NASCAR: 2021 Darlington - Full starting lineup, odds

The starting lineup is set for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener this Sunday, and the odds to win have also been released.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are scheduled to get underway this Sunday evening with the Cook Out Southern 500.

This race is the opening race of the first of four rounds of the playoffs. The first three rounds, the round of 16, the round of 12 and the round of 8, are three-race rounds which will each eliminate four drivers. The final round is the Championship 4, a single-race round which will determine the 2021 champion.

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There are no more off weeks before the season is scheduled to come to an end on Sunday, November 7.

Where is the Cook Out Southern 500?

The Cook Out Southern 500 is a 367-lap race around the four-turn, 1.366-mile (2.198-kilometer) egg-shaped Darlington Raceway oval in Darlington, South Carolina, a track that hosted a race back in early May.

Darlington broadcast information

The Cook Out Southern 500 is set to be broadcast live from Darlington Raceway on NBC Sports Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 5. If you have not yet started your free trial of FuboTV, now would be a great time to do so!

Who is on pole for Darlington?

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NASCAR utilized the starting lineup formula to determine the starting lineup for this race, but with one catch: the 16 playoff drivers are guaranteed to start inside the top 16.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who is set to enter the playoffs on a two-race winning streak, is set to start from the pole position behind the wheel of his #12 Ford alongside Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in second place behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota.

Here is the full starting lineup for the 2021 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Starting Lineup
1st – Ryan Blaney
2nd – Denny Hamlin
3rd – Kurt Busch
4th – Chase Elliott
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Kyle Larson
7th – Tyler Reddick
8th – Aric Almirola
9th – Kevin Harvick
10th – Martin Truex Jr.
11th – Joey Logano
12th – Kyle Busch
13th – Christopher Bell
14th – William Byron
15th – Michael McDowell
16th – Brad Keselowski
17th – Ryan Preece
18th – Ryan Newman
19th – Bubba Wallace
20th – Justin Haley
21st – Austin Dillon
22nd – Erik Jones
23rd – Ross Chastain
24th – Chase Briscoe
25th – Corey LaJoie
26th – Daniel Suarez
27th – B.J. McLeod
28th – Josh Bilicki
29th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30th – Matt DiBenedetto
31st – Cole Custer
32nd – Anthony Alfredo
33rd – Cody Ware
34th – Chris Buescher
35th – Joey Gase
36th – James Davison
37th – Quin Houff

Darlington betting odds

Take a look at the top 10 in betting odds for this Sunday night’s race, courtesy of WynnBET.

Kyle Larson: +275
Martin Truex Jr.: +450
Kyle Busch: +500
Denny Hamlin: +500
Kevin Harvick: +750
Chase Elliott: +800
William Byron: +1100
Joey Logano: +1200
Brad Keselowski: +1200
Alex Bowman: +1200

Darlington betting prediction

The favorites should not surprise anybody considering how the May race at Darlington Raceway played out. Kyle Larson was in hot pursuit of Martin Truex Jr. until the end when Truex pulled away to win.

However, Truex hasn’t won a race since then while Larson ended up winning four more regular season races — and the regular season championship — so him being the favorite over the May race winner makes sense.

Larson has come close to winning at Darlington Raceway several times, not just in his first start with Hendrick Motorsports four months ago, so it’s hard to pass on him this weekend. His dominant 2018 performance comes to mind, when a late caution and slow pit stop effectively robbed him of the win.

We can’t dismiss Kyle Busch at +500, however. He rallied to finish in third place behind Truex and Larson in May after an early spin while leading the race. Chase Elliott at +800 could also be a good option. He always runs well at Darlington Raceway, even though it remains a track where he has yet to win. That could change this weekend.

While he hasn’t been particularly strong at Darlington Raceway before with a top finish of eighth place, Blaney cannot be ignored at +1500. He is riding a ton of momentum right now, not just because of the fact that he has won the last two races, but because of the fact that it has been four weeks since he finished a race outside of the top two.

As for who not to bet on, it’s a little surprising to see Kevin Harvick listed so high. Sure, he won this race last year, but his 2021 season has been a struggle, and he enters the playoffs in the worst position among the 16 playoff drivers. Ranking him as the fifth favorite seems highly generous considering the struggles that he and Stewart-Haas Racing have endured all season long.

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Make your pick now on WynnBET.

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NASCAR: 2021 Darlington – Full starting lineup, odds

By Asher Fair | Sep 1, 2021