With back-to-back top-five finishes, Kevin Harvick finally seems to be emerging from the skid that’s gripped him all summer. And Sunday afternoon brings another opportunity for the soon-to-be-retired driver to claim one more race victory before he trades his helmet for a television headset.

Harvick is the defending champion of the summer event at Richmond Raceway, where he led 48 laps to claim the 400-lapper on the .75-mile track. Then as now, Harvick appeared to be deep in the doldrums before breaking out for back-to-back wins that locked in a playoff berth. 

Harvick heads to Richmond this week on the heels of consecutive fourth-place results at New Hampshire and Pocono, his first single-digit finishes since Darlington in early May.

Is Harvick capable of winning at Richmond again this time around? Although his +750 opening odds on the betting apps were tied for fourth highest on the board, the No. 4 car has led just 10 laps in his past six races. 

With 12 top-10s in his last 14 starts at Richmond, we have no issues with incorporating Harvick into our NASCAR picks portfolio this week—although taking him as a top-five or top-10 option might seem the most sensible wager.

NASCAR Cook Out 400 Odds

Odds via DraftKings and current as of publication. Check out our DraftKings Review

NASCAR Cook Out 400 Betting Tips

Kyle Busch leads all active drivers with six career victories at Richmond, the most recent coming in 2018.  A 14th-place finish at the short track this past spring snapped a run of 10 straight top-10 results at Richmond for Busch, who’s finished back in the pack in his last two starts this season. 

The best average finish at Richmond belongs to Christopher Bell, a 5.7 built on five results of sixth or better in six career starts at the track.

Pocono winner Denny Hamlin and Harvick each own four career Richmond victories, while NASCAR odds leader Martin Truex Jr. has three, and Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano have two apiece. 

The past six Richmond races have been won by six different drivers, capped by Larson, who led 93 laps on his way to victory in the spring. 

Hendrick’s No. 9 car has been top-5 in four of its last six at Richmond—three times with Chase Elliott and once with sub Josh Berry, who drove it to a runner-up result while Elliott was rehabbing his broken leg in the spring.

Drivers who are good at Richmond tend to be consistently good there—Hamlin has been top-10 in 12 of his last 14, Busch in 13 of his last 15, Larson in seven of his last 10, Logano in five of his last six. 

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Alex Bowman’s 2021 victory stands as one of the few surprises wins at the track, but even he is a playoff-caliber driver in Hendrick equipment. 

If you’re looking for long-shot value, consider drivers like Michael McDowell and Chris Buescher, who have each nabbed top-10s as Richmond since the current car debuted.

NASCAR Cook Out 400 Best Bets

Christopher Bell to Win

Odds: +750 at DraftKings

Bell pulled out of a three-race skid with a sixth-place result last week at Pocono. He’ll have a great opportunity to build on that success at Richmond, where he hasn’t finished worse than sixth since 2020. 

Bell led 26 laps in his fourth-place effort in April, was the runner-up at Richmond in the summer of 2022, and led 63 laps en route to placing sixth that previous spring. 

In the first three races at Richmond in the current next-gen car, only Harvick and Larson have earned more points than Bell.

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Martin Truex Jr. Top 3

Odds: +130 at DraftKings

The hottest driver in NASCAR cashed again for us last week with his third-place run at Pocono, continuing a sizzling summer stretch for the points leader and championship favorite. 

Throw out the street race in Chicago, and Truex has finished top-five in six of his last seven starts. And he’s excellent at Richmond, with top-fives in eight of his last nine there, a stretch that includes three wins.

Ty Gibbs Top 5

Odds: +350 at DraftKings

It’s a JGR sweep for the picks this week. Joe Gibbs’ grandson broke through with a season-best fifth-place finish at Pocono last weekend, his second top-10 in his past four starts. 

Also, he finished ninth in the spring race at Richmond earlier this season.

You must pick your spots with a rookie who hasn’t shown a lot of sustained success, but Gibbs presents good value for NASCAR betting this weekend at a track where Joe Gibbs Racing cars have won six times since 2018.

NASCAR Cook Out 400 Time, Date and TV

When: Sunday, 3:00 p.m. EDT

Where: Richmond Raceway

TV: USA

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