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The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Martinsville Speedway Sunday for the 2024 Cook Out 400. The green flag is scheduled to drop approximately at 3 p.m. ET (FS1). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the 2024 Cook Out 400 odds, and make our expert NASCAR picks and predictions.
2024 Cook Out 400: What you need to know
- Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney has a win, 8 top-5 finishes and 10 top-10 runs with 522 laps and a circuit-best 9.0 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in 16 career Cup starts at Martinsville
- Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who won on the short track at Richmond last Saturday, leads all active drivers with 5 wins at Martinsville in 36 career Cup starts while posting 10.1 AFP
- Penske’s Joey Logano has a win, 11 top-5 finishes and 18 top-10 runs with 1,123 laps led while posting a 10.9 AFP in 30 career Cup runs at the Paper Clip
- JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. has won 3 Cup races at Martinsville, while turning in a 15.9 AFP in 36 starts with 1,063 laps led and 2 DNFs
- Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch has racked up 2 wins, 17 top-5 finishes and 1,429 laps led with a 12.8 AFP in 37 Cup starts at Martinsville
- JGR’s Christopher Bell doesn’t have as long of a history at Martinsville as his counterparts, but he has a win and 3 top-10 finishes with a 13.9 AFP in 8 Cup starts
- Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman has a win at Martinsville in 15 Cup starts, but he has struggled over the years with a 19.6 AFP and just the single top-5 run and 4 top-10 finishes
- Cup regular Michael McDowell has never finished higher than 14th in 26 Cup starts at Martinsville, posting a dismal 28.4 AFP
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has 3 top-10 finishes in 22 Cup starts, but he has never led a lap at Martinsville, while posting a poor 24.0 AFP
- Trackhouse Racing driver Daniel Suarez has managed a poor 22.9 AFP in 14 Cup starts with just 2 top-10 finishes and 7 laps led
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2024 Cook Out 400 – Expert pick
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 8:04 p.m. ET.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (+700) ran well at times at Richmond last weekend, and he is a much better value than his teammate Hamlin (+350). The Chesterfield, Va., native, who won at Richmond last week thanks to a great pit stop by his crew, will be hard-pressed to go back-to-back.
Truex has run well in recent seasons at Martinsville, posting a win and 3 top-5 finishes in his past 6 starts with a 10.3 AFP, which is 5th-best among all active drivers. His last win was the spring race in 2021.
As for Martinsville, don’t worry so much about starting position, which is important at a lot of tracks, including last week in Richmond. The past 3 winners have started 11th or higher, with 2 of the 3 winners going off 19th and 20th.
2024 Cook Out 400 – Contender
BRAD KESELOWSKI (+2000) has struggled in his time at RFK Racing, but he could have a breakthrough at Martinville.
The short track program for RFK Racing has been better than the intermediate and road course programs. Keselowski was 3rd at Bristol, and 8th last week at Richmond. Plus, he was 4th at the flat track in Phoenix, which runs like a short track. He should have some success at Martinsville, and a KESELOWSKI TOP-10 FINISH (-135) isn’t priced out of line, if you can’t trust him for the outright win.
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