56. Both stand out on the speed charts, with Buescher having better times than the top ten. Brad is coming off of a finish of fourth in last year's fall race after starting 21st, but I am not too sure he can replicate it again or finish better. Bubba and Suarez have had some good runs at Vegas but have also found trouble at Vegas, as both have wrecked at least once. Bubba showed better top-fifteen speed than Suarez and could be a factor for the top ten. The two true sleepers I will mention are hometown kid Noah Gragson and Spire Motorsports. Spire picked up their pace, with Zane finishing 10th in Kansas and Carson finishing well in the top 20. Both cars looked to have speed again and could keep track of position to finish well. In the spring race, Noah shocked everyone by finishing sixth and having some massive speed at the end.

Lineup

Tier List

Head-to-Head Matchups

Kyle Larson vs Christopher Bell

I think both should be in your lineup, as both have incredible speed and results on the intermediate track. As long as you have three or more uses, though. Both had stellar times in practice and should finish at the top ten pace. For this matchup, it looks again like Larson has a faster car in the long run, and I will take that over Bell’s speed. Larson has also beaten Bell on the last three trips to Vegas.

Denny Hamlin vs William Byron

William Byron has a stat of collecting the most points on intermediates. However, Hamlin's favorite track type is intermediate. The two have split this matchup in the last four races. Hamlin seems to have a faster car than Byron this time than in the previous Spring or Fall Kansas race. I will take Hamlin’s in this matchup, as I think Byron could struggle today. Both can be in your matchup, but I would limit the Byron picks, as his practice times were not that competitive.

Tyler Reddick vs Ryan Blaney

Blaney crashed in practice, and who knows how good the backup car is. While Reddick was disappointing at Fall Kansas, this time around, he looks unstoppable and should beat Blaney in this matchup. If you think somehow Reddick struggles again, then pick Blaney.

Chase Elliott vs Joey Logano

Chase and Joey are not my favorite plays this week; they are the ones to avoid. Joey has beaten Chase in almost all but one of the next-gen Vegas races. If you think that trend continues, then play Joey. I will play chase as he looks to have faster speed than Joey from his practice times, and Joey should fall like a rock rather than climb from tenth.