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After 26 thrilling points races, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season heads to Darlington, South Carolina, for the first playoff race of the season – the Cook Out Southern 500.
The first race of Round of 16 is expected to be exciting, as the Next Gen car will run for the fourth time at Darlington Raceway. All drivers taking the field will be racing to win the Cook Out Southern 500.
Darlington Raceway is a 1.366-mile-long egg-shaped oval track that has 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.
Cook Out Southern 500 can be watched live on USA Network and MRN. The race will start on Sunday, September 3, at 6 pm ET. Along with the win, all the participating drivers in Darlington will be racing for monetary incentives.
This year, the NASCAR Cup Series race in Darlington, South Carolina, has a prize pool of $8,260,258. Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series rewards winning teams with $1,703,502.
Motorsport journalist Bob Pockrass revealed the total prize money pool that is up for grabs at NASCAR's top-two national series. He wrote:
“Purses for Darlington, includes all payouts, all positions, all charter per-race and historical performance payouts, contingency awards, year-end point fund awards, etc: Cup: $8,260,258 Xfinity: $1,703,502”
NASCAR Cup Series action in Darlington, South Carolina, will begin with practice at 12:35 pm ET on Saturday, September 3, followed by qualifying race at 1:20 pm ET, and conclude with the main event on Saturday. The practice qualifying can be watched live on USA Network and MRN.
Which NASCAR driver is the favorite to win the Cook Out Southern 500?
Heading to Darlington Raceway, the 2023 regular season champion Martin Truex Jr. occupied the top position on the board as the favorite to win the 500-mile race. The #19 Toyota driver has odds of +500 to bag Sunday’s race, according to dknetwork.draftkings.com.
Kyle Larson has the second-highest odds at +550, 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. They are followed by Tyler Reddick (+1300), Kevin Harvick (+1500), Chris Buescher (+1500), Brad Keselowski (+1600), and Chase Elliott (+1700).
Watch the Cup Series in action at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 3.
