2025 NASCAR Hollywood Casino 400 Preview & Race Prediction
Updated July 9, 2026
The 2025 Hollywood Casino 400 will take place at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. This is the second race of the round of 12 in this year's NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. A second driver could punch their ticket into the final eight with a win in this race from Kansas City. Before the green flag is waved, continue reading to get my Hollywood Casino 400 prediction.
Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 is the 31st points race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season and the second race in the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Kansas Speedway is unforgiving for those who misread tire wear and balance. Long green-flag runs will separate the strongest teams, while cautions can shuffle the running order dramatically. Because this is a Playoff elimination race, drivers on the bubble must push aggressively, while teams higher in the standings may run a more conservative race to simply move closer to advancing without any catastrophe.
The entry list for this race has 38 drivers, including all the key Playoff contenders. The drivers in positions 9-12 are all within 30 points of the cut line with two races before the next cut is made. That means bonus points and stage strategies will matter more than ever. While favorites like Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin will draw much of the attention, drivers like Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick will be looking to make a move above the cut line.
Kansas is one of the few Playoff tracks that has hosted a postseason race in every era of the playoff format. The fall Kansas winner has gone on to win the championship four times, though that has only happened twice under the current elimination style of the NASCAR Playoffs.
Here is how I break down the contenders for the Hollywood Casino 400:
My pick is Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag again in Kansas. Larson is made for a track like this one and he should eliminate all doubt that he is going to the next round without having to worry about performing well in Charlotte.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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