2025 Cook Out Southern 500 odds, NASCAR picks: Best bets for the Darlington race from proven racing expert

The Round of 16 playoffs get underway at Darlington Raceway with the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday night. Kyle Larson and William Byron enter at +26, and lead the 16 drivers in the postseason, which is comprised of four rounds over the final 10 races of the season. Four drivers are eliminated in each of the first three rounds, which consist of three races each. The remaining four drivers compete for the title in the season-ending championship race. 

Byron is the +400 favorite (risk $100 to win $400) in the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 odds, while Larson is at +600 and Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney are at +650. Other NASCAR at Daytona contenders include Christopher Bell (+800) and Tyler Reddick (+850). Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET. 

Before making any Cook Out Southern 500 picks, you NEED to see what CBS Sports NASCAR writer Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com. Taranto was red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he nailed 17 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anybody following his NASCAR picks could have seen HUGE returns!

For the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500, Taranto is high on William Byron (+400). He also has a head-to-head prop bet, with Chase Briscoe (+100) to finish ahead of Tyler Reddick (-140). "Chase Briscoe is one of the most interesting drivers in the 2025 playoff field, as he has shown an ability to go deep into the postseason – making it to the Round of 8 in 2022 – and now has a championship-caliber team behind him at Joe Gibbs Racing," Taranto said. "Briscoe is also the defending Southern 500 champion, and another excellent Darlington race plus his performance down the stretch of the regular season could make him a darkhorse contender for the Cup title.

"By comparison, Tyler Reddick limps into the playoffs having avoided near-disaster at Daytona and with the burden of a winless season as 23XI Racing's legal drama swirls around him and the No. 45 team. While Reddick had a chance to win Darlington in April on strategy, there's still little evidence to suggest Reddick is due to turn it on once the playoffs begin – Which makes me quite bullish on Briscoe's +100 odds in their head-to-head matchup."

Taranto has also identified three other drivers in his 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 best bets. He's also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who's around 60-1, potentially netting any backer a HUGE payday! You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see his picks before locking in any NASCAR picks of your own.

So who wins the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and which MASSIVE longshot do you need to target NOW? ...  Join SportsLine right now to see the 2025 NASCAR at Daytona best bets, all from the expert who nailed a colossal 17 race winners last year!