After a two-week break, the NASCAR Cup Series will return on Sunday with the 2024 Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. The race begins at 6 p.m. ET and will finish under the lights after 300 laps around the iconic 0.75-mile oval. It's one of the wider short tracks on the NASCAR schedule and the potential for passing often leads to plenty of excitement, as we saw this spring when Denny Hamlin bested Joey Logano by .269 seconds in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond. Hamlin passed teammate Martin Truex Jr. with seven laps to go for the win and is a 4-1 co-favorite with Christopher Bell in the 2024 Cook Out 400 odds. Hamlin will be on the pole.
Meanwhile, Truex is 11-2 in the 2024 NASCAR at Richmond odds after leading 228 laps and finishing fourth in the spring. Before making any 2024 NASCAR at Richmond predictions, entering any NASCAR DFS lineups on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, or locking in NASCAR prop picks on sites like PrizePicks, Sleeper Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy, be sure tosee the latest 2024 Cook Out 400 picks from SportsLine's proven projection model.
Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction model simulates every race 10,000 times, taking into account factors such as track history and recent results.
It called its first winner of the 2024 season with Kyle Larson in Las Vegas for a 21-5 payout and predicted Denny Hamlin's wins in Bristol at 5-1 and Richmond at 17-4. It also impressively nailed five of Larson's wins during his historic season in 2021. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 18 winners since 2021, including nine last year and three in the first seven races this season. Anyone who followed its lead on those NASCAR picks saw huge returns.
Now, the model simulated the 2024 Cook Out 400 10,000 times. Head to SportsLine to see the complete projected NASCAR at Richmond leaderboard.
Top 2024 Cook Out 400 predictions
For the second 2024 NASCAR at Richmond race, the model is high on William Byron, even though he's a 16-1 longshot in the latest 2024 Cook Out 400 odds. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. Byron has gone from iRacer to one of the biggest stars in the sport in a little over a decade, and his nine wins over the last two seasons are the most of any driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Byron has won three times in 2024 and enters the week sitting sixth in the NASCAR standings. Byron started 13th but finished seventh at Richmond in the 2024 Toyota Owners 400 this spring and has shown steady improvement at "America's Premier Short Track," leading at least 100 laps in the spring races in 2022 and 2023 as well.
Another massive shocker: Christopher Bell, one of the Vegas co-favorites at 4-1, barely cracks the top five. There are far better values in the 2024 NASCAR Richmond starting lineup. Bell is coming off back-to-back seasons where he's made the season finale with a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series championship and he's piled up three wins already this season.
However, he's been a bit inconsistent and enters the weekend sitting eighth in the NASCAR standings. He's finished top-six in six of his last seven races at Richmond but failed to make it to victory lane and he finished outside the top 10 in three of his last four races before the break.See which other drivers to avoid and the rest of the projected NASCAR leaderboard at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 NASCAR at Richmond picks
The model is also targeting three other drivers with 2024 Cook Out 400 odds of 14-1 or longer to make a serious run at the checkered flag. Anyone who backs these drivers could hit it big. You can see all of the model's Richmond NASCAR picks over at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2024 Cook Out 400, and which longshots are must-backs? Check out the latest 2024 NASCAR at Richmond odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full projected 2024 NASCAR at Richmond leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 18 winners, including three already this year.
2024 Cook Out 400 odds, drivers, lineup
See the full NASCAR at Richmond picks at SportsLine.
Denny Hamlin 4-1
Christopher Bell 4-1
Martin Truex Jr. 11-2
Kyle Larson 13-2
Joey Logano 10-1
Ryan Blaney 12-1
Chase Elliott 14-1
Chris Buescher 16-1
William Byron 16-1
Brad Keselowski 18-1
Tyler Reddick 18-1
Ty Gibbs 20-1
Josh Berry 25-1
Bubba Wallace 35-1
Ross Chastain 35-1
Alex Bowman 40-1
Kyle Busch 40-1
Austin Dillon 100-1
Todd Gilliland 100-1
Austin Cindric 100-1
Chase Briscoe 125-1
Justin Haley 150-1
Daniel Suarez 150-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 150-1
Michael McDowell 150-1
Noah Gragson 200-1
Erik Jones 200-1
Carson Hocevar 200-1
Ryan Preece 250-1
John Hunter Nemechek 300-1
Riley Herbst 500-1
Zane Smith 500-1
Corey Lajoie 500-1
Parker Retzlaff 750-1
Harrison Burton 1500-1
Ty Dillon 2500-1
Daniel Hemric 2500-1
