NASCAR 2023: Preview and odds for Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

The Cook Out Southern 500 marks the 27th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season and the first playoffs race of the season. The green flag is set to drop at 6 pm ET on Sunday, September 3, at the Darlington Raceway.

A total of 36 drivers will compete over 367 laps in this week’s NASCAR Cup Series race. This will be the 74th annual Cook Out Southern 500 hosted by the Darlington Raceway in the history of the Cup Series.

The 1.366-mile-long egg-shaped oval track features 25 degrees of banking in turns one and two, 23 degrees of banking in turns three and four, three degrees on the frontstretch and two degrees on the backstretch.

The venue began hosting NASCAR races in 1950 and currently hosts the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series.

Heading to the Darlington Raceway, regular season points champion Martin Truex Jr. stands at the top of the odds table at +500 to win Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500, according to dknetwork.draftkings.com.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson holds the second-highest odds at +550 to claim the race.

They are followed by William Byron at +750, Denny Hamlin at +750, Kyle Busch at +1000, Ross Chastain at +1100, and Christopher Bell at +1100 in the top-five highest odds.

Erik Jones, the defending champion of the event, is coming into the race with the 12th-highest odds at +2800.

---

Opening odds for 2023 NASCAR Cook Out Southern 500

Here are the odds for all participating NASCAR Cup Series drivers competing at the Darlington Raceway:

1. Martin Truex Jr., +500
2. Kyle Larson, +550
3. William Byron, +750
4. Denny Hamlin, +750
5. Kyle Busch, +1000
6. Ross Chastain, +1100
7. Christopher Bell, +1100
8. Tyler Reddick, +1300
9. Kevin Harvick, +1500
10. Chris Buescher, +1500
11. Brad Keselowski, +1600
12. Chase Elliott, +1700
13. Ryan Blaney, +1800
14. Joey Logano, +1800
15. Erik Jones, +2800
16. Bubba Wallace, +2800
17. Ty Gibbs, +3500
18. Daniel Suarez, +5500
19. Alex Bowman, +5500
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., +10000
21. Michael McDowell, +10000
22. Carson Hocevar, +15000
23. Austin Dillon, +20000
24. Aric Almirola, +25000
25. A.J. Allmendinger, +25000
26. Chase Briscoe, +30000
27. Ryan Preece, +40000
28. Justin Haley, +40000
29. Harrison Burton, +40000
30. Corey Lajoie, +40000
31. Austin Cindric, +40000
32. Ryan Newman, +50000
33. Ty Dillon, +100000
34. Todd Gilliland, +100000
35. JJ Yeley, +100000
36. BJ McLeod, +100000

The live telecast of Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 can be viewed on USA Network and MRN.