LONG POND, Pa. – With 20 laps to go in the scheduled distance of the Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway, Erik Jones held the lead but there was cause for concern. Did he have enough fuel to make it to the finish? Could he outlast a hungry pack of cars — including two teammates — right behind him?
Thanks to his fuel-saving efforts on the last run and two late cautions, Jones had enough to score the runner-up finish. That economical approach, however, helped Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin make the pass for the lead on Lap 144 – a position Hamlin would not surrender the rest of the way through the NASCAR Overtime finish. All in all, JGR finished 1-2-3 on the day and Kyle Busch finished ninth while running on a different strategy.
MORE: Full Pocono results
“We had a little less fuel than them on the last run so we had to save more,” Jones said. “They felt like they got to a point where they felt like they saved enough to get real close to making it so they started pushing it. I wasn’t in position to do that so I continued to save. At that point when it was still green I was hoping they would run out with me having to save as much as I was.
“… The caution came out, looking back on it, I wish we would have just ran hard. If we ran hard, we wouldn’t have given up the lead and we would have been in the lead on the restart and probably wouldn’t have given up the lead there either. It’s easy to look back and say I would do that different but at the time, it was our best opportunity.”
At the same time, though, Jones was happy to extend his position in the standings as he drives towards a second straight playoff appearance.
MORE: Full Cup standings
“If we have a day where we run out of fuel because we’re pushing to get a win and we don’t make it, that’s a pretty bad day where we finish 25th coming down to get fuel and lose all these points we’ve gained here the last month,” Jones said. “We’re in a spot now where we are almost a race up on the cutoff line. It’s a good feeling and it took a long time to get there so we don’t want to give it up all at one time.”
The runner-up finish was his third top-three finish in as many races and eighth top 10 in the past 11 races this season. The finish was also his third straight top five at Pocono. The significance of the day was not lost on team owner Joe Gibbs, who also addressed that the organization continues to work on a new deal for the 23-year-old driver.
“They’re the ones we worry about because our other guys are in (the playoffs),” Gibbs said. “Erik was on that edge. Of course, running out of fuel would be a disaster for them. Right now, I think the last three weeks show where the team is. Chris Gayle has done a great job and I think Erik can sense it and we all know with young guys.
“Once they get it, it can be something special for them and I think Erik is on the verge. Everybody on our race team, we’re all excited about Erik and his future and we’re doing everything we can to put everything in place to make sure we have him taken care of.”
Jones feels like he is getting closer to Victory Lane with solid results in his past at Watkins Glen, the Bristol night race and Darlington – three of the next four tracks on the schedule.
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“There’s not a track coming up the rest of the year that I don’t feel we can’t run well at and that’s a good feeling,” Jones said. “I know we’re going to win one. We can’t keep running third every week. It’s just going to happen eventually.”
