Sean Corr racing for hometown crowd at Pocono
“I haven’t run Pocono in a few years…that’s my home track,” Corr said. “I have a lot of family that come out for this one. My aunts and uncles, they all come out. Pocono is convenient for them because of the timing. It’s easy for them to come out after work. For my family and friends, it’s right in our backyard, pretty much.”
Driving the No. 48 Nesco/Empire Racing Group Ford Fusion, Corr is making his third start in the ARCA Racing Series in 2016. Having raced at
Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway so far this season, the ModSpace 150 at Pocono will bring on a new challenge for Empire Racing Group.
In his most recent ARCA start, Corr brought his car home in the fifth position at Talladega. While he remains confident, he understands that Pocono requires a completely different racing technique from the two high-banked tracks he has raced on this year. The unique 2.5-mile three-turn triangle creates unique challenges for drivers and teams.
“Pocono is a totally different animal. At Pocono, you have to lift off the throttle, while at Daytona or Talladega, you better not lift. At those two tracks, you have to lock your foot on the floorboard and keep it planted. Racing at Pocono you can be even faster, but you still have to lift once you reach the corner. You have a long frontstretch before you have to ‘whoa’ it up to make the flat left turn into turn one. You then let off the throttle in the short-shoot before you ‘whoa’ it up for turn three, the final turn. Your performance at Pocono is based off of how you exit turn three to get the speed for the long frontstretch,” Corr explained.
Corr understands the challenges that Pocono may present for him and Empire Racing Group. Understanding the track is one aspect of taking on the “Tricky Triangle,” but making sure the car is balanced on all three of the turns is the most important task the team will face.
“It’s really all about dialing the car in. All three turns are completely different. It’s most important to first always try to get turn three down and feel balanced there. The way you exit turn three makes your race,” Corr said.
He added, “If you exit turn three horribly, you have the long frontstretch and you can’t make that speed up. You also don’t want to be pushing or too loose in turn one, following the high speeds of the frontstretch. Dialing it in for turn three is my main focus. Once we get that, we can make up some time in the other turns. In my personal experience, turn one is always been a little on the tight side later in the race after the tires wear down. But in the end, the exit off of turn three makes or breaks your speed on the straightaway. On Friday, that will be at the top of my list.”
Friday’s ModSpace 150 at Pocono is live on FS1 at 6:00 p.m.
