The NASCAR Cup Series opens its 2023 playoffs on Sunday when the green flag drops at the Cook Out Southern 500. Christopher Bell claimed the pole in Saturday qualifying and he and Denny Hamlin will lead the field off the starting line at 6 p.m. ET. The race is airing on USA and via live stream at NBC Sports Live.
Hamlin and Kyle Larson head into race day as favorites to win at DraftKings Sportsbook, sitting at +400. Martin Truex, Jr. entered the week as a +500 favorite to win the race coming off a regular season points title. Larson was just behind him at +550, and was just ahead of Hamlin and William Byron who were at +750. Byron slipped to +1200
Bell was the big mover after claiming the pole, improving from +1100 to +550. Aric Almirola is a longshot, but improved from +25000 to +15000 with his tenth-place finish in qualifying. On the other side, Alex Bowman will start 24th and slipped from +5500 to +10000, while Ross Chastain slipped from +1100 to +1800 after finishing 27th in qualifying.
Below is the starting lineup for Sunday’s race along with how the odds moved from the opening of the week to post-qualifying.
2023 Cook Out Southern 500 starting lineup + odds movement
| Pos. | Driver | Car # | Race day odds | Pre-qualifying odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Driver | Car # | Race day odds | Pre-qualifying odds |
| 1 | Christopher Bell | 20 | +550 | +1100 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | +400 | +750 |
| 3 | Tyler Reddick | 45 | +1000 | +1300 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | +1600 | +1800 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 6 | +1200 | +1600 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 22 | +1800 | +1800 |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | +1400 | +1500 |
| 8 | Chris Buescher | 17 | +2200 | +1500 |
| 9 | Michael McDowell | 34 | +8000 | +10000 |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | 10 | +15000 | +25000 |
| 11 | Kyle Busch | 8 | +1100 | +1000 |
| 12 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | +15000 | +30000 |
| 13 | Chase Elliott | 9 | +2500 | +1700 |
| 14 | Austin Cindric | 2 | +5000 | +40000 |
| 15 | Carson Hocevar | 42 | +25000 | +15000 |
| 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | 16 | +25000 | +25000 |
| 17 | Ty Gibbs | 54 | +5500 | +3500 |
| 18 | Kyle Larson | 5 | +400 | +550 |
| 19 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | +3500 | +2800 |
| 20 | Erik Jones | 43 | +5500 | +2800 |
| 21 | Daniel Suarez | 99 | +10000 | +5500 |
| 22 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | +50000 | +40000 |
| 23 | William Byron | 24 | +1200 | +750 |
| 24 | Alex Bowman | 48 | +10000 | +5500 |
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 47 | +15000 | +10000 |
| 26 | Ty Dillon | 77 | +90000 | +100000 |
| 27 | Ross Chastain | 1 | +1800 | +1100 |
| 28 | Austin Dillon | 3 | +15000 | +20000 |
| 29 | Justin Haley | 31 | +30000 | +40000 |
| 30 | Todd Gilliland | 38 | +90000 | +100000 |
| 31 | Martin Truex Jr | 19 | +650 | +500 |
| 32 | Harrison Burton | 21 | +30000 | +40000 |
| 33 | J.J. Yeley | 15 | +90000 | +100000 |
| 34 | Ryan Preece | 41 | +30000 | +40000 |
| 35 | Ryan Newman | 51 | +40000 | +50000 |
| 36 | B.J. McLeod | 78 | +90000 | +100000 |