{"id":26291,"date":"2019-05-31T16:40:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T21:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=26291"},"modified":"2019-06-02T13:41:58","modified_gmt":"2019-06-02T18:41:58","slug":"nascar-friday-pocono-notebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/31\/nascar-friday-pocono-notebook-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Friday Pocono Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After last year\u2019s warm-up, Erik Jones keeps on truckin\u2019 in Cup car<\/b><\/p>\n

Erik Jones ran one NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race last year, in a substitute role for Noah Gragson at Kyle Busch Motorsports.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s Cup practice), because I kind of knew it would be similar to that,\u201d Jones said Friday during a question and answer session with reporters at the Tricky Triangle, venue for Sunday\u2019s Pocono 400 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\u201cSo 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\u2019re carrying a lot of speed. You\u2019re not off the throttle much, compared to what we had here the last couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably more than I thought,\u201d acknowledged Jones, who was fourth on the speed chart in final practice. \u201cGoing into the weekend, yeah, I didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be needing much of any (brake) in any of the corners, really.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m using a little bit into (Turn) 1\u2014I mean a really small amount. None really into (Turns) 2 or 3. Not any significant amount. I didn\u2019t know that we\u2019d be using any brake, so it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTING BUBBA WALLACE, VICTORY JUNCTION<\/b><\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace has a new sponsor livery on the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway this weekend, and it speaks to creative financing that will benefit not only Wallace but also children attending the Victory Junction Gang Camp.<\/p>\n

World Wide Technology founder and chairman David Steward and his family made a leadership gift to the Victory Junction gang Camp, in support of the camp\u2019s mission to enrich the lives of children with chronic medical conditions and serious illnesses.<\/p>\n

Victory Junction, in turn, will appear with World Wide Technology on Wallace\u2019s car for 16 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this season, starting this weekend at the Tricky Triangle. The sponsorship, which operates with the mantra \u201cFeel Your Heart Race,\u201d is fully funded by the Steward Family Foundation through the donation designed to promote the camp and its work with children.<\/p>\n

To team owner Richard Petty, it\u2019s an important breakthrough for an organization that has been operating on a smaller budget than many of its rivals in the Cup series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always important to have good backing for your race car,\u201d Petty said on Friday during the announcement at Pocono Raceway. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a pretty good driver\u2014we\u2019ve just got to get him a better car. As everybody knows, it takes money to make a better car\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect storm for us from a racing standpoint and a perfect storm for Victory Junction to get the name out there. A lot of people\u2019s heard tell of it but don\u2019t know what it is. This is going to give everybody a chance to see what Victory Junction really does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace found out on Tuesday that the partnership had been finalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of speechless at first,\u201d Wallace acknowledged. \u201c\u2026We\u2019ve got an opportunity to set the world on fire. To speak on Victory Junction, I\u2019ve been able to visit twice, three times maybe, and there\u2019s no cooler special place to see. The kids light up and let themselves be kids again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Daniel Suarez, driver of the #41 Haas Automation Demo Days Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on May 31, 2019 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

SHORT STROKES<\/b><\/p>\n

Daniel Suarez sustained his ascendance in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice\u2014at least for one session. After leading both Saturday sessions for last week\u2019s Coca-Cola 600, Suarez was fastest in Friday\u2019s opening session at Pocono Raceway, turning a lap at 171.217 mph. \u201cI feel like we need to be a little bit better in the longer runs,\u201d said the driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, who was 17th fastest in happy Hour\u2026<\/p>\n

Kurt Busch jumped to the top of the speed chart late in final practice, posting a speed on 172.712 mph on his fastest lap. Brad Keselowski was second quickest at 171.798 mph, followed by Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch\u2026<\/p>\n

John Hunter Nemechek lost control of his No. 23 Chevrolet and backed it into the Turn 1 wall early in Friday\u2019s opening NASCAR Xfinity Series practice. Because of extensive damage to the rear and driver\u2019s side of the car, Nemechek\u2019s GMS Racing team opted to go to a backup car and spent the rest of first practice and beyond preparing the backup for the second session. Nemechek was 14th fastest in Xfinity Happy Hour but trailed leader Cole Custer (169.383 mph) by more than three miles per hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   After last year\u2019s warm-up, Erik Jones keeps on truckin\u2019 in Cup car 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":26293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,605,252],"class_list":["post-26291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-pocono-400","tag-pocono-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/MENCS_PR1_SuarezPrac1_053119.jpg?fit=3101%2C2067","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-6Q3","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26291"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26294,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26291\/revisions\/26294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}