Clint Bowyer

Chase Elliott is the defending winner of the Hollywood Casino 400. It remains his only victory on an intermediate track in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

For Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports to salvage their season, Elliott may need to have lightning strike twice.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series kicks off the second round of its 2019 playoffs with its second visit to Dover International Speedway. And with Talladega Superspeedway looming next week, all 12 playoff drivers want the victory this weekend that will allow them to enter the Alabama track with a modicum of security in their title hopes.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east to Virginia this weekend with its postseason chase for the championship at full speed. The Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway is the second of three races before the playoff field gets cut from 16 to 12 eligible drivers.

Sixteen drivers begin their 10-race quest for the 2019 Monster Energy& NASCAR Cup Series championship beginning with Sunday's South Point 400. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson might be missing from that postseason field but the list still includes plenty of star firepower. Reigning champ Joey Logano will attempt to hold off a bevy of challengers beginning with Sunday's race at the 1.5-mile oval out in Sin City.

It's one of NASCAR's most respected traditions, put back on the original date where it belongs. The 2019 Southern 500 marks the fifth straight on the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, a spot it held on the sport's calendar from 1950-2004 until an ill-fated decision to bounce it around for over a decade.