Bires out of No. 88 for JRM, McMurray to drive at Texas
JR Motorsports will undergo a driver change to its No. 88 Nationwide Series team effective this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, general manager and co-owner Kelley Earnhardt announced Tuesday.
The organization has released 25-year-old Kelly Bires from his contractual driving duties of the No. 88 Chevrolet. Cup Series regular Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, has agreed to a deal that puts him in the No. 88 for nine races. Those races include the six upcoming Nationwide Series events -- Texas (April 17), Talladega (April 24), Richmond (April 30), Darlington (May 7), Dover (May 15) and Charlotte (May 30) -- plus Chicagoland (July 9), Atlanta (Sept. 4) and the return trip to Charlotte (Oct. 15).
A native of Joplin, Mo., McMurray is the reigning Daytona 500 champion. He is a seven-time winner in the Nationwide Series with 27 top-fives, 59 top-10s, and three poles. No driver decisions for the No. 88 have been determined beyond McMurray's nine races.
"We are extremely appreciative of Kelly Bires and wish him the best," Earnhardt said. "Internally, it was evident the chemistry that is imperative for us to succeed in this highly competitive industry was simply not there. That is the fault of no one person. We owe it to our fans and sponsors to make necessary adjustments in an effort to put our best product on the track, and we'll continue evaluating our progress until we are confident that our full potential is being reached."
Under the direction of crew chief Tony Eury, the No. 88 team has finished third in the Nationwide Series point standings each of the past two seasons, accumulating six total victories. In six races this season, the team has one top-10 finish (seventh at Auto Club Speedway). Bires competed in six races for JRM dating back to last November at Homestead. He raced the No. 88 in five of the six Nationwide Series events this year, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. driving the season opener at Daytona.
The alteration to the No. 88 team does not change plans for the No. 7 team, which presently is to run the full Nationwide Series schedule with multiple drivers. Landon Cassill began a part-time stint last weekend at Phoenix, becoming the third driver this season to get behind the wheel of the No. 7 prepared by crew chief and co-owner Tony Eury Jr. Cassill will race the car this weekend at Texas. Danica Patrick has 10 of her scheduled 13 races remaining on the 2010 slate. Scott Wimmer recently completed a two-race commitment and posted season-best finishes of 10th at Bristol and seventh at Nashville. Driving vacancies left on the No. 7 schedule are still to be determined.
nascar.com
I LOVE THIS!! Just sayin wink gives me more reason to watch Nationwide races!!
