Chase Elliott To Drive for JRM

Today JR Motorsports reported that Chase Elliott, the son of Bill Elliott, has been signed to drive the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy.

He'll be driving the car full-time in the Nationwide Series.

How neat... the son to drive the same number his dad made famous, the No. 9.

In other news, it looks like NAPA has found themselves a new house to sponsor in NASCAR.  At least in the Nationwide Series.

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JR Motorsports and Tony Eury Jr. - Surprising Parting of Ways

Yesterday it was announced that Tony Eury Jr. parted ways with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports.

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]

Penalties Across the Board

Over in the Nationwide side of the NASCAR fence in regards to the post race altercation at Lowe's,

• Tony Eury Sr. was fined $1,000 and placed on probation until June 25,
• JR Motorsports crew member Michael Sandlin will serve a one-race suspension from the Nationwide Series. He has been placed on probation until Oct. 15 and also has been fined $1,500
• Jordan Allen, another JR Motorsports crew member, also has been placed on probation until Oct. 15 and fined $1,500.

They all violated section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing), Eury violated 9-4A (the crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his or her team), while Sandlin and Allen both failed to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and had inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official during the post-race altercation. (In other words, they be busy dishing out opinion on the road!!)
NASCAR

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Back on the SPRINT Cup side of things and the expected penalties for Haas CNC Racing, the escalated penalties were handed out in which many were surprised by:

The rules broken were 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20-3.1.3A (wing mounting locations were not as specified by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book).

The penalties were:

• Riggs has been penalized 150 driver points
• No. 66 car owner Joe Custer has been penalized 150 owner points
  
• Sauter has been penalized 150 driver points
  
• No. 70 car owner Margaret Haas has been penalized 150 owner points
  
• Both the crew chiefs and the car chiefs for the two cars -- Bootie Barker and Derick Jennings for the No. 66 and Dave Skog and Thomas Harris for the No. 70 -- have been suspended from the next six Sprint Cup Series events, suspended from NASCAR until July 9 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31;

Additionally, Barker and Skog each have been fined $100,000.

The penalty also includes NASCAR's confiscation of team 66 Serial Number HMS 12 06 415 race car and team 70 Serial Number HMS 04 08 507 race car.

NASCAR

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I must digress on one issue, and that is when NASCAR said they would escalate COT penalties, I took it to mean each successive penalty would be more severe than the previous one - per team, not escalation across the board regardless of who was next.. wow.. it sucks to be Haas right now and this impacts their top 35 standings...

More on the top 35 later..

A Few Changes for Some

Over at JR Motorsports, Steve Crisp has stepped down as director to pursue non-racing interests. (What? There's something other than racing??)

Stepping into his shows is Gus Larkin. Hopefully, they fit!
SceneDaily
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Hall of Fame Racing and competition director Philippe Lopez have parted ways the other day, as reported in SceneDaily.

Jeremy McGrath Leaves JR Motorsports

What?!

JR Motorsports development driver Jeremy McGrath has left the team and has joined a Late Model team on the West Coast, closer to his home. (The man is not thinking clearly in my opinion, but hey, let's see what else there is to read.)

"He wanted to drive a stock car, but he didn't want to get into the traveling. "And he didn't want to relocate his family. Looking at those two components, that means he probably needed to do it on the West Coast." (Well, ok, that makes sense, sort of.)

See the whole article at scenedaily

Earnhardt Jr Licensing

The future licensing rights to Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be negotiated by Earnhardt’s own company, JR Motorsports, not Hendrick Motorsports, for whom he’ll drive next season. It’s yet another indication of the way the popular driver is maintaining control of his name and brand, as his father had more than likely taught him.

Earnhardt will be the only NASCAR driver whose personal company controls the licensing of his team’s merchandise and apparel. And that's how you keep control of your own destiny, as I'm sure he's learned from being at DEI.

Read the rest of the interesting facts and numbers at SportsBusinessJournal

New Driver for JR Motorsports

Brad Keselowski will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet, replacing Shane Huffman, in the next three Busch Series races for JR Motorsports, starting Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway. Keselowski will also pilot the car at Gateway International Raceway and O'Reilly Raceway Park.

If you remember, Keselowski ran real well in the last Craftsman Truck race, was leading until he got punted for the win by Kvapil.

"I've watched Brad for a while and he's shown a lot of promise in the few Busch races he's run," Dale Earnhardt Jr., said. "He became available at a time when we were looking to make some changes to our program and everything just lined up

RacingOne

JRM - Huffman Out, Jr In

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive his own race car Friday night when he replaces Shane Huffman in the Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt will drive the No. 88 Chevrolet and said Tuesday he is searching for a permanent replacement for Huffman.

"Upon a midseason evaluation of the performance of this race team, we decided we needed to make a change, and right now we have a window to do that," Earnhardt said Tuesday. "Because of the short notice, I am going to drive the Navy car Friday night at Daytona."

See the rest at nascar.com

Tony Eury Sr Leaves DEI

And so it begins.. the expected exodus from DEI

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has turned to a familiar face and proven winner to help lead the competition efforts of his race team, announcing today that his uncle and longtime NASCAR crew chief, Tony Eury Sr., has been named Director of Competition at JR Motorsports.

Commonly referred to as "Pops" around the NASCAR garage, Eury Sr. will oversee competition and technical support for all of JR Motorsports, which includes a full-time NASCAR Busch Series program, a USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series entry, and three late model teams. His new role at JRM will begin immediately, as he will work closely with crew chief Wes Ward, motorsports director Steve Crisp, and driver Shane Huffman in preparation for Saturday’s Camping World 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on ABC). The No. 88 Navy Accelerate Your Life team enters the weekend on the heels of consecutive top-10 finishes at Kentucky and Milwaukee.

.............. see the rest at RacingOne

Dale Jr Adidas Line of Clothing

When will it stop?

Who knows, but Jr is branching out into a new product realm for NASCAR with a clothing line under the Adidas label, as "NASCAR-related apparel and merchandise has essentially been nonexistent in the top sporting goods chains and Adidas’ relationships in that space could provide a significant distribution push for Earnhardt’s apparel."

Way to go Jr...

See the nitty girtty (It's actually a very informative article) at Sportsbusiness journal

Bruce Simmons, The Fan Reporter