At the 2025 NASCAR Cup Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, Denny Hamlin, who is having a strong start to his 2025 season, will aim for back-to-back victories. Last week at the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin took the lead on lap 126 and didn’t look back, winning his first race of the year. It was Hamlin’s first Martinsville victory since 2015, but it was his sixth overall, the most among full-time active drivers. In addition, it was his 55th victory in his 20-year career. According to the most recent 2025 Goodyear 400 odds at Darlington Raceway, Kyle Larson is the favorite at +500, followed by William Byron at +650, Tyler Reddick at +650, Ryan Blaney and Hamlin at +700, and Christopher Bell at +1000.
Temperatures in the 80s and partly cloudy sky are predicted at the 2025 Darlington Raceway. The race is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, with Byron on the pole. You should read what NASCAR expert Steven Taranto has to say before making any predictions or pickings for the 2025 Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. As the primary NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, Taranto, who has 20 career wins in iRacing and moonlights as a sim racer, covers stock car racing with the same meticulousness and fervor he has had since he became a full-time race fan in 2001. In addition to publishing a well-liked weekly NASCAR predictions column and holding a yearly NASCAR medial credential, he is renowned for having predicted Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez’s breakthrough.
With 17 victories in 2024, including 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas and 16-1 longshot William Byron in the Daytona 500, Taranto was scorching for SportsLine. On March 23, he chose the winner of the Straight Talk Wireless 400 in Larson. His NASCAR predictions at their preferred bookies could have yielded enormous profits for anyone who followed them. Taranto has already examined the starting lineup and chances for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Goodyear 400, which will take place at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. At SportsLine, he is offering his top picks.
Expert predictions for 2025 Darlington
NASCAR Taranto has great hopes for Kyle Larson, who has performed well at Darlington, for the 2025 Goodyear 400. Over his career at the circuit, he has led 1,048 laps, including 278 in his past four outings. He led for the majority of the 2024 Cook Out Southern 500, his final race there, before finishing in fourth place. The Cook Out Southern 500 in 2023 was won by him. Larson is leaving DraftKings at +450. Over the course of 13 years, the 32-year-old veteran of Hendrick Motorsports has recorded 30 Cup Series victories, 21 poles, and 187 top-10 finishes in 372 races. He finished sixth overall in 2024 after winning the 2021 season championship.
At the 2016 Pure Michigan 400, he got his first victory. Over a ten-year period, he has achieved 15 victories, 83 top-10 finishes, and seven poles in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Check out the other drivers he supports at SportsLine.
Prop choices for the Goodyear 400
Bubba Wallace (-125) finishes ahead of Chase Elliott (-110) in the head-to-head matchup, according to Taranto. Wallace took the pole for the Southern 500 in September of last year and has had success at Darlington. This season, Wallace has finished in the top 10 three times, including in third place twice. Wallace has two victories, three poles, and 49 top-10 finishes in 255 Cup Series races over his eight-year career.
Elliott, on the other hand, placed in the top 20 in each of the seven Cup races in 2025 and has four top-10 performances. After winning the 2024 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, Elliott is hoping to win for the first time. At last week’s Cook Out 400 in Martinsville, he finished fourth. He has recorded 19 victories and 174 top-10 finishes in his ten-year career. Visit SportsLine to view all of Taranto’s selections.
How to forecast the 2025 Goodyear 400
In addition, Taranto has included four additional drivers as his top picks for the 2025 NASCAR Goodyear 400. Additionally, he is betting heavily on a gigantic NASCAR longshot who is starting at more than 50-1 and may pay out a lot of money to any supporter. Here, all you can see is who they are.
