Kevin Harvick picks NASCAR veteran driver as a favorite to win the 2025 Martinsville Cup race

As the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season heads to Martinsville Speedway, Kevin Harvick has shared his insights and predicted the winner for the upcoming Cook Out 400, which is set to take place this weekend. He’s going with a NASCAR veteran driver to win Sunday’s (March 30) Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

On the latest episode of the “Happy Hour” podcast, the former NASCAR driver turned commentator Harvick and his co-hosts, Kaitlyn Vincie and Mamba Smith, picked the driver they believe would have the higher chance to win the Martinsville Spring race.

Kevin Harvick picked Denny Hamlin to win at Martinsville Speedway. Harvick believes the #11 driver has a strong advantage at the 0.526-mile track, considering his record at this track. Hamlin is a five-time winner at this track.

Picking the driver to win the 2025 Cook Out 400, Harvick said [51:19]:

“I'm taking the #11. I'm taking Denny Hamlin. I think that this is his track. I think they have put themselves in a position to take advantage of the weekend, and this is the week that he goes to victory lane.”

Kevin Harvick’s co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, named Ryan Blaney to win his first win of the season. Blaney has won two of the last three races at Martinsville.

“I'm taking Ryan Blaney. He's won two of the last three races there. I think he'll have a little chip on the shoulder after the engine failure and be more motivated than he normally is,” Vincie said.

Meanwhile, co-host Mamba Smith picked the Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry to win his second race of the season this weekend.

Smith said:

“I really wanted to go chase because of what they did at the last one, but you know what? After watching Bowman Gray and after his win at Las Vegas, and now we're back to another short track. Let's go with it. Josh freaking buried the #21 backyard of Wood Brothers. I think this is where he got his first Xfinity win, Martinsville. And he's won the late model race, I'm quite sure, more than once. Like, let's go.”

---

How has Kevin Harvick’s top pick performed at the Martinsville Speedway?

Denny Hamlin has had a good track record at the Martinsville Speedway, securing five wins and 19 top-five finishes, with an average finish of 10.5 in 38 races.

Hamlin started the 2025 season with a 24th-place finish at Daytona International Speedway. He has had a topsy-turvy season, with two top-five, one top-10, and three outside top-20 finishes in six races so far. He's eighth in the points table with 164 points and a favorite in the odds table to win the sixth Martinsville race.

It will be interesting to see how Kevin Harvick and his co-hosts pick fare at Martinsville Speedway.

Watch the Cook Out 400 on FS1 at 3 pm ET.