Cook Out 400 Betting Preview
28 July 2023
Regardless of how fans feel about Denny Hamlin, he gets the job done more often than not.
Hamlin became the winningest driver at Pocono by winning the Highpoint.com 400, his fifth career win at the track, with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in second and Cup Series Championship leader Martin Truex Jr. in third.
Fortunately for Team Hamlin, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Richmond Raceway - a.k.a. America’s Premier Short Track - for its second race this season.
With a plethora of data available, the Dunkel Index goes inside the data to find the best betting options for the Cook Out 400 from Richmond, Virginia, on Sunday, July 30th.
Two Kyles and the Chevrolets
Among the Chevrolet contenders, two Kyles with pretty excellent histories at Richmond are among our betting favorites.
Kyle Larson
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson (274.486) won the Cup Series Spring race at Richmond, one of two race wins on the season. Larson has ten top-ten finishes this season, including five top-ten finishes in the last seven races.
Larson has two top-five and three top-ten finishes in his last five races at Richmond and won this race in 2017.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch (273.546) won the Richmond Summer Race in 2018 and has five top-five finishes in the last six races at Richmond.
Despite back-to-back sub-20th place finishes, Busch is usually a threat to win or finish in the top ten, having three race wins and twelve top-ten finishes this season.
William Byron
William Byron (271.895) has led 239 laps in the last six races at Richmond but only has one top-five and two top-ten finishes to show for it. However, Byron’s form in 2023 might be timed right for him to win at Strawberry Hill.
Byron has four race wins and eleven top-ten finishes this season.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Trio and the Toyotas
Toyota has won three of the last five Spring races at Richmond and has three drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing always among the favorites to win.
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin (271.089) has won three times in the Cup Series Summer trip to Richmond (2009, 2010, 2016) and has one race win and four top-five finishes in the last six races at Richmond. Hamlin’s success at Richmond has him poised to make it back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Hamlin has two race wins and nine top-ten finishes this season.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr.’s (269.993) third-place finish in Pocono was his fourth top-three finish in the last six races - two of which were race wins - and his sixth top-five finish in the last eight races. Having controlled New Hampshire, Truex Jr. has three race wins and eleven top-ten finishes this season.
However, it’s more than his season and current lead atop the Cup Series Standings that makes Truex Jr. a contender this weekend; it’s his record at Richmond.
Truex Jr. won the Summer race at Richmond in 2019 and 2021. In the last six Cup Series races at Richmond, Truex Jr. has one race win, four top-five, and five top-ten finishes, with his only finish outside the top-ten being at the 2023 Spring race in Richmond, where he finished eleventh.
Christopher Bell
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell (269.775) finished sixth at Pocono, his first top-ten finish in four races and eleventh top-ten finish this season.
Bell finished fourth at the Spring Race, one of four top-five and five top-ten finishes in the last six races at Richmond.
The Dunkel Index’s Pick to Win the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400
The Dunkel Index is taking Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell (269.775) to win the Cook Out 400.
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All Media on this page by Associated Press.
