Historic Darlington Raceway, known as "The Lady in Black," provides a grueling test for drivers on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET when the 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500 gets underway. Denny Hamlin won the pole and is going off at 9-2 NASCAR at Darlington odds. After opening at 4-1, Kyle Busch is the favorite at 5-2, with Kevin Harvick right behind at 4-1. This is one of the final races before the 2018 NASCAR Playoffs begin, and five drivers are listed at better than 20-1 odds. Amateur and professional bettors alike will be locking in wagers for NASCAR at Darlington 2018, so before you make any picks, see what SportsLine's Mike McClure has to say.

McClure, who has a mechanical engineering degree, grew up around race tracks. Big racing events like this are in his blood, and his model has been crushing its 2018 NASCAR picks. 

It's made some huge calls in NASCAR this year, including correctly projecting recent wins for Kyle Busch at Chicago and Martin Truex Jr. at Sonoma. It also nailed three of the top four finishers at Michigan earlier this month and was high on 20-1 long shot winner Kurt Busch last week at Bristol. Anybody following its picks this season is up huge. 

Now that the 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500 field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times and the results were surprising. 

One pick we'll give away for NASCAR at Darlington 2018: The model is high on Kurt Busch, calling for the 20-1 longshot to make a serious run at the checkered flag.

Though he hasn't historically run well at Darlington, he turned it around in 2017 with a third-place finish that should boost his confidence coming into the 2018 Southern 500. His up-and-down history here has kept oddsmakers from giving him strong odds, but he showed last year that he can contend, so he's a 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500 pick you should lock in for a chance at a huge payday. 

Another shocker: Kevin Harvick, one of the 2018 NASCAR at Darlington favorites at 4-1, is completely shut out of the top three. 

He has just one career win (2014) at Darlington and an average finish of 15th place in 21 events. There are far better values in this loaded NASCAR at Darlington field. 

The model is also targeting a monster underdog with odds longer than 40-1 to make a serious run at the checkered flag. Anyone who backs this longshot could hit it big. 

So who wins the 2018 Bojangles' Southern 500? And which longshot stuns NASCAR at Darlington? Check out the latest odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full projected leaderboard from the model that is crushing its NASCAR picks this year.

Kyle Busch 5-2  
Kevin Harvick 4-1
Denny Hamlin 9-2   
Martin Truex Jr. 5-1

Kyle Larson 5-1

Erik Jones 20-1

Ryan Blaney 20-1

Brad Keselowski 20-1

Kurt Busch 20-1

Chase Elliott 20-1
 
Clint Bowyer 30-1
   
Joey Logano 30-1
Jimmie Johnson 30-1