"Last year, we were one of the best cars out there, along with Joey [Logano] and Kyle [Busch]. We were up there and fighting for the lead a ton. It’s a place I’ve always liked, so we were able to get our car where we needed to fairly quickly with a full practice session and time to work on the car during the weekend. Hoping we can pick back up where we left off there. St. Louis is flat like Phoenix, but it’s a lot more worn out. Hoping we can have another strong effort there with our Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry TRD and be up front toward the end and have a shot to win there." - Martin Truex Jr.

"[World Wide Technology Raceway] is a track that we need to make some improvements at. We’ve really been focusing on that this season though, not only getting better and staying consistent, but really focusing on those tracks that we seem to not be as strong at. It’s going to be a really hot weekend, just like it was last year. I think we have a better idea of what to expect this year than we did last year, and we’ve been unloading close to what we need this year, which is promising. I’m optimistic for this weekend with how we’ve been executing so far this year." - William Byron

"I think this is a weekend where we can put the pieces together to find that consistency through a race and get a good result. The shorter tracks are places where we can go in, lead a lot of laps and get a lot of stage points, and hopefully win the race. We’re kind of right on that cutline for the playoffs, so winning a race would make life way easier, and this weekend is a great opportunity for us to do that. Last year, we were able to sit on the pole and lead laps before the blown tire, so we know that we have a car and setup that’s capable, it’s just a matter of applying the differences to what this year brings." - Chase Briscoe

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch. He can be reached via e-mail at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.