JR Motorsports announced that Tony Eury Jr.'s stint as crew chief on Danica Patrick's NASCAR Nationwide Series car has come to an end.
“Unfortunately Tony Jr. is no longer with the company," team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said in a statement. "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.”
In her first full season of Nationwide Series competition, Patrick currently is 11th in points with a best finish of eighth, at Texas in April. Patrick is scheduled to go Sprint Cup racing full time next season with Stewart-Haas Racing, and JRM has yet to confirm its Nationwide Series plans for 2013. The team also fields a car in Nationwide for Cole Whitt, who is currently seventh in the standings.
The exit of Eury Jr. follows the departure from the organization of his father, Tony Eury Sr., as JRM's competition director earlier this month.