All articles tagged with #cook out 400
Chase Elliott won the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, riding a late two-stop gamble to defeat Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano as Hendrick Motorsports celebrated. Hamlin finished runner-up, Logano third, with Ty Gibbs fourth and William Byron fifth, setting the stage for an Easter break and a strong early push for Elliott and his team.
Denny Hamlin dominated the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville, leading a race-high 292 laps, but late cautions shuffled the field and Chase Elliott sprinted away to win his first race of 2026, with Hamlin finishing second after signaling rear-end trouble late in the race; the result underscores NASCAR’s new format where a single dominant day doesn’t guarantee a win.
Martinsville Speedway hosts the Cook Out 400, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series' first short-track race, with Denny Hamlin earning pole and William Byron on the front row; the event is the first of two Martinsville races in 2026, with the second coming during the playoffs in November. After Easter off, the next race on the calendar is the Food City 500 at Bristol on April 12 at 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
Post-practice rankings spotlight Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron as top fantasy contenders for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville, with speed metrics and past results used to project finish ranges and dominator potential, plus notes on practice sessions and DraftKings/FanDuel pricing.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues with the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, where Denny Hamlin earned a controversial victory at Richmond last week. Kyle Larson won the pole for Sunday's race, and he led the first stage, ultimately winning it. The race saw several lead changes and incidents, with Hamlin ultimately winning Stage 2. Follow live updates and highlights as the race progresses, with green flag set for after 2 p.m. CT on Sunday.
The 2023 NASCAR at Richmond race, known as the Cook Out 400, presents an opportunity for Kevin Harvick to claim his first victory of the season. Harvick, who announced that this will be his final full-time season, won this race last year and has four career wins at Richmond Raceway. However, the SportsLine model predicts that Chase Elliott, despite being a 14-1 longshot, has a strong chance of performing well due to his consistent finishes and recent competitiveness at the track. The model also suggests avoiding Harvick, who has struggled this season and has not led a lap in his last five starts at Richmond.