To many this seemed like a shocking development, because if you follow NASCAR, you know that Dale Jr. has stuck by family through thick and thin over the years.
But as the business side of things gets tighter, and Danica Patrick's crew chief (Eury Jr.) was not getting the car contending for wins, something (else) had to break. And it was letting go of family that lost out.
It's anticipated that Eury Jr. will be replaced by Ryan Pemberton, who was hired last week by the team.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had this to say about the parting of ways:
"Unfortunately, Tony Jr. is no longer with the company. I had hoped he would be here for a long time, but as we've discussed the direction of JR Motorsports moving forward, it was clear our differences in ideas were too vast to overcome. I love him like a brother, and you'll never hear me say a bad thing about him. I know he'll have much success in anything he does going forward. As for our No. 7 team, no decision has been made on who will crew chief that team this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. We will discuss our options and make a decision very soon."
Right now Danica Patrick is 11th in points in the Nationwide Series, and that would seem to be not what was anticipated for her. Next year she's moving to Cup to race for Tony Stewart, though last weekend's Cup event saw her finish a few laps down in 25th.
There are no plans noted yet if she's going to continue to compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series next year. Though judging from performances in both series, I would think it can't hurt.
10 days ago Eury Sr. was also let go from JRM in this end-of-year staff house cleaning.
[NASCAR]
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