JR Motorsports has parted ways with its competition director and crew chief for the No. 5 NASCAR Nationwide Series Chevrolet effective immediately.
The team, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, announced the decision Friday.
“The conversation Tony Sr. and I had was one of the most difficult I’ve ever been a part of,” Earnhardt Miller said.
Eury, an uncle to both Earnhardts, is a winner of 55 NASCAR races in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series as a crew chief.
Eury was crew chief for Toronto’s Ron Fellows in his Nationwide races this season —with fifth places finishes at both Road America and Watkins Glen.
In a team release Earnhardt Miller said the change was made after first taking Eury off the box of the No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Cole Whitt.
“In an effort to improve performance, a crew chief swap was implemented in April between Eury Sr. and Bruce Cook,” the release said. “Cook took over of the company’s flagship No. 88 team driven by Cole Whitt, while Eury turned his attention to the partial entry No. 5 team driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ron Fellows while still serving as competition director. Whitt responded with two top-fives and eight top-10s in 19 races, while the Earnhardt/Fellows duo scored fifth-place finishes in three of its four races.”
Earnhardt Jr. said the team needed a change.
“We felt like we wanted to make some gains or make some changes and try to do something different and try to improve our company and our team,” Earnhardt said. “We need to do something directional that’s different than what we’re doing.
“And this is one piece of that. I think that there will be some more things we’ll do to try to become a better race team for next year.”
Eury said he has no immediate plans.
“I want what’s best for Dale Jr., Kelley, Tony Jr., and all those employees. I really do,” Eury Sr. said. “We accomplished a lot in a short time, and nobody is prouder of that than I am. I’m not sure what’s next for me, and I’m not sure I’m in a hurry to find out.”
Categories: General