Jamie Whincup describes the Newcastle 500 track as a "rough, bumpy, concrete-canyon" that Supercars drivers can't wait to race on.
David Reynolds says "it's rough, it's hard, it's high-concentration [and] high-risk; everything we love".
"One of the best street tracks, I think, in the world," Reynolds tells the Newcastle Herald.
Both drivers say the difference between Newcastle and any other track Supercars visit is the level of concentration it requires.
Behind the wheel, there's nowhere to take a physical or mental breather.
Drop the ball and, quite quickly, you're into the fence.
"You've got to be focused the entire time because there's nowhere you can rest; you're constantly thinking, constantly trying to place the car, constantly trying to navigate the concrete jungle," Reynolds says.
"You can't have a lapse of concentration at all otherwise you may stuff up and you're in the fence."
Whincup offers a similar opinion, adding: "One little error, one little lock up or slide and you could be hard in the concrete and your weekend's over.
"Just driving around this track's hard work, but battling all the curve balls that usually get thrown at you on a street track and standing on the top of the podium [at the end] is pretty special."
Outside of two-time winner Scott McLaughlin, Whincup and Reynolds are the only two names on the Newcastle 500 winners' list.
Whincup dramatically claimed the drivers' championship when he won race two of the inaugural event in 2017, edging out McLaughlin who suffered a string of penalties in the race to miss the title by a matter of points.
Reynolds secured victory in race two last year after McLaughlin, again vying for the championship, played it safe and let him pass - although Reynolds reckons he was a red-hot chance to find his way to the front anyway.
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The Newcastle Herald sought out the two drivers to discover the secret to success on the Newcastle track.
They backed up their past form on Friday with Whincup recording the fastest time of the day. Reynolds wasn't far behind, having set the second-fastest time in practice one and the fifth-fastest in practice two.
The top 23 drivers were split by less than eight tenths across the day.
Whincup, a 15-year veteran in the category, says there are not too many tracks like Newcastle this Supercars season, which began in late February and has involved 15 rounds across Australia and New Zealand.
"It's a slogfest, most street tracks are, but this one is up there," he says.
"This is like a Gold Coast - not many straights, just corner after corner.
"The terrain here makes this place really unique.
"You fly out of turn one up the top of the hill and then that run down, two big runs down the hill after turn two, and then through this really fast section [Nobbys].
"It makes this place really challenging.
"To finish this race is hard work, to finish it in front of everybody else - gives you a massive reward."
The 36-year-old Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver, who sits third in the championship coming into the Newcastle 500, says the lack of a lengthy straight makes the track extra challenging.
"There's no real straight section, it's all go, go, go," he says.
"The only straight bit is from turn one to turn two, but then you've got to negotiate the light rail, over those big bumps and then get the car back into position for the braking up into turn two.
"It's a rewarding place; when you get it right."
Whincup got it right when he claimed his seventh drivers' championship on the track in 2017.
But many fans remember the race, and championship, for how McLaughlin got it so wrong.
In the hunt for his first drivers' championship, the DJR Team Penske driver was hit with multiple time penalties and effectively stripped of the title.
But it's a victory Whincup says he will remember forever. The Gold Coast-based driver famously celebrated by diving into the water fountain outside Customs House.
"The last round's always special if you do grab a championship," he says.
"I'd hate to compare my championships but 2017, coming down to the last lap of the last race, if there's one championship that's extra special - it would be that one.
"This place is always going to be a special place for me, and my crew, for the rest of my life. I'd love to be able to do it again one day."
Whincup finished both of last year's races in third, after having a running battle all weekend with Fabian Coulthard. Despite ticking all the boxes to create an ongoing rivalry, Whincup says the two drivers made peace immediately after the round.
"Both Fabian and I were trying to help our teammates win the grand prize," Whincup says. "He was a bit cheeky on the Saturday. I returned serve on the Sunday.
"We both had a chat on the Sunday night and went, 'hey, we played the team game there but it wasn't good for either of us being in the fence'. So we called a truce.
"That got sorted about 15 minutes after the second race. One-all, let's move on. We're actually good mates, we live five minutes away from each other. I'm a big fan of Fabian's."
Reynolds' victory came on the back of securing pole position. His car was considered the fastest on track across the weekend.
"I've actually had a pretty good track record there," Reynolds says.
"I've missed one day on the podium. Every other time I've been on the podium. Three out of four times I've been on the podium, with one win.
"We ended up poling the shootout, my car was really, really good.
"Genuinely if you're pole that means you've got the fastest car and you've got the best chance to win."
McLaughlin let Reynolds pass in the race, but the Penrite Racing driver maintains he could have passed the championship leader.
"We put a really good first stint in and then we got undercut by car 17 at the time," he says.
"My car was better towards the end of the race and I hunted him down.
"He was in the hunt for the championship ... and he let me pass. But in my head, I would have tried to pass him and got the job done.
"I had nothing to lose and he had everything to lose."
Reynolds is desperate to win a race in Newcastle after a difficult 2019.
He is sixth in the drivers' championship but is yet to stand on the top of the podium this season. He jokes there is no better race to win than the final race of the year.
"In racing you're only as good as your last race, and you want to win the last race of the year because you'll feel good for the longest," the man known as a joker says.
The 34-year-old makes no joke about how tough it is to win a race in Newcastle, which he says is a "very bumpy" track.
"It's a notoriously tough track," he says.
"What was really cool about the last race of the last year, I think we basically lapped up to 11th or 12th [position]. We basically lapped half the field. My car was very, very, very fast.
"You've got to have a car that's makes grip otherwise you can't do your job. Just have a good car that rides the bumps because it's very, very bumpy."
Both Whincup and Reynolds reference the lack of rest-time on the track multiple times. Reynolds explains by comparing the track to Bathurst's well known Mount Panorama.
"Bathurst has got a very, very hard section from turn two all the way to [Forest] Elbow," he says.
"But the two big long straights, that's where you have the biggest breather.
"That's where you try to relax yourself, shake your hands, shake out your legs and try to help your body to have a rest."
With practice over and drivers having accustomed themselves to the track, qualifying on Saturday morning will determine who participates in the Top 10 Shootout at 1.15pm.
Then the slugfest, on "one of the best street tracks in the world", begins at 4.15pm.
One little error, one little lock up or slide and you could be hard in the concrete and your weekend's over.
Jamie Whincup on the Newcastle track
