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2024 Cook Out 400: NASCAR at Martinsville Odds, Picks & Predictions

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Football will always have a foothold in American sports, but damn it, if NASCAR didn’t do everything it could to hit the headlines Easter weekend at Richmond.

Bumpers were thrown in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday. While the Cup Series began in wet conditions for the first time in a points-paying race on an oval. A second-stage phantom caution screwed strategies, and a Lap-399 caution took us into overtime.

After going from third to first in the pits, none other than Denny Hamlin jumped the final restart to steal the race from teammate Martin Truex Jr., who dominated on Sunday. Holding the 5-1 ticket, we were the beneficiary of that, cashing our second outright of the weekend.

But the headlines didn’t stop there. Hamlin, “NASCAR’s Controversial Hero,” as X/Twitter’s trending calls him, got into a late Thursday night back-and-forth with Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith online.

It all culminates this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, one of NASCAR’s longest-running tracks, where we’re in for a full weekend of racing. The action begins on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Craftsman Truck Series Race and concludes Sunday at 3:00 p.m., where Hamlin will once again be center stage at one of his best tracks.

Now, let’s look past the bullsh*t and lay out our top pre-practice and qualifying bets for the 2024 Cook Out 400.

2024 Cook Out 400: NASCAR at Martinsville Odds, Picks & Predictions

(Odds courtesy of BetRivers unless noted)

Top 5: Denny Hamlin (-125) | 1u

Amid controversy, I’m not going away from him now. Hamlin has the most Martinsville wins among active drivers. He has also ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in ifantasyrace.com‘s total speed rankings for the past three trips to “The Paperclip,” finishing those races P3, P4 and P5.

The No. 11 car found victory lane at the Busch Light Clash, our most recent comp race, and now returns to Martinsville fired up and with a gelling pit crew. Juiced as far as -180 for a T5 at some shops, I’ll keep riding with Hamlin at -125 for a T5 and 5-1 on the outright.

Top Chevy: Kyle Larson (+190) | 1u

I don’t want to be the analyst who keeps recommending readers bet Hamlin and Kyle Larson each week. Real original. I get it.

However, they cash tickets, especially on short tracks and at Martinsville. Larson was the only Chevrolet to finish better than P13 in the fall race here. In addition, he is the only Chevy who was P7 or better in any of the two Martinsville races last year.

While we’re only using comp tracks loosely this week, the California native has excelled at all of them lately. Larson came from the rear to win the 2023 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. He also finished fourth at New Hampshire last season and fifth at the Busch Light Clash this year.

The No. 5 car has been the top Chevy at Martinsville three races in a row. I’ll take the +190 shot that he makes it four straight.

Chase Briscoe (+130 via Caesars) vs. Chase Elliott | 1u

I typically reserve most of my matchup betting for post-practice and qualifying, but I couldn’t refuse such a soft line on Chase Briscoe over Chase Elliott. Briscoe is No. 5 in the Martinsville Next-Gen total speed rankings, leading to recent finishes of P4, P5, P9 and P9. That’s 4-0 against Elliott’s P17 and three P10s.

Briscoe is an additional 3-0 at the loose comps I used, finishing P5 in the 2023 All-Star Race, P10 in the 2023 New Hampshire race and seventh in this year’s Busch Light Clash. The driver of the Stewart Haas Racing (SHR) No. 14 Ford Mustang only really excels at certain tracks, but Martinsville is absolutely one of them.

Other Cup Series Bets on My Card:

Dude Wipes 250 (Xfinity Series) Bets:

Long John Silver’s 200 (Truck Series) Bets:

Tail Seth’s Plays on the BP App @Between_SethFF

Seth Woolcock is a featured writer and editor at BettingPros. For more sports betting and fantasy sports analysis from Seth, check out In-Between Media & follow him on X/Twitter @Between_SethFF.

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