It's playoff time!
NASCAR's postseason is upon us, kicking off with the Southern Cookout 500 this weekend at Darlington Raceway. Action is sure to be, ahem, fast and furious.
Get the inside track on your NASCAR betting with Auto Racing Advisor preview and picks for the 2021 Cook Out Southern 500, which gets underway at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 5.
Cook Out Southern 500 favorites
Kevin Harvick (+1,000)
He won NASCAR’s first race back during the pandemic at Darlington on May 17, 2020 and was third in the second race. He then won the Southern 500 for 2 wins in 3 Darlington starts a year ago. He also had nine consecutive Top-10 finishes on the track, including eight of them inside of the Top 5 before this past May’s race. He led 63 total laps here in 16 starts at Darlington with RCR. He’s already led 729 in 11 starts with SHR. Is this his time to get going on the season?
Martin Truex Jr. (+500)
He has swept the last four stages in Darlington, including leading 248 laps in his win on Mothers Day weekend. He led 196 laps in this race last year and nearly won again.
Chase Elliott (+850)
Elliott was fourth in the first race at Darlington last year, and if not for being wrecked by Kyle Busch on May 20, he likely would have won. He then dominated in leading 114 laps during the Southern 500 but crashed while battling with Martin Truex Jr. for the win with 15 to go.
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Cook Out Southern 500 long-shot picks
William Byron (+1,200)
He was fifth in last year’s Southern 500 and fourth back in May.
Alex Bowman (+2,000)
Worth a risk. He’s already a winner this season and had two Top-6 finishes in three Darlington starts last year.
Kurt Busch (+3,500)
Busch has five Top-8 finishes in his last seven Darlington starts. He’s a veteran needing a good finish, and Darlington could be the spot.
Cook Out Southern 500 matchup pick
Chase Eliott (-115) vs. Kevin Harvick (-105)
It may sound sacrilegious to go against Kevin Harvick in Darlington, but he's just struggling this season and has one finish better than 4th all year.
Meanwhile, Elliott should have won the second race at Darlington last year before being crashed by Kyle Busch while running second inside of 20 to go. For this race in 2020, he was leading with 14 to go and crashed with Martin Truex Jr. while battling for the lead. Hendrick has a leg up on Stewart-Haas Racing this weekend, so go with the safe pick.
PREDICTION: Elliott (-115)
Cook Out Southern 500 fades
Christopher Bell (+3,000)
For some reason, he’s struggled on this track. He was 24th, 11th, 34th and 14th respectively in four tries.
Brad Keselowski (+1,800)
He enters the weekend on a cold streak with just two of his last 15 races being in the Top 5. He’s also only had five Top 10s in his last 15 starts on the year too. Furthermore, Keselowski was 24th back in May and 11th in this race last year.
Ryan Blaney (+2,000)
Not a strong suit for him. Blaney was eighth back in May, however, that is his only Top 10 finish in nine Darlington starts.
Cook Out Southern 500 preview
The opening race of the playoffs is here. Sunday starts a 10-week stretch which ends at Phoenix in November to crown a champion. Darlington is a spot that’s not just a race everyone wants to win, but one that all 16 playoff drivers want to start on the right footing too.
However, it’s also the third time since 2004 that we’ll race on the Lady in Black twice in the same season. Two of those came last year. But, here we are for the annual Southern 500 in a race that should be a barn-burner to win.
Kevin Harvick won 2 of the 3 Darlington races last year. Denny Hamlin won the other. Harvick has led 729 laps in 11 Darlington starts with SHR but had only 63 laps led in his career on the Lady in Black prior. He and Hamlin are both winless this year.
Hamlin has three Top 5s in his last four Darlington tries and if not for an issue on his final pit stop in the Southern 500, it would be 4 straight.
Martin Truex Jr. has to be the favorites despite backpedaling into the postseason. He’s scored just two Top-5 finishes in his last 10 starts on the season but also dominated in each of the last two races at Darlington too.
Kyle Busch was third in May and has seven Top-5 finishes in the 12 races since the Coca-Cola 600.
But, you also can’t overlook Hendrick Motorsports either.
Alex Bowman was sixth in last year’s Southern 500 and has two Top 6s in his last four tries. William Byron was fifth last year in the Southern 500 and fourth in May while Kyle Larson with Chip Ganassi Racing had two straight Top-3 results and three in his last four overall. He was runner-up in May.
Then, you have Chase Elliott, who should have won the second Darlington race last May as well as the Southern 500 too.
Cook Out Southern 500 key stat
The eventual race winner during the stage era at Darlington has finished in the Top 5 in the second stage in six of the seven races.
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