With Harrison Burton stealing a postseason bid last week in Daytona, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to the final race of the regular season on Sunday with only three playoff spots up for grabs at the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500. Darlington Raceway first appeared on the NASCAR schedule back in 1950 and this will be the second of two races this season at the iconic egg-shaped oval. The green flag drops at 6 p.m. ET.
Kyle Larson enters Sunday's race as the +500 favorite (risk $100 to win $500) according to the latest 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 odds. Tyler Reddick (+600), Denny Hamlin (+700) and Ryan Blaney (+750) are next in line in the NASCAR at Darlington odds. Before making any 2024 NASCAR at Darlington predictions, entering any NASCAR DFS lineups on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, or locking in NASCAR props on sites like PrizePicks, Sleeper Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy, be sure to see the latest 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 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 Southern 500 10,000 times. Head to SportsLine to see the complete projected NASCAR at Darlington leaderboard.
Top 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 predictions
For the second 2024 NASCAR at Darlington race, the model is high on Joey Logano, even though he's +2500 in the latest 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 odds. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. At 34, Logano has already put together a Hall of Fame resume, with two NASCAR Cup Series championships and 33 Cup victories to his name.
This season has been a bit of a struggle -- he's 15th in the NASCAR standings -- but he's already locked up a playoff spot thanks to a win in Nashville. Logano won the 2022 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway and he's been top five in the Southern 500 on five occasions (2015, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022).
Another massive shocker: Kyle Larson, the Vegas favorite, barely cracks the top five. There are far better values in the 2024 NASCAR Darlington starting lineup. Larson was the NASCAR Cup Series champion in 2021 after a historic 10-win season, he was the runner-up in 2023 and he's second in the 2024 NASCAR standings.
However, he's finished outside the top 10 in four of his last six races and his 21st-place finish last week at Daytona was his eighth finish of 20th or worse in 2024. Larson was 34th at Darlington in the spring after a crash and despite winning last year's Southern 500, he's been outside the top 10 in four of his last five at the egg-shaped oval. See which other drivers to avoid and the rest of the projected NASCAR leaderboard at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 NASCAR at Darlington picks
The model is also targeting two other drivers with 2024 Cook Out Southern 500 odds of 16-1 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 Darlington NASCAR picks, props, and projected leaderboard over at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500, and which longshots are must-backs for NASCAR prop bets? Check out the latest 2024 NASCAR at Darlington odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full projected 2024 NASCAR at Darlington leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 18 winners, including three already this year.
2024 Cook Out Southern 500 odds, drivers, lineup
See the full NASCAR at Darlington picks at SportsLine.
Kyle Larson +500
Tyler Reddick +600
Denny Hamlin +700
Ryan Blaney +750
Martin Truex Jr. +1000
Brad Keselowski +1000
William Byron +1000
Bubba Wallace +1400
Christopher Bell +1600
Ty Gibbs +1600
Chase Elliott +2000
Kyle Busch +2200
Chris Buescher +2200
Josh Berry +2500
Joey Logano +2500
Ross Chastain +2800
Carson Hocevar +4100
Erik Jones +4100
Chase Briscoe +5000
Alex Bowman +5000
Austin Cindric +6500
Noah Gragson +8000
Austin Dillon +15000
Daniel Suarez +15000
Todd Gilliland +15000
Shane Van Gisbergen +22000
Michael McDowell +22000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +22000
John Hunter Nemechek +25000
Justin Haley +31000
Corey Lajoie +31000
Zane Smith +31000
Harrison Burton +31000
Kaz Grala +50000
Ryan Preece +50000
Timmy Hill +50000
Daniel Hemric +50000
