Say What?!

"I enjoy going to Watkins Glen. I think it’s a really fun road course. I’ve had good success there with a lot of top 10s. It’s just a neat racetrack. I always enjoyed going to Sonoma and to Watkins Glen when we only had two road races on the schedule. It was always kind of like off weeks where you just did something different. You turn right, you turn left, you didn’t really have to take it too seriously and be pretty good at it. Now there’s seven road courses on the schedule so everybody is getting better at it.

"I think what makes Watkins Glen unique from other road courses is that it feels like a superspeedway because you’re going so fast there. Through the Esses is pretty fast and it’s 190 miles per hour down the backstretch. Your minimum speed drops a little bit into turn 1, turn 11 and through the Bus Stop. It’s just a really cool place with good braking zones to make some passes. It’s just a fun course." - Kyle Busch

"At Watkins Glen, I always know what I need out of the car. Where this team is good, and why we were good last year, our Love’s guys can quickly adjust in a short practice or qualifying. I can also give them feedback on our setup before we get to the track of what we need to do to be fast. So, yes, I think that gives us a lot of confidence." - Michael McDowell

"Watkins Glen is kind of a road racing treasure in our country, just because of all the history and things that it has between the town and the track. That venue has held some great races throughout the years, and our races up there during the last decade have been full of fans and a lot of fun to see how road racing has progressed through the years. It’s fun to go up there. You get a lot of Canadians that come to that particular race at the end of their summer break and it just turns into a fun event.

"Watkins Glen is home to one of my favorite wins because I was able to beat Tony [Stewart in 2006]. That was a fun day. Tony has always been really good at Watkins Glen and had a lot of success up there. It’s just a fast racetrack with some unique corners that determine the amount of speed that’s in the lap just because of where the car placement is. The thing that I remember about racing Tony that year is just how good he was in the braking zone going into the Bus Stop in the back. He was always a good road racer and, in those years, he was getting in the Grand-Am cars and he wouldn’t even practice. He would just show up at the races and jump in the car and be competitive. That was just what he did, and he could do that in pretty much anything, and Watkins Glen was just another one of those places that stood out for him through the years where he just dominated." - Kevin Harvick

"We will have better preparation on our end, I have another week with the team to prepare. I look back at what we learned from Indy – I think qualifying in a better position will be crucial so it makes life hopefully easier in the race. From my end, I need to execute better and not make any mistakes like I did in Indy speeding on pit lane because it probably cost us a top 15 finish.

My experience at Watkins Glen should not hurt as I did race a Cup car last year but most of my time on the track has been in a prototype. I raced there this year in IMSA but it’s a different track configuration. Regardless, I love this place, Watkins Glen is a proper road course and I hope that all our work in the SIM sessions, debriefs and everything we do this week will be a buildup from Indy. we hope that we have a solid weekend. I am quite confident we can be better than last week." - Mike Rockenfeller