One down, nine to go.
Following last weekend's NASCAR Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, the Cup Series returns to Kansas Speedway for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET).
Denny Hamlin won at Kansas back in May in what was a very exciting event, and Sunday's race will hopefully be no different.
Because tire falloff is a factor at Kansas, I'm opting to wait until practice and qualifying before getting too heavy on the Hollywood Casino 400.
However, there's one bet I'm locking in now based on the latest NASCAR odds for Kansas.
NASCAR Pick for Kansas
*NASCAR odds as of Wednesday morning
To start, Alex Bowman was very impressive at Kansas last year, which is important, as that was the first Cup Series season run in the Next Gen car.
In those two events, the Hendrick Motorsports driver scored finishes of ninth and fourth, had the second-best average running position and owned the second-best driver rating.
Bowman has also shown speed on this tire combination this season.
While he didn't race at Kansas this spring while recovering from a fractured back suffered in a sprint car accident, Bowman posted the second-best average finish, the third-best average running position and the fourth-best driver rating across the races run at Auto Club and Las Vegas, which used the same time combo that will be employed Sunday at Kansas.
In fact, Bowman scored top 10s, with finishes of eighth and third, to be exact, in those two races.
Add that to Bowman's performance and top-10 finishes in both Kansas races last season, and there's enough reason to like the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet to manage that feat once again at +160 NASCAR odds.
The Bet: Bowman (+160) for a Top-10 Finish Via bet365
