NASCAR Survivor Pool: NASCAR.com's 36 for 36 picks for Kansas

NASCAR.com's 36 for 36 continues at Kansas Speedway.

With 36 races and 36 full-time charter cars, our players choose one car per race, but there is a simple twist: once they make their choice, they cannot choose that car again for the remainder of the 36-race season. Yes, that means each car is selected exactly once… a survival pool by another name.

Follow each week as our Picker Panel – Jayski's Dustin Albino, along with NASCAR.com's Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson – embarks on a season-long journey to think like strategists and demonstrate their picking prowess.

We will also feature a fourth 36 for 36 “Community” pick each week, decided by fan voting in the r/NASCAR subreddit. Can the collective vote topple our trio of full-time workers?

Current status:

rank	Surname	Points	Behind
T-1	Steve Luvender	284	—
T-1	Dustin Albino	284	—
3	Cameron Richardson	235	-49
4	r/NASCAR community	219	-65

Race 12 of 36: Kansas

The race last week at Dover has tightened the race for the top spot among our pickers. Steve Luvender and Cameron Richardson singled out Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who crashed the race and only scored five points. This allowed Dustin Albino to capitalize greatly – his favorite Martin Truex Jr. collected 51 points after a third place finish, setting himself up for a tie at the top of the leaderboard after eleven races. The r/NASCAR community came away with a solid performance of 25 points as Ross Chastain finished 12th.

Kansas is the next stop for our selection committee, and it may be unpredictable. A total of 20 warnings were issued between two races at the track last year, and seven different drivers have won the last seven races.

Jayskis Dustin Albino: No. 3, Austin Dillon

Dustin's choice last week: No. 19, Martin Truex Jr.
Points earned last week: 51 (third place)
Total points for the season: 284 (first place, tie)

Dustin: Thank you, Martin Truex Jr. After a great day with 51 points in Dover, I am now tied for the lead. Three weeks ago this guy was in the basement. But after a series of good performances, we opened up a 68-point lead between Texas and Dover. We're riding with another Bass Pro Shops driver – although he's sponsored by Bioethanol this weekend – in Kansas in Austin Dillon. The first third of the 2024 season was disastrous for the No. 3 team, but the series is coming off one of its better stretches in recent years. Before finishing 33rd at Kansas last fall, Dillon posted six straight top-15 finishes, including three 10th-place finishes. It's time for Team #3 to right the ship.

Steve Luvender of NASCAR.com: No. 42, John Hunter Nemechek

Steve's pick last week: #47, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Points earned last week: 5 (35th place)
Total points for the season: 284 (first place, tie)

Steve: What a disaster. A top-10 run by my Dover pick Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended with a crash and a dismal five-point finish last weekend, and now Dustin is tied for the lead with me. On to Kansas. I'm taking a chance on John Hunter Nemechek, who I think is an overlooked pick. A quiet Cup Series season so far shouldn't make you forget that JHN won twice in the Xfinity Series at Kansas – including last year – and captured the Craftsman Truck Series racing trophy in 2022. It is not for nothing that Nemechek also achieved respectable top results. 20 finishes in the two races in the Sunflower State during his rookie Cup season for Front Row Motorsports in 2020. His father Joe won at Kansas in 2004, so I'd say let's keep that family tradition.

NASCAR.com's Cameron Richardson: No. 11, Denny Hamlin

Cameron's pick last week: #47, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Points earned last week: 5 (35th place)
Total points for the season: 219 (fourth place)

Cameron: Two bad finishes in a row so it's really time for me to get back on track. I'm picking Dover winner Hamlin for Kansas. Without a doubt, the first half of the season has been dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, as Hamlin and William Byron lead the Cup Series with three wins each. The No. 11 team has also posted a ridiculous 2.3 average in four Next Gen races at Kansas Speedway, including a win in this race last spring. Either I reach an important points day in a few days, or I'm just unlucky for these drivers.

r/NASCAR Community: #23, Bubba Wallace

r/NASCAR's pick last week: No. 1, Ross Chastain
Points earned last week: 25 (12th place)
Total points for the season: 235 (third place)

The r/NASCAR community has selected 2022 Kansas winner Bubba Wallace for this weekend.

What Redditors said in the Voting thread:

u/PrimalCookie: “Kansas is 23XI's playground, 3 wins in 4 NextGen races. I would rather take Bubba this week and save Reddick for a road course (or even the other race in Kansas), but either would be a good choice here.”

u/Dont_Hate_the_8: “We have to select a 23XI car this week. I say Bubba because Reddick is a good choice for road courses too.”

u/Joey_Logano: “23XI has been super fast here since 2022.”

u/ChaseTheFalcon: “Definitely the right choice”

Check back next week to see how our pickers fared as the season-long 36-for-36 journey continues.

And if you feel a competitive urge that goes beyond carefully managing your problem FantasyLive Lineup every week, feel free to save or Print your own 36 for 36 Sheet and see if you can beat our pickers and the Reddit community!