Trent Reinsmith
- What: Cook Out 400
- Date: Sunday, July 30, 2023
- Location: Richmond Raceway in Richmond, VA
- Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: USA
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series is back at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, VA, on Sunday, July 30, for the Cook Out 400. This week’s race follows last week’s HighPoint.com 400, which Denny Hamlin won. With the victory, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota moved up to No. 3 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series standings with 656 points, which puts him 55 points behind Martin Truex Jr., who leads the season with 711 points. Truex finished in third at Pocono last week.
This weekend’s Cook Out 400 is the 135th NASCAR Cup race hosted by Richmond Raceway. The first NASCAR race on the track took place in 1953 and was won by Lee Petty. No NASCAR driver has as many wins on the track as the legendary Richard Petty does with 13. Kevin Harvick won the Cook Out 400 in 2022. As for the spring race at Richmond earlier this NASCAR season, Kyle Larson won that race, while Harvick finished in fifth place.
Before we look at the odds, betting picks, and predictions for the Cook Out 400 race at the Richmond Raceway, check out the best betting sites for NASCAR and our tips on how to bet on NASCAR.
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 betting picks
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr. has been a force to be reckoned with since the 2023 Food City Dirt Race. After finishing outside the top 10 in six of the first seven races of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champ has finished in the top 11 nine times with wins at Dover, Sonoma, and New Hampshire. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs racing Toyota is coming off a third-place finish at Pocono, which allowed him to remain in first place in the 2023 NASCAR Cup standings with 711 points, which gives him a 30-point lead over second-place driver William Byron.
Truex has raced well at Richmond over the past few years. He has eight top-five finishes in his last 10 starts on the track, including two wins in 2019 and a victory in 2021. Truex finished in 11th in the Spring race at Richmond, where he led 80 laps and might have been the winner had a late caution and no fresh tires hurt him and his team. The 43-year-old placed seventh in this race in 2022.
Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, has nine top-10 finishes this year and is coming off his second win of the season after triumphing at Pocono. Hamlin has performed well at Richmond. He has three career wins on the track, with his most recent victory coming in the spring of 2022. In 2021, the 42-year-old was runner-up in both races at Richmond, leading the early race for 207 laps and picking up 197 laps in first place later in the year.
Hamlin placed fourth in this race in 2022, and he finished in 20th this past spring after being penalized for speeding in the pits.
Hamlin has been racing well on shorter tracks this year. He placed fourth in Martinsville, fifth at Dover, and seventh in Loudon.
Kyle Larson
The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, Kyle Larson, has two career wins at Richmond, with the most recent coming in the spring race this year, where he led 93 laps. Before that, the 30-year-old won on this track in 2017. Larson is currently in seventh place in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series standings with 601 points. He has 10 finishes in the top 10 this season, but only one driver, Austin Dillon, has failed to finish more races than Larson this year. Dillon has seven DNFs, while Larson has six.
Larson has just two top-five finishes in Richmond in his past nine starts.
Kevin Harvick
If you’re looking for a sleeper betting pick, one could do worse than going with Kevin Harvick in Richmond. The driver of the No. 4 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, Harvick has four career wins at Richmond, and he is racing well as of late with fourth-place finishes at New Hampshire and Pocono. The winner of this race in 2022, Harvick finished in fifth in the spring race in Richmond, and he has nine finishes inside the top eight in his last 10 starts in Richmond. Harvick might not be a pick to win the Cook Out 400 in 2023, but he’s a good bet to place inside the top five on Sunday.
Best bets to win the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond
Kyle Larson was in the mix to win at Pocono last week, but after Denny Hamlin pushed him up the track late in the race, he finished in 20th on the day. Larson won in Richmond earlier this year and he has one of the fastest average lap times in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series when it comes to shorter tracks. With how he has performed this year, the betting pick for the 2023 version of the Cook Out 400 in Richmond is Kyle Larson to get the win.
Best 2023 NASCAR Cook Out 400 betting pick: Kyle Larson to win at Richmond.
See below a list of reliable sportsbooks and choose the best one for you.
