2019 NASCAR Cup Series (Simpsonverse)

The 2019 NASCAR Cup Series was the 71st season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 48th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Road America, with the Texaco 250, then at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash and its qualifier, the Gatorade Duel qualifying races and the 61st running of the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on December 11, 2019. Jeffrey Earnhardt of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. entered as the defending series champion. Adam Petty of Petty Enterprises clinched his third championship at the penultimate race of the season. Justin Haley and Matt DiBenedetto obtained their first career victories, whereas Ty Majeski won Rookie of the Year honors.

The 2019 season was the first season in which Ford fields the Lincoln Continental, replacing the Fusion. It also saw the return of Pontiac, which fields the newly-relaunched Grand Prix and Firebird. This was also the final season for Darrell Waltrip covering races in the booth as during the season he announced that the June 22 McDonald's 400 would be his last race as a broadcaster. This was the final season for three-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., as well as drivers David Ragan and Paul Menard, both retiring after more than 10 years of Cup racing. This was also scheduled to be the final season for 2003 champion Matt Kenseth. However, after Kyle Larson had been fired from Chip Ganassi Racing for his use of a racial slur during an iRacing event, it was announced on April 27, 2020 that Kenseth would replace him in the #14 Pontiac for the rest of the season.

Rule changes

 * In response to the sudden uptick in Local Leasing and part-time entries, NASCAR will expand the field to 60 cars on superspeedways, 51 cars on intermediate tracks, and 48 cars on road courses, while short tracks and dirt tracks will still have a 46-car field.
 * This season will see the return of the Winston Million, renamed the Monster Million, due to its Monster Energy sponsorship. 2019 will also see the return of the No Bull 5, renamed the CompuServe 5, and for a $500,000 bonus.
 * On January 4, 2019, NASCAR announced a new post-race inspection rule in all three series, where race-winning teams found to be in violation of the rule book will automatically be disqualified. Following a race, the first-place and second-place team, along with at least one randomly selected car, will undergo post-race inspection. The car that fails the inspection will receive last-place points.

Schedule
The 2019 schedule was released on April 3, 2018. Sonoma Raceway will return to the original 2.52 mile course configuration for the first time since 1997, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway will switch to its infield road course in lieu of its oval, citing better racing. The race times were announced on December 11, 2018. The only changes were the Martinsville, Indianapolis and North Wilkesboro races being moved to prime time that day compared to last year.

Changes
The 2019 schedule for the NASCAR Cup Series will undergo a series of significant changes.