2026 Cook Out 400 predictions, odds, time: NASCAR at Richmond picks, best bets from proven model

The NASCAR Cup Series will hold its first Saturday race of the year as the 2026 Cook Out 400 takes place from Richmond Raceway. The green flag drops at 7 p.m. ET as the NASCAR Richmond 2026 winner will be declared under the lights. Austin Dillon has been the victor each of the last two years as he looks to join Richard Petty, who won five in a row, as the only drivers with at least three straight checkered flags. However, Denny Hamlin is the +460 favorite, per the Cook Out 400 odds as he has five total wins at this track. Visit our DraftKings promo code review and get $150 in bonus bets instantly as a new user after $5+ in wagers here :

Christopher Bell (+500), who is still searching for his first triumph of the year, and Joey Logano (+750) round out the top three per FanDuel Sportsbook. Dillon is at +1500 to target with 2026 NASCAR at Richmond bets, as is Tyler Reddick, who has stumbled down the Cup Series standings after a sizzling start to the season. Before locking in any NASCAR at Richmond predictions or NASCAR DFS lineups, you need to see the projected leaderboard from Mike McClure's proven model .

McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every lap of NASCAR action 10,000 times. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 30 winners since 2021 and nailed Denny Hamlin's back-to-back wins at Michigan and Pocono in June. Anyone following his NASCAR betting picks at their favorite betting apps could have seen huge returns.

Now, McClure has turned his attention to the NASCAR Cook Out 400. He's only sharing his best bets at SportsLine .

For NASCAR at Richmond 2026, McClure is fading Joey Logano, one of the favorites at +750. The model projects that he doesn't even finish in the top 5. Logano has a relatively strong overall track history at Richmond, but hasn't taken first place since 2017. He's finished three straight races this year in the top 10, but didn't finish better than 12th in his previous four events.

Another surprise: The model is high on Tyler Reddick at +1500. He has five wins this season overall and a pair of top-10 finishes in the past three races. He has finished in the top 10 at Richmond twice in his time with 23XI Racing as well. See which other drivers the model is backing at SportsLine .

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McClure is also high on another longshot higher than +1500 who make runs for the top of the leaderboard, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here .

So who wins the 2026 Cook Out 400, and which longshots could stun NASCAR at Richmond? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2026 NASCAR at Richmond picks and best bets from a NASCAR model that nailed back-to-back Denny Hamlin wins , and find out.

See full NASCAR Cook Out 400 picks at SportsLine . (Odds from FanDuel, subject to change)

Denny Hamlin +460 Christopher Bell +500 Joey Logano +750 Ryan Blaney +800 Ty Gibbs +1000 Kyle Larson +1000 Chase Briscoe +1400 Bubba Wallace +1400 Austin Dillon +1500 Tyler Reddick +1500 William Byron +2000 Chase Elliott +2200 Carson Hocevar +3300 Austin Cindric +3500 Chris Buescher +3500 Josh Berry +4500 Brad Keselowski +4500 Ross Chastain +5000 Ryan Preece +6000 Daniel Suarez +7500 Alex Bowman +7500 Shane van Gisbergen +10000 Michael McDowell +10000 Erik Jones +12500 Connor Zilisch +17500 Zane Smith +17500 Todd Gilliland +25000 Austin Hill +25000 Riley Herbst +25000 AJ Allmendinger +30000 John Hunter Nemechek +30000 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +40000 Ty Dillon +50000 Cole Custer +50000 Josh Bilicki +50000 Cody Ware +50000 Noah Gragson +50000

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: CBS Sports. Open at source →