Erik Jones ran one NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race last year, in a substitute role for Noah Gragson at Kyle Busch Motorsports.
As it turned out, that experience informed his opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Pocono Raceway, where Jones started 31st in the No. 18 truck last year because of the driver change and charged to a runner-up finish.
“I never really would have thought this, but I drove that truck here last year filling in, and it actually helped me a lot making my first few laps (in Friday’s Cup practice), because I kind of knew it would be similar to that,” Jones said Friday during a question and answer session with reporters at the Tricky Triangle, venue for Sunday’s Pocono 400 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“So I tried to copy that a little bit, and it was pretty close. You lift probably a little more in (Turn) 1 than I thought, I guess if I really have to pin it down, but you’re carrying a lot of speed. You’re not off the throttle much, compared to what we had here the last couple years.
The higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package introduced this year will yield significant differences in the way drivers turn a lap at the 2.5-mile, three-cornered track. For one thing, a new gear rule effectively eliminates shifting gears down the frontstretch. For another, off-throttle time is lessened, though Jones found in practice that he was using more brake than he expected.
“Probably more than I thought,” acknowledged Jones, who was fourth on the speed chart in final practice. “Going into the weekend, yeah, I didn’t think we’d be needing much of any (brake) in any of the corners, really.
“I’m using a little bit into (Turn) 1—I mean a really small amount. None really into (Turns) 2 or 3. Not any significant amount. I didn’t know that we’d be using any brake, so it’s a little bit more than I thought. As far as throttle traces and how I thought it was going to drive, it feels pretty close.”
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
