Erik Jones‘ tire changer, Justin Fiedler, has addressed a crucial issue concerning NASCAR’s pit stops and one lag set-up.
With only 11 races down the line, we have witnessed several cars losing wheels in the middle of the track following loose wheel nuts.
Following last week’s event, where Denny Hamlin’s wheel came off on the pit road, Jones’ tire changer shared an informative thread on his Twitter account. He dug deep into his experience with loose tires and shared his thoughts on what could be done differently to curb this issue.
With the aid of a video from his helmet-cam view of Jones’ No.43 tire change, Fiedler wrote:
“Right now we are seeing a few big challenges. The first is changers, I think especially less experienced changers, understanding when a nut is tight.”
He continued:
“From the time I’m engaged on the nut, to the swap of tires, to the nut being tight again is about 2.5 seconds. As a comparison, that is probably 2 seconds faster than a 5 lug stop. So there is much less time to make decisions. You better be confident it’s tight before you leave.”
Erik Jones’ performance in the NASCAR Cup Series 2022 season
Erik Jones delivered an impressive performance last weekend at the Monster Mile, securing a top-ten finish. It marked his first back-to-back top-ten finish since fall of the 2020 season.
Additionally, Jones recorded a sixth-place finish after a long day at Talladega Superspeedway. He also pocketed a top-five finish when he placed third in California, which was the second race of the season.
Despite having a zero wheel issue, Erik Jones is no stranger to spinning and making contact with the walls.
Also Read
Article Continues below
In Las Vegas, his car got loose and lost control, hitting the outer wall. Things were the same in the following race in Phoenix. He spun in the middle of the track but managed to soldier on.