Pearce Dietrich shares his top bets and predictions for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Martinsville on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Martinsville has never needed much explanation — four hundred laps, a half-mile paperclip, and tires that start dying before the first stage ends. The 750-horsepower package running here this week is the same one that turned Darlington into a tire management race last Sunday. The driver who manages the rubber the longest wins, and that has always been true at this track.
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Race Winner — Cook Out 400 at Martinsville
Martinsville has been his track. He has won here twice in the Gen 7 era and posted the best average finishing position of any active driver at this track over that eight-race stretch. At Darlington last week, the No. 12 Penske Ford was legitimately fast — fast enough to drive from outside the top 20 back into contention twice. Darlington has always been one of Blaney’s worst tracks. If he’s fast at the “Track Too Tough to Tame,” then Martinsville could get ugly for the competition.
The concern going into this week is the pit crew, which has been a problem all season and has cost him dearly at Darlington. At Martinsville, that concern shrinks. The green flag pit cycles are shorter, there are typically more cautions, and track position resets more often. Blaney’s track history is the strongest argument in the field. At a number that reflects the pit crew’s skepticism, that history is the play.
His record at Martinsville is the cleanest in the field — three wins, a dominant lap-led total, and back-to-back strong performances in 2025 that showed the No. 24 Hendrick Chevy knows exactly what to do at this track. He arrived at Darlington and ran the kind of steady, disciplined race that protects equipment rather than shows it off. He finished eighth. He didn’t wreck anything. That is the correct way to prepare for a week at the paperclip.
Hendrick has struggled in 2026, and the market will price that in. But Byron’s Martinsville wins have come in different conditions, different cars, and different competitive environments — which suggests the skill is his, not just the equipment. At a number longer than his track history deserves, he is the best value bet on the board this week.
Nobody on the Darlington post-race shows got mentioned more enthusiastically for this week than Preece. Three finishes of ninth or better in his last four Martinsville starts, including a sixth last spring and a seventh the year before. He led 135 laps in his first Gen 7 start there in 2022 — proof that he can go to the front, not just hang around it. Preece honed his skills racing modified in the northeast at short, flat tracks.
RFK ran all three cars in the top 13 at Darlington last Sunday. Preece finished 13th but was consistently fast before fading late. The 750-horsepower package has suited the No. 60 Ford, and Martinsville is the track where his personal history runs deepest. At +2800 against a market topped by Blaney and Hamlin at +500, the gap in price versus the gap in actual Martinsville track record makes this worth a look.