Josh Berry, a week after being bounced from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, nearly played Playoff Spoiler in the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Berry had incredible long-run speed and was able to recover from being spun out by Shane van Gisbergen at the beginning of Stage 2 to finish runner-up to Ryan Blaney.
Now, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, which has played host to some of the best races in the Next Gen car era. Will Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 be yet another? It’s possible as 11 drivers are still seeking to secure a place in the Round of 8 Playoff field, while a hungry slew of other drivers outside the Playoff field are looking for something to hang their hat on before the season ends.
That being said, here are five drivers not battling for a championship who could snag a victory in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Josh Berry
He was on our list last week, and he nearly won the race. We’re going to run it back with Josh Berry and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team this weekend at Kansas Speedway, as Berry has had speed at a variety of tracks this season, including Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another 1.5-mile speedway, where he took his first career NASCAR Cup Series win earlier this year.
In the Spring race at Kansas, just his 12th race with the Wood Brothers Racing team, Berry recorded a sixth-place result, which was not a bad outing by any stretch, and he recorded a top-15 finish at Kansas during his rookie campaign in 2024, driving for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing.
When Berry took the win at Las Vegas earlier in the season, he came off a solid top-five run at Phoenix, a one-mile flat oval the week before. He heads into Kansas this time around with the exact same momentum. He could very well pull it off once again.
Alex Bowman
While he has yet to pick up a victory at Kansas Speedway, Alex Bowman has had a very consistent and successful career at the 1.5-mile facility. In 19 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Kansas, Bowman has racked up four top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. His average finish, 14.2, ranks sixth among active drivers at the track.
Heading into this weekend’s race, Bowman has recorded six consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas Speedway, including a fifth-place finish earlier this year. Bowman nearly picked up a win at Kansas in 2019 as he led 63 laps and finished runner-up to Brad Keselowski in a late-race battle.
Bowman also led 107 laps en route to a fourth-place result at Kansas in Fall 2022.
While he and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team have had a rollercoaster season, don’t be surprised if Bowman finds himself in a position to pull off his first win of the season Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.
Brad Keselowski
Speaking of Brad Keselowski, who defeated Bowman for the win at Kansas Speedway in 2012, he’s another solid choice to score the win this weekend.
While Keselowski and crew chief Jeremy Bullins got their season off to a sluggish start, which is the prime reason they missed the Playoff field this year, the driver and his No. 6 RFK Racing team have really begun to hit their stride in recent months.
Over his last 13 starts, Keselowski has had three podium finishes, including a pair of runner-up finishes, one at Atlanta and another at Bristol Motor Speedway a couple of races ago. Keselowski made a rare error last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which derailed his day and resulted in a 23rd-place finish. But this week, he could atone for the mistake at Loudon.
In addition to the 2019 win at Kansas, Keselowski also won at the 1.5-mile track back in 2011. While he hasn’t registered a top-five finish over his last eight races at the track, Keselowski was running in the second position and appeared to be heading toward the race lead when he suffered a cut tire on Lap 195 of the race at Kansas earlier this year.
Keselowski would be credited with a 37th-place finish that afternoon, but he was very much in contention for the race win. If Keselowski can have anywhere close to that level of speed this time around, expect him to have a chance.
Chris Buescher
Another non-Playoff contender, who has shown the ability to contend for the win at Kansas Speedway, is Chris Buescher, Keselowski’s RFK Racing teammate.
Buescher finished runner-up to Kyle Larson in the closest finish (0.001 seconds) in NASCAR Cup Series history in Spring 2024 at this track. And while it was a heartbreaking end to an evening, where Buescher led 53 laps and was roughly an inch short of the win, this weekend could serve as sweet redemption for the Texas native.
Dating back to his days with JTG Daugherty Racing, Buescher has always run well at Kansas Speedway. The driver racked up a sixth-place finish in 2017 and a 10th-place result in 2019 for the team now known as HYAK Motorsports.
Heading into this weekend, Buescher has had an average finish of 7.0 over his last three starts at Kansas Speedway. If Buescher finds himself in victory lane on Sunday, it would not be the most surprising outcome to the Hollywood Casino 400.
Erik Jones
Last but not least, Erik Jones is a driver who could play Playoff Spoiler on Sunday afternoon in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB as a whole has been one of the most improved NASCAR Cup Series organizations from 2024 to 2025, and they have been knocking on the door of a breakthrough win essentially all season.
While Jones has just three laps led in 17 career starts at Kansas Speedway, the driver of the iconic No. 43 car finished third in the Fall race at Kansas in 2023, driving for LMC. Jones was also competing solidly in the race at Kansas earlier this year, but a late-race crash wiped out the would-be good run.
In his tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing, Jones rolled off a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas Speedway, including a third-place result in 2019. If the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team can unload the No. 43 car off the truck in the ballpark, competitiveness-wise, he could surprise with a fourth career NASCAR Cup Series win.
