The NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of its most demanding tracks Sunday, and the betting market sees two familiar Darlington names at the top.
The Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway will open NASCAR’s 10-race Chase on Sunday, Sept. 6. Denny Hamlin arrives as the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed, but he’s sharing the top of the latest race-winner odds with the driver who conquered the Lady in Black earlier this season.
Advertisement
Tyler Reddick and Hamlin are both listed at +500 to win Sunday night’s Southern 500, according to FanDuel Sportsbook odds published by FOX Sports on Sept. 2.
Chase Briscoe isn’t far behind at +600, while Kyle Larson (+850) and Christopher Bell (+1000) round out the five shortest prices on the board.
Here are the latest odds heading into NASCAR’s return to Darlington.
NASCAR Darlington Odds for the 2026 Southern 500
Cook Out Southern 500 winner odds:
-
Shane van Gisbergen +15000
-
John Hunter Nemechek +20000
-
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +50000
Odds are subject to change.
Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin Lead the Darlington Favorites
Reddick sitting atop the board shouldn’t require much explanation.
Advertisement
The 23XI Racing driver won at Darlington earlier this season, finally breaking through at a track where speed had rarely been the problem. Reddick started from the pole in March, overcame a series of setbacks and ultimately drove back through the field to win by more than five seconds.
It was his first Cup victory at Darlington after several near-misses, and it continued a blistering opening stretch in which Reddick won four of the season’s first six races.
He now returns to Darlington as the No. 3 seed in The Chase.
Hamlin, meanwhile, has both the championship position and Darlington résumé to justify his place beside Reddick.
Advertisement
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran enters the postseason as NASCAR’s regular-season champion and begins The Chase with 2,100 points, 25 ahead of Ryan Blaney. Among active Cup drivers, nobody owns more Darlington victories than Hamlin’s five.
He also leads active drivers at the track in top-five finishes, top-10s and average finish.
If there were ever a track suited to the driver beginning NASCAR’s championship chase from the top, this is one of them.
Chase Briscoe Is Right Behind the Co-Favorites
Don’t overlook the name sitting immediately behind Reddick and Hamlin.
Briscoe is +600, giving him the third-shortest odds on the FanDuel board. That’s notable considering the gap between Briscoe and the next group, with Larson at +850 and Bell at +1000.
Advertisement
There is also a good reason for the respect.
Briscoe has won the past two Southern 500s at Darlington and will attempt to make it three straight Sunday night. Another victory would give him one of the more impressive active streaks at a track notorious for punishing even small mistakes.
Behind him, Larson remains one of the drivers the market expects to contend despite entering The Chase seventh in points. Larson has also led more laps at Darlington than any other active driver, giving the No. 5 team plenty of history to lean on entering the weekend.
The Southern 500 Opens NASCAR’s New Chase
The stakes extend well beyond one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel trophies.
Advertisement
Sunday marks the first race under NASCAR’s revamped Chase format. Sixteen drivers begin the final 10 races with reset point totals, but unlike the elimination system NASCAR previously used, there are no three-race rounds and no winner-take-all championship finale.
Every point earned at Darlington carries forward.
That gives Sunday’s Southern 500 an unusual combination: one of the sport’s hardest races, one of its most historic tracks and the first opportunity for NASCAR’s championship contenders to establish themselves under an entirely different postseason system.
The Cook Out Southern 500 is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 6, at Darlington Raceway.
Read the full article here
