After an absolutely wild Coke Zero Sugar 400 that saw multiple cars get airborne and Harrison Burton claim his first NASCAR victory, the NASCAR playoff picture has turned complete upside down. Now NASCAR heads to Darlington, South Carolina for the Cook Out Southern 500 in the regular season finale.
Will we see another surprise winner? Can the drivers currently floating around the cutline secure a postseason berth? Who will survive to see the checkered flag at one of the most demanding races in the entirety of the NASCAR circuit? We will answer all those questions and more at Darlington.
Playoff Picture Heading Into the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500
As mentioned above, Harrison Burton found himself in Victory Lane at Daytona. With his win the driver of the #21 punched his postseason ticket and made the race to the postseason that much more difficult for the rest of the field not already locked in.
While Darlington doesn’t have the wildcard factor to the extent of Daytona, we’ve seen surprise winners here before. However, the bigger factor here will be the attrition. Drivers need to see the checkered flag to have a good run and that’s not easy at Darlington.
- Kyle Larson – Four Wins
- Denny Hamlin – Three Wins
- William Byron – Three Wins
- Christopher Bell – Three Wins
- Tyler Reddick – Two Wins
- Ryan Blaney – Two Wins
- Chase Elliott – One Win
- Brad Keselowski – One Win
- Alex Bowman – One Win
- Joey Logano – One Win
- Daniel Suarez – One Win
- Austin Cindric – One Win
- Harrison Burton – One Win
- Martin Truex Jr. +58
- Ty Gibbs +39
- Chris Buescher +21
- Bubba Wallace -21
- Ross Chastain – 27
- Kyle Busch -106
- Chase Briscoe -144
While Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs feel relatively safe heading into the regular season finale, both drivers need to avoid any early trouble at the track Too Tough to Tame.
☀️ ➡️ 🌕 pic.twitter.com/5JCPM2Fymq
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 31, 2024
Chris Buescher sits as the final driver currently locked in on points. I expect him to maintain that over Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain as Darlington is one of his better tracks. My prediction is that the order will not change in the final race of the regular season.
2024 Cook Out Southern 500 Entry List
Among the non-standard entries for the race come Sunday, I’m most excited about Xfinity regular and soon to be full-time cup driver Shane van Gisbergen getting behind the wheel for the #16 of Kaulig Racing. I have high hopes for SVG next year as he makes the transition to the Cup Series for Trackhouse.
2024 Cook Out Southern 500 Race Odds and Predictions
I’m going to keep this short and sweet.
Kyle Larson is the odds favorite at +550.
I expect the driver of the #5 to claim victory on Sunday and carry a ton of momentum into the NASCAR postseason.
Behind Larson are Denny Hamlin at +600 and Tyler Reddick at +650.
Be sure to check out the schedule below so you don’t miss any on-track action from the weekend.
Saturday 08/31
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – 10:10 a.m. CT on NBC Sports Streaming
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 12:20 p.m. CT on USA
Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) – 2:30 p.m. CT on USA
Sunday 09/01
Cook Out Southern 500 (NASCAR Cup Series) – 5:00 p.m. CT on USA
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