Say What?!

"Superspeedway racing accelerates your age in dog years, it feels like. We were able to lead some laps last year and had a shot to win to try and back up our spring win. Surviving is the most important thing but we can just easily wreck on lap 30. Those last 40 laps are just about holding onto the track position you have, and if it’s your time to crash, it’s your time to crash." - Ross Chastain
 

"Talladega is a lot different than normal weeks. It’s a lot of strategy and a lot of talk with my teammates and trying to plan to work together to get to the end of that thing. It seems like every time we go back there it’s a little bit different. It’s changed a lot over the years and a lot in the past few years. Starting last year with this new NextGen car, it was quite a bit different racing there. Still trying to figure out how to get that first win at Talladega. We’ve been close there before and ran really strong there last year with our Bass Pro Shops Camry, so just looking to build on that and focus on what it’s going to take to try and get our first win there.
 

"I would like to [win a superspeedway race], it’s something we put a lot of work and effort into. I would say it’s probably not my best style of racing. For us, I think that we are always damaged, so if we can ever get to the end of one of those races and are at the front, we would have a chance. If we get that chance again, we need to be able to figure out how to make the right moves. Would love to be there at the end at Talladega this weekend and have a shot to win with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD." - Martin Truex Jr.

"It’s one of those places where you want to race up front and race hard all day because you have to try to win stages. I believe you have better odds at the front of the pack when it comes to staying out of a wreck if you can keep that track position all day. You’re going to race in a pack – three-wide at times – and you’re going to get pushed and have to push at times. You just never know what’s going to happen because Talladega is its own animal. It’s hard to finish a race there. As we’ve seen over the past however many years, you try to put yourself in the right position and hope you have a little bit of luck on your side that particular day. I know our Busch Light Ford Mustang will be fast enough to contend for the win, but you just have to get to the finish." - Kevin Harvick

"I am actually really looking forward to running my first superspeedway race in the Cup Series this weekend. The results might not show it, but I’ve had a blast racing at Talladega in the Truck Series. We’ve just had some unfortunate luck that’s kept us from finishing well. From everybody that I’ve talked to that’s driven both, I’m anticipating a bit of a different race to play out on Sunday. The Cup guys are so good at managing their cars and taking care of one another out there, that I don’t really feel all that much pressure not to put a foot wrong. Saturday will be a different feeling for sure, we’ve only got an 18 point gap to the cutoff line, and the Truck Series drivers always race [aggressively]. I feel like I can still learn and take some notes heading into Sunday, but there’s definitely going to be a different mindset. The LEGACY M.C. cars are always super-fast at these tracks, and Erik’s been close to winning on a few occasions, so I think if we can play our cards right, we’ll definitely have a shot at it. I can’t wait to try it out." - Carson Hocevar