The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take to what has the potential to be a very wet Dover International Speedway this weekend for the first elimination race in the Chase.

Here is the weekend schedule and pre-race notebook to get you up to speed before the race weekend is underway.

Weekend Schedule - (all times Eastern)

Friday, October 2

- Practice: 11:00 am - 12:20 pm

- Qualifying: 3:45 pm

Saturday, October 3

- Practice: 11:00 - 11:55 am

- Final practice: 2:00 - 2:50 pm

Sunday, October 4

- Race: 2:30 pm (400 laps, 400 miles)

Notebook

- Last week, Matt Kenseth won at New Hampshire to clinch his spot in the next round of the Chase, joining Denny Hamlin who won at Chicagoland. Defending series champion Kevin Harvick came into the race last weekend needing a good run after crashing early at Chicago, and he had it as he found himself leading with just five laps to go. However, his day ended when he ran out of fuel with three laps to go, allowing Kenseth to cruise by him and take the win. Harvick now essentially needs a win this weekend at Dover or he will be one of the four drivers to be eliminated.

- Another driver who needs a good run at Dover is Kyle Busch, who made the Chase thanks to his four wins in the regular season after missing the first part of the season with a broken leg he suffered in the season-opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona. The odds do favor Busch, as he has previously won twice at Dover, also earning 13 top-10 finishes. He will need one of those top-10s this weekend to avoid being eliminated.

- After Jeff Gordon set the NASCAR all-time consecutive start record last week, Jimmie Johnson is set to make his 500th career start at Dover. In his career, he has dominated at the track, posting 10 wins - including three of the last four visits. He is the only active driver who has 10 wins at any single track.

- Joe Gibbs Racing continued their dominance at New Hampshire with now both of the first two Chase races have seen a Gibbs entry be victorious. Additionally, this is the first time since 1956 that a team has had a consecutive 1-2 finish in three straight races.

- Another Gibbs driver, Carl Edwards, sits in third position on the Chase grid, poised to join his teammates in the next round. Edwards can clinch a spot in the next round by: finishing 32nd or better; finishing 33rd and leading a lap; or finishing 34th and leading the most laps.

- Weather could potentially be a factor this weekend, as Tropical Storm Joaquin bears down on the East Coast of the United States. There are different models that all say different things, but if the storm causes the race to be postponed, NASCAR will have to do some quick thinking to determine how to make it up. Most likely, if the race can not be run on Sunday, it will be pushed back to Monday morning, weather permitting.

Follow @NASCARonVAVEL on Twitter for live tweets and more during the weekend at Dover.

Stevie Larson is a writer for VAVEL USA NASCAR section. You can follow him on Twitter at @littletwinsfan.