The NASCAR Cup Series schedule continues on Sunday with the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway. It is the first race of the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs and the green flag drops at 6 p.m. ET. Kyle Larson is the 11-2 favorite in the latest NASCAR at Darlington odds from Caesars Sportsbook, followed by Chase Elliott (13-2), Denny Hamlin (13-2) and Martin Truex Jr. (7-1). Our proven projection model has simulated the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 10,000 times and come up with a surprising leaderboard.

Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction computer model takes into account a slew of factors including track history and recent results.

In the 2021 season, McClure's model nailed Truex Jr. to win at Martinsville for a strong 3-1 payout. Then it called Elliott to win at Road America for a 5-2 payout. McClure's model also called Larson's win at Texas for an 11-4 payout and his win at Kansas for a 9-4 payout in back-to-back weeks before nailing Larson to win the season finale in Phoenix to claim the 2021 NASCAR Cup Championship. In total, it nailed five of Larson's wins during a historic season. 

So far in 2022, it was high on Ross Chastain to win in Austin, giving him a far better shot to win than his 40-1 odds implied. The model was also high on Joey Logano before he won as a 15-1 underdog at Darlington and high on Logano again when he returned 14-1 on his win in St. Louis. In early August it was much higher on Kevin Harvick than his 17-1 odds implied and Harvick went on to capture the win at Michigan. Anyone who followed its lead on those plays saw HUGE returns.

Now, the model has dialed in on NASCAR Darlington 2022 and released its projections.

The 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 is the first of 10 races in the NASCAR Playoffs, with the champion being crowned at Phoenix on Nov. 6. With 16 different winners during the regular season -- including eight multi-winners -- the chase for the cup should be wide open. Logano won at Darlington earlier this year while Hamlin claimed the checkered flag at this race last year.

For the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500, we can tell you the model is high on Ross Chastain, even though he's a 10-1 longshot in the latest 2022 NASCAR at Darlington odds. He's a target for anyone looking for a HUGE payday. And a massive shocker: Elliott, one of the Vegas favorites at 13-2, stumbles big-time and fails to crack the top five! There are far better values in the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500 starting lineup.

The model is also targeting THREE OTHER drivers with 2022 NASCAR at Darlington odds of 10-1 or longer to make a serious run at the checkered flag! Anyone who backs these drivers could hit it BIG. You ABSOLUTELY need to see who it is before locking in any NASCAR picks.

So who wins the 2022 Cook Out Southern 500? And which longshots are a MUST-BACK? ... Join SportsLine right now to see the full projected NASCAR at Darlington leaderboard, all from the model that nailed five of Kyle Larson's wins last season!