Hollywood Casino 400 Odds, Predictions & Picks: Is a Kansas Sweep in the Cards for Hamlin?

Last week, Kyle Larson cemented his place in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a win in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington. Today, another driver will look to join Larson as a certainty for the Round of 12, as a weekend at Kansas Speedway wraps up with the Hollywood Casino 400 (3:00 pm ET, USA).

But who will it be? For the second straight week, Christopher Bell is on pole, and as one of the drivers most under threat of playoff elimination, a trip to Victory Lane would make next Saturday’s race at Bristol a stress-free stroll for the #20.

NASCAR Cup Series Standings

• 1. William Byron – 2075 points
• 2. Kyle Larson – 2074 (Cook Out Southern 500 winner)
• 3. Tyler Reddick – 2060
• 4. Chris Buescher – 2057
• 5. Denny Hamlin – 2055
• 6. Martin Truex Jr. – 2055
• 7. Kyle Busch – 2050
• 8. Brad Keselowski – 2048
• 9. Ryan Blaney – 2046
• 10. Ross Chastain – 2043
• 11. Joey Logano – 2033
• 12. Christopher Bell – 2031
• 13. Bubba Wallace – 2030
• 14. Kevin Harvick – 2029
• 15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 2027
• 16. Michael McDowell – 2012

The same can be said for last year’s Hollywood Casino 400 winner Bubba Wallace, as well as Michael McDowell. Wallace and McDowell are currently on the outside looking in for the Round of 12 but will start today’s race in the front five rows.

Odds to Win the 2023 Hollywood Casino 400

Odds are via BetOnline.

• Kyle Larson +450
• Martin Truex Jr. +450
• Denny Hamlin +550
• Tyler Reddick +700
• William Byron +700
• Christopher Bell +750
• Bubba Wallace +1200
• Chase Elliott +1400
• Ross Chastain +1600
• Kyle Busch +1800
• Brad Keselowski +2500
• Joey Logano +2500
• Chris Buescher +2500
• Kevin Harvick +2800
• Ryan Blaney +3300
• Ty Gibbs +4000
• Daniel Suarez +5000
• Alex Bowman +5000

Hollywood Casino 400 Predictions & Picks

In May, Denny Hamlin claimed his fourth NASCAR Cup Series win at Kansas Speedway by taking the checkered flag in the AdventHealth 400.

No one has swept the two Kansas races in a season since Martin Truex Jr. did in 2017 on the way to capturing the Cup Series championship.

Hamlin will start 14th in the Hollywood Casino 400, but neither of the past two race winners didn’t start at the front of the field. Chris Buescher started 11th at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, while Larson started 18th last week at Darlington.

In his last four starts at Kansas, Hamlin has finished first, second, fifth, and fourth. That level of success makes +120 odds (at BetUS) for him to finish in the top five far too good to pass on.

Hamlin must have passed along some Kansas tips to Wallace, his driver for 23XI Racing. Prior to joining Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s team in 2021, Wallace had finished no better than 18th in his first six Kansas starts in the Cup Series.

But along with his Hollywood Casino 400 win last year, he finished fourth in this year’s AdventHealth 400 and scored a tenth-place finish in the same race last year.

Wallace qualified tenth for today’s race, and while such starting positions have not occurred frequently for him this season, they have typically translated into positive race results.

When he has started in the front five rows this season, Wallace has an average finishing position of 9.5. In last year’s Hollywood Casino 400, Wallace started sixth. If he moves up five places like he did last year, he’ll land in the top five. At BetUS, he is +220 to do so, and I really like the value there.

Toyotas have dominated the two Kansas events in recent years, winning six of the last eight races. The only two non-Toyota drivers to win in that period are Logano and Larson, who won the Hollywood Casino 400 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

With three Toyotas starting in the front three rows–Bell, Truex (third), and Reddick (fifth)–and Hamlin and Wallace being the last two winners at Kansas, you have to like the chances that a Toyota will end up in Victory Lane, which comes in at -110 at both BetUS and Bovada.

In other non-winner picks, I like Buescher (+110 at BetUS) and Logano (+125 at BetUS) to finish in the top ten.

Buescher, who will start 13th, has finished third, first, seventh, 11th, first, and first in his last six races. Logano, who will start 11th, finished sixth in the May race, and the defending Cup Series champion is in a position of need.

Who is my pick to take the win at the Hollywood Casino 400? I’m riding with Toyota and their recent dominance at Kansas Speedway.

At Darlington, Hamlin started on pole, won the first two stages, and led 177 laps of the 367-lap race. But he fell out of the running after making an unscheduled pit stop under green with fewer than 100 laps remaining, and he wound up finishing 23rd.

Hamlin feels like a safe bet for the Round of 12 at this point, but he would no doubt love to make sure of it with his second Hollywood Casino 400 win, especially after a frustrating finish at Darlington.

Where to Bet on the NASCAR Cup Series

Many of the top sports betting sites offer a variety of NASCAR betting odds. Throughout the season, you can bet on races like the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and others.

Along with being able to bet on the winner of each Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and/or Truck Series race, sportsbooks like Bovada and BetUS offer finishing position odds (top 3, top 5, and/or top 10).

Also, odds on who will finish at the top of the championship standings are available at many reputable sportsbooks.

In addition to BetOnline, where the Hollywood Casino 400 odds in this article are from, here are some of the sites that we recommend if you are interested in NASCAR betting:

• BetUS
• Bovada
• Bookmaker
• MyBookie
• Sportsbetting.ag

If you don’t have an account at a book on this list, check out our reviews to help you determine if it is worth your interest and your betting funds.