Cook Out 400 Picks, Odds & Predictions 4/7/2024

by Guy Bruhn - 4/5/2024

Cook Out 400

Sunday, April 7, 2024

3:00 PM EST

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville, VA

The short track schedule continues for NASCAR where the Cook Out 400 takes place in Martinsville, VA. This is two straight short track races and this race has been shortened by 100 laps as well. The stages now are 80 for the first, 100 for the second and 220 for the final stage. This is a very flat track that is really flat in the straightaways and with just 12 degrees of banking in the corners. At Bristol we saw issues with tire preservation and it's likely we'll see the some of the same kind of issues in Martinsville, but brake preservation seems to be what really makes the difference in doing well here. When looking at this track from a sky view, you'll understand why it's nickname is "the paperclip". That will give you an idea about the sharp turns and why preserving your brakes will be so important.

nascar picks Christopher Bell predictions best bet odds

So with brake preservation and track position being a priority for drivers, whoever is able to keep this in mind best as the day goes on will be primed to finish high in the race.

Toyota Owners 400 Recap

On his home track, Denny Hamlin was able to get a timely pit stop that led to him getting the lead of the pit road. He was able to hold on to the lead in the two-lap overtime to win the Toyota Owners 400. This continued Hamlin's winning ways being that this was the fifth time he won at Richmond. This was the second win of the season for Hamlin and his 53rd win overall. It wasn't an easy one and squeaked it out over Joey Logano by just 0.269 seconds.

This win being great for Hamlin, cost Martin Truex Jr. the win. Truex ended up finishing in fourth place, but dominated most of the race with 228 laps led out of the 407 total. What stung the most for Truex Jr. was that he had led for 54 straight laps before a caution came out with two to go. Hamlin beat him off pit road and that was all she wrote. This was absolutely a stroke of bad luck for him, but that said, Truex Jr. has been racing well so I can see him getting his win very soon.

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NASCAR Playoff Standings

While Martin Truex Jr. leads all drivers in points, he has no wins at this point and it has him sitting in the sixth spot of the standings. Denny Hamlin jumped William Byron for the first spot in the standings with two wins and 252 points. Byron is sitting in second with 215 points and two wins. Kyle Larson follows them with a win and 256 points, while Christopher Bell comes in fourth with a win and 219 points. Rounding out the top-5 in the standings is Daniel Suarez. Suarez is only at 163 points, but the previous win has him sitting pretty as we speak.

Cook Out 400 Odds

Denny Hamlin - +450
Kyle Larson - +550
Martin Truex Jr. - +750
Ryan Blaney - +800
Christopher Bell - +850
William Byron - +1200
Joey Logano - +1200
Ty Gibbs - +1300
Brad Keselowski - +1600
Chase Elliott - +1800
Tyler Reddick - +2200
Chris Buescher - +2200
Chase Briscoe - +2200
Ross Chastain - +2500
Bubba Wallace - +2500
Josh Berry - +2800
Alex Bowman - +2800
Kyle Busch - +3000
Noah Gragson - +5000
Ryan Preece - +6500

Denny Hamlin is one of the favorites and for good reason. He's won four times in Richmond which puts him in second place out of active drivers. He had a strong showing in Phoenix earlier this year and had a win in Bristol just a couple weeks ago. This team has been good on short tracks all season and I see this one going well for them too.

Josh's Pick: Take Denny Hamlin (+425)

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Pick:	CHICAGO BEARS +3
Start:	November 24, 2024 @ 1:00 PM
Expert:	Doc's Sports

Analysis:

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #256 Chicago Bears +3 over Minnesota Vikings (1p.m., Sunday, November 24 FOX) We used the Bears as a free play winner last Sunday and easily covered the spread and should have been an underdog outright winner. Now we will ride them for a second straight week against another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 8-2 on the season, yet are only around a field goal favorite. I still do not trust Sam Donald to win consistently over the course of a 17 game regular season. Minnesota is not as good as their 8-2 record would indicate and playing outdoors in Chicago on Sunday will cause issues for them on both sides of the ball. Chicago has been hit or miss this season, but they will be up to play another divisional rival and we expect them to take this down to the wire as well. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports Weekend Card featuring top plays in college and NFL football. Read More Read Less

Cook Out 400 Picks, Odds & Predictions 4/7/2024

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