Cook Out Southern 500 Preview and Best Bet
Blurb: The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin on Sunday. Here is betting advice for this first playoff race.
Meta: Cook Out Southern 500 stats, analysis, predictions, previews. Click here for our free NASCAR betting picks!
Top Sportsbooks have released their odds for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race that takes place in Darlington, South Carolina.
Last week was the final race of the regular season. This week is the first race of the playoffs.
Here is all of the information that you'll want to know for this first race of the playoffs as well as all the analysis that you'll require to make at least one informed bet on this race.
NASCAR Cup Series: Cook Out Southern 500
Sunday, September 5, 2021 at 6 p.m. ET (NBCSN) at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina
Welcome to the Playoffs
This upcoming race in Darlington is important because it marks the beginning of NASCAR's Cup Series playoffs.
Last race established exactly which 16 drivers will participate in the playoffs.
The next 10 races will determine who this year's champion will be.
There are four rounds, each consisting in three races. This upcoming race is the first race of the Round of 16.
Drivers will try to advance to the next round by winning a race or possessing enough points at the end of the round to move on instead of drivers who haven't won a race or who possess fewer points.
Race Info
For Sunday's racing competition, drivers must complete a total of 367 laps.
As has been the case for almost every race this season, there are three stages for this event.
Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 115 laps. Stage 2 finishes upon the completion of lap 230. Stage 3 requires 107 more laps.
An entry list is always published early in the week for an upcoming racing event.
After Tyler Reddick in last week's race outdueled Auston DIllon and received some help from Ryan Blaney, we know who the 16 drivers in this field will be. In total, 37 drivers are listed on the current entry list as participants for this race.
There will not be practice or qualifying for this event since drivers are already familiar with this track.
A predetermined formula will, like usual, establish who starts in what position. The lineup gets released on Wednesday morning for the coming race.
Track Info
Darlington Raceway is more than a track that has a lot of nicknames.
One calls it "Lady in Black" partly in reference to the history of its pavement, but also in reference to the difficulty of the track.
More explicitly, Darlington Raceway is also called "The Track Too Tough to Tame."
It is a notoriously difficult track to race on largely due to its egg shape.
In its construction, it was conceived as a track on which drivers would compete at significantly lower speeds than they currently race at.
The structure of Darlington's raceway encourages a dangerous racing atmosphere at current speeds.
Moreover, the track is famous for being very narrow. Drivers easily scrape the wall, in which case he receivers a "Darlington Stripe."
Each lap in Darlington is 1.366 miles. So, in completing 367 laps, drivers will have completed just over 500 miles.
One thing that encourages higher speeds at this track is the very fair amount of banking.
Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 25 degrees. Turns 3 and 4 are banked at 23 degrees. The front and back straightaways are banked at three and two degrees, respectively.
Drivers to Avoid
It takes a special amount of skill for drivers to navigate this notoriously tough track.
Some drivers lack the proven comfort at this track.
Avoid relying on Ryan Blaney, for example.
You might be tempted to invest in him because his last performance was strong and recency bias is a powerful phenomenon.
However, you need to take a step back and realize that he has never finished higher than eighth at this track.
In nine attempts at Darlington, he has finished outside the top 20 four times. HIs average finishing position here is 19, which is 7.1 spots worse than his average starting position.
Also avoid trusting Joey Logano as there are much better drivers out there. He has zero career wins at this track.
My Guy
There are other drivers who have won here, but are hit-or-miss. What I like about Kyle Larson is his consistent success at this track.
Consistency is a great source of reliability. He has finished top-three in each of his last three races at this track.
As he is very fast this season, he is in a great spot to finally win at Darlington.
On May 9, he finished second after starting 14th. Better starting position would certainly help him on this narrow track.
Best Bet: Larson to Win at +350 with Bovada
Blurb: The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin on Sunday. Here is betting advice for this first playoff race.
Meta: Cook Out Southern 500 stats, analysis, predictions, previews. Click here for our free NASCAR betting picks!
Top Sportsbooks have released their odds for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race that takes place in Darlington, South Carolina.
Last week was the final race of the regular season. This week is the first race of the playoffs.
Here is all of the information that you'll want to know for this first race of the playoffs as well as all the analysis that you'll require to make at least one informed bet on this race.
NASCAR Cup Series: Cook Out Southern 500
Sunday, September 5, 2021 at 6 p.m. ET (NBCSN) at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina
Welcome to the Playoffs
This upcoming race in Darlington is important because it marks the beginning of NASCAR's Cup Series playoffs.
Last race established exactly which 16 drivers will participate in the playoffs.
The next 10 races will determine who this year's champion will be.
There are four rounds, each consisting in three races. This upcoming race is the first race of the Round of 16.
Drivers will try to advance to the next round by winning a race or possessing enough points at the end of the round to move on instead of drivers who haven't won a race or who possess fewer points.
Race Info
For Sunday's racing competition, drivers must complete a total of 367 laps.
As has been the case for almost every race this season, there are three stages for this event.
Stage 1 requires drivers to complete 115 laps. Stage 2 finishes upon the completion of lap 230. Stage 3 requires 107 more laps.
An entry list is always published early in the week for an upcoming racing event.
After Tyler Reddick in last week's race outdueled Auston DIllon and received some help from Ryan Blaney, we know who the 16 drivers in this field will be. In total, 37 drivers are listed on the current entry list as participants for this race.
There will not be practice or qualifying for this event since drivers are already familiar with this track.
A predetermined formula will, like usual, establish who starts in what position. The lineup gets released on Wednesday morning for the coming race.
Track Info
Darlington Raceway is more than a track that has a lot of nicknames.
One calls it "Lady in Black" partly in reference to the history of its pavement, but also in reference to the difficulty of the track.
More explicitly, Darlington Raceway is also called "The Track Too Tough to Tame."
It is a notoriously difficult track to race on largely due to its egg shape.
In its construction, it was conceived as a track on which drivers would compete at significantly lower speeds than they currently race at.
The structure of Darlington's raceway encourages a dangerous racing atmosphere at current speeds.
Moreover, the track is famous for being very narrow. Drivers easily scrape the wall, in which case he receivers a "Darlington Stripe."
Each lap in Darlington is 1.366 miles. So, in completing 367 laps, drivers will have completed just over 500 miles.
One thing that encourages higher speeds at this track is the very fair amount of banking.
Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 25 degrees. Turns 3 and 4 are banked at 23 degrees. The front and back straightaways are banked at three and two degrees, respectively.
Drivers to Avoid
It takes a special amount of skill for drivers to navigate this notoriously tough track.
Some drivers lack the proven comfort at this track.
Avoid relying on Ryan Blaney, for example.
You might be tempted to invest in him because his last performance was strong and recency bias is a powerful phenomenon.
However, you need to take a step back and realize that he has never finished higher than eighth at this track.
In nine attempts at Darlington, he has finished outside the top 20 four times. HIs average finishing position here is 19, which is 7.1 spots worse than his average starting position.
Also avoid trusting Joey Logano as there are much better drivers out there. He has zero career wins at this track.
My Guy
There are other drivers who have won here, but are hit-or-miss. What I like about Kyle Larson is his consistent success at this track.
Consistency is a great source of reliability. He has finished top-three in each of his last three races at this track.
As he is very fast this season, he is in a great spot to finally win at Darlington.
On May 9, he finished second after starting 14th. Better starting position would certainly help him on this narrow track.
Best Bet: Larson to Win at +350 with Bovada
