Say What?

"My mind is on Kansas. I want to go there and win. I have led a lot of laps there and come close to a couple of different wins. I want to go there and lead a bunch of laps and try and get another win and then look forward to Martinsville. I don’t want to change up what we have been doing; still take it week by week and do a great job every weekend and carry some momentum into Phoenix. I think it would be bad if we went to Kansas and Martinsville and had a couple of DNFs because we are ‘relaxed.’ Hopefully we can go through these next couple of weeks, have a few good runs and head into Phoenix with some good momentum." - Kyle Larson

"I think Kansas has been a great racetrack and, really from a driver’s standpoint, a fun racetrack because of the fact that it’s worn in so well. You can race at the top of the racetrack, which is the preferred groove as the tires wear out. It’s faster at the bottom of the racetrack on new tires. But as a driver, having options is something that is a lot of fun. As they repave Atlanta and you look at some of the other racetracks, really Kansas is going to be one of the more unique racetracks because of the fact the asphalt and the shape of the racetrack is so driver-friendly as far as where you can drive on the racetrack. You can literally drive from the wall to the apron all the way around the racetrack. So, it’s a fun racetrack. It’s been good to us and, hopefully, we can continue that trend on Sunday in our Subway Delivery Ford Mustang." - Kevin Harvick

"Kansas, we’ve actually seen as many big wrecks as we’ve seen anywhere, and a lot of them come on restarts, guys trying to push their lanes forward, guys going three-wide in a lane that closes and it causes a wreck, so there is just a lot of pushing that goes on, on restarts because you are trying to get your lane to move forward and advance and sometimes that pushing just gets a little too far. Kansas has been an attrition racetrack. It really has for whatever reason. You’ve got to treat it with respect and certainly on these restarts, you’ve got to manage your risks." - Denny Hamlin

"The fall is usually always cooler than when we go there earlier in the year. It creates a lot of more wide-open throttle time because of that. You still move around the racetrack just as much and the restarts are just as crazy, but your on-throttle time is probably the biggest difference between the two races. It makes it a little bit easier to race but it’s still a tough track because I feel like the surface is pretty hard on tires. It sets it up to be a fun race to be in and I’m sure it’s a fun race to watch for fans. Something about that place clicked early on for me in Trucks and Xfinity. I struggled a bit there when I first got to Cup, but I think I’ve learned a lot over the years and it’s become one of my best tracks now." - William Byron

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.