Erik Jones feels that the lack of practice has made it difficult in his transition to Richard Petty Motorsports this season.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still affecting the sports this year as the races are being carried out without any practise or qualifying sessions. While the drivers are used to the new situation, Jones feels that he has been left a bit behind due to the fact that he had to adapt to new working conditions in RPM.
“Last year, I didn’t really think much of (not practicing), but I’d also been with that organization for a few years with the same crew chief. So, we had a lot of notes,” Jones said. “We’re kind of going in a little bit blind this year with a new team and a new crew chief and a new car and a new manufacturer.
“Everything is a lot different. So, having no notes has made the no practice just stand out more for me this year over last year.”
Jones hasn’t had the best of starts in his RPM career. He sits 27th in the series standings and has only two Top-10 finishes to show for this season.
“I think we just go out every week with the hope to run a Top 10. We’ve done that a few times. I think we are probably capable of doing it a few more; we just didn’t have things really work out for us,” he said.
“So, I think we’ve kept our expectations pretty similar to what we began the year with. And that’s just going out and trying to obviously, get those Top 10’s and take advantage of the places we know we can go up front and try to win at.”
His best-placed finish came at the Bristol Dirt Track where he finished ninth.