NASCAR Cook Out 400 Odds, Predictions & Race Preview
The checkered flag is about to drop on the regular season with only two races remaining before the start of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The first of those two races is on Saturday, August 16 with the running of the Cook Out 400 from Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. The field of drivers returns to an oval track meaning the usual suspects are at the top of the NASCAR odds betting board with three-time winner Denny Hamlin the outright favorite on the opening odds. He’s followed by Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Joey Logano, who all boast odds shorter than 10/1. After a stretch of Sunday afternoon starts, the Cook Out 400 takes its traditional spot on Saturday night with the green flag waving at 7:30 p.m. ET. The race will air on USA Network.
NASCAR Cook Out 400 Preview
The return to an oval track brings a major shift in the betting odds. A prohibitive favorite last week at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen didn’t disappoint winning his fourth race of the year continuing his dominance on street courses. While he knows how to turn left, SVG has difficulty doing it for an entire race. In terms of the season-long standings Byron was a big winner last week solidifying his position as the overall NASCAR Cup Series leader. Byron finished fourth at The Glen increasing his lead over Chase Elliott, Hamlin and Larson, who all placed outside the top 20. With three career victories in this race and five total at Richmond Hamlin leads a squad of six former race winners that includes Larson, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and defending champ Austin Dillon. Dillon surprised everyone last year winning in extra laps to end a 68-race winless drought.
Cook Out 400 Betting Odds
Denny Hamlin +403
Christopher Bell +452
Kyle Larson +764
William Byron +830
Joey Logano +931
Ryan Blaney +1098
Chase Briscoe +1611
Chase Elliott +1796
Brad Keselowski +1973
Chris Buescher +2036
Ross Chastain +2240
Kyle Busch +2524
Tyler Reddick +2545
Josh Berry +3320
Bubba Wallace +3327
TY Gibbs +3503
Carson Hocevar +3564
Austin Dillon +3564
All other drivers +4000 or higher
NASCAR Cook Out 400 Top Contenders
Denny Hamlin +403
The odds are short but given Hamlin’s success on short tracks and ovals there’s a good reason why he’s the betting favorite. First of all he has more than 35 career twirls around the Richmond track with nearly half of them finishing with Hamlin on the podium. Of his 16 finishes among the top 3 five of them put him in the winner’s circle. And he’s been overly successful in his most recent starts. He won the Toyota Owners 400 on this course last March and finished second to Dillon in this race a few months later. In his last eight starts at Richmond Hamlin has two wins, and four runners-up. It’s hard to ignore those stats.
Christopher Bell +452
Bell cooled off after a hot start to the season that saw him win three consecutive races in late February-early March. He returned to form last week finishing second at Watkins Glen and should be oozing confidence on a track that’s yielded him seven finishes among the top 6 in nine career starts. He also has a chip on his shoulder after faltering in the late stages of last year’s race. Bell won Stage 1 was second in Stage 2 and led for 122 laps yet he finished sixth. That should be enough inspiration.
Chase Elliott +1796
He’s second in the NCS points race but has just one win this season. There’s nothing that screams Elliott has a chance to win this week, but he finishes races and has had a decent career so far at Richmond. He’s been able to claim Stage points in 11 of his last 13 starts, finishing among the top 10 in eight of those races. Consistency has been his key with the ability to breakthrough every now and then. This could be one of those times.
Kyle Busch +2524
One of NASCAR’s top drivers for years, Busch finds himself mired in an 81-race winless drought and he appears to be slowly drifting into the sunset of a brilliant career. If there’s one track that could rejuvenate Busch it’s Richmond. The success Busch has had here is unmatched with six wins and 19 top 5s in his career. Short tracks have been his specialty and this could be his last hurrah.
NASCAR Cook Out 400 Predictions
Hamlin eats up this course and he’s chomping at the bit following another tragic road course finish last week at The Glen. I like Denny’s chances, but I’m also bullish on Busch with his past success on short tracks and at Richmond. He won four straight Toyota Owners 400 races on this track and had the second most titles in the history of that race with five. There are other ways to wager on NASCAR so check out this betting guide for a more detailed description.
