The NASCAR Cup Series is back (well, sort of) to host the Cook Out Clash exhibition race on Sunday, February 1. That also means my NASCAR race bets are officially back in action.
This year’s race goes down at historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC, where some of racing’s finest will trade paint while we wait for the Super Bowl to kick off.
Last year, one of my favorite Chevy drivers in Chase Elliott took home the "W" from the pole, but I’m not convinced that trend carries over into the 2026 season.
My free betting picks will once again lean on a driver I probably bet way too much on, along with a couple of others I expect to make some noise when the field hits the track for the first time in 2026.
NASCAR prop picks for Cook Out Clash
- Top 3 Finish: Kyle Larson (+150)
- Top 5 Finish: Bubba Wallace (+500)
- Top 5 Finish: Denny Hamlin (+125)
NASCAR Cook Out Clash props and best bets
Top 3 Finish: Kyle Larson (+150 at bet365)
Kyle Larson brings elite short‑track speed and overall form into a format where raw pace and restart aggression tend to rise to the top, and he’s already priced as a top‑tier favorite for the Clash without being prohibitively short.
- Across 2024 short and shorter‑flat tracks, Larson ranked second in total speed rankings, trailing only one driver in the entire Cup field on that profile.
- In 2025 at Bowman Gray, Larson still salvaged 17th despite being involved in three separate mid‑race incidents (laps 102, 115, and 121). If he can keep the car cleaner this year, he should have every chance to run near the front when it counts.
- Books have him in the +800 range to win for 2026 and inside the Top 4 in the outright market, so a Top 3 around +150 effectively prices him below his modeled podium rate given his short‑track speed and Hendrick’s Clash history.
Top 5 Finish: Bubba Wallace (+500 at bet365)
Bubba Wallace profiles as a legitimate longshot with real upside at Bowman Gray after quietly delivering a Top 5 run in last year’s Clash, yet the market is still treating him closer to a mid‑pack piece than the high‑ceiling option he’s shown he can be here.
- In the 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray, Wallace started 14th and drove up to fifth, finishing just 9.039 seconds behind Elliott over 200 laps, proving he can hang with the sport’s elite when the setup is right.
- That performance came in a race with seven cautions and multiple multi‑car incidents, and Wallace had zero listed involvement, highlighting his incident avoidance and short‑track discipline amid chaos.
- With outright odds sitting in the longer double‑digit tier for 2026 (well behind the Elliott/Blaney/Hamlin/Larson group), a +500 Top 5 implies a sub‑20% finish probability, which feels cheap relative to his demonstrated Top 5 result in this exact race and format last year.
Top 5 Finish: Denny Hamlin (+125 at bet365)
Hamlin is one of the most “format‑proof” Clash drivers in the field, and his Bowman Gray notebook plus broader exhibition track record makes a Top 5 at plus money a logical way to buy into his consistency.
- Hamlin finished third in the 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray, ran all 200 laps on the lead lap, and led a combined 28 circuits (laps 97–115 and 117–125) before Elliott asserted control late.
- Historical Clash data shows Hamlin as a multi‑time exhibition winner with one of the best average finishes among active drivers in this event type, and he closed around +400 in last year’s Bowman Gray outright odds behind only Elliott.
- He comes into 2026 again priced just behind the very top tier (Blaney/Elliott/Larson) in outright markets, so a Top 5 at roughly +125 only bakes in a modest drop‑off for a driver who’s already delivered a Top 3 here and routinely lands inside the Top 5 on short tracks.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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