The NASCAR Cup Series will be back live at Richmond Raceway this Sunday for the 2024 Cook Out 400. The competition has been on a two-week hiatus owing to the Olympic Games and drivers have had well-deserved time off from the hectic demands of the season. Now, the action is back and with four races remaining in the regular season, anything can happen as cutoff drivers and teams try their best to qualify for the postseason. According to CBS, there won’t be a new winner in the race this Sunday as Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are the favorites to win on paper.
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It’s no surprise that Hamlin is right up there with the Joe Gibbs Racing star’s exceptional short-track pace this season. Hamlin has won at Bristol, Dover, and Richmond in 2024. With NASCAR going back to ‘America’s Premier Short Track’ this Sunday, Hamlin will fancy his chances once again. Bagging that fourth race win before the Round of 16 will give him and the #11 JGR crew momentum in their search for the all-elusive Cup Series championship trophy.
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Christopher Bell, on the other hand, is a bit of a surprise. Both he and his teammate have 4-1 odds of winning. Like Hamlin, he too has three race wins to his name this year but has not been too consistent. He finished P4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which was a positive result for the #20 team. The last time he won a Cup Series was at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month. However, Bell’s season has also been more up-and-down with a few weekends where the #20 crew has failed to perform.
Another JGR star occupies third place. Martin Truex Jr. sits with 11-2 odds in P3 on the odds table. The veteran is yet to win a race this year but has a good record at Richmond with three wins and 10 top-five finishes in the past. During the earlier race at the track this year, he seemed set to win but Hamlin jumped him on the final restart and took the checkered flag. The 44-year-old was not happy with his teammate as a result at the time.
The ever-present Kyle Larson sits in fourth place, coming off a win at the Brickyard, with 13-2 odds. Two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano caps off the top five with 10-1 odds. As far as the playoff bubble is concerned, there will be a lot of interest around Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. Both have 35-1 odds for the weekend and they’re only seven points on either side of the playoff cutline.
