JR Motorsports still working on funding, driver lineup

LOUDON, N.H. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is happy to have Kelly Bires as a piece of the JR Motorsports future. Now all Earnhardt Jr. needs to do is find more pieces to go with Bires.

Earnhardt Jr. said sponsorship is 75-80 percent complete for Bires, whose signing was announced this week and most likely will drive the No. 88 Nationwide Series car in place of Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt Jr. said he expects sponsorship for Bires to be completed in the next three weeks, while sponsorship for the team’s No. 5 car, typically driven by multiple drivers, is “wide open” as the team continues trying to solidify its 2010 plans.

“We’ve been talking to Kelly for a month or so, and I’ve watched Kelly for three or four years, ever since he started running,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “He reminds me a lot of Brad. Kelly has been in some really good cars. He’s had some really good opportunities in the series.… He did pretty good in those cars when he ran them.

“Typically, he was good on equipment, and that’s real important to us. … [Crew chief Tony Eury Sr.] eels like we can get with Kelly and not miss a beat. I, on the other hand, feel like it will take a little time for them to gel. But Kelly has definitely got a great opportunity and he’s got enough talent that I think we can be a great combination and run real well.”

JR Motorsports has not announced its sponsor lineup for 2010, although Unilever joined the organization last year in a multiyear deal. GoDaddy.com, which sponsored Keselowski in both the JRM Nationwide wide as well as the Hendrick Motorsports’ Cup ride, announced Friday that it was moving to a 20-race Sprint Cup schedule with Hendrick driver Mark Martin. Another JRM sponsor, Fastenal, has announced it was going to Roush Fenway Racing next year with Carl Edwards.

“It’s always been a challenge to get two cars funded,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We’ve always been in this situation at this time of year and we end up doing OK. … We knew we were probably going to have to fill that [GoDaddy.com] spot, and we were in the same situation with Navy [leaving] when GoDaddy came on board [last year], so we’ve been there before.

“One of our current partners is stepping up and we’re talking to a lot of new folks that have got some really neat opportunities and we still may have some opportunities to work with GoDaddy on a lower scale.”

Earnhardt Jr. said there is a possibility GoDaddy.com could have some involvement with his team.

“They came in and did us a good job, and they helped us,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We can’t run in that series without money, and I won’t run a race if I can’t afford to do it. They were able to keep us on the race track and they were able to learn a lot and understand what they wanted to do, which is this new direction.

“They wanted the Cup exposure. I think it’s great, and I’m glad to be part of their introduction into our sport. We’re definitely leaving that bridge in tact and trying to build some new ones now to make a good replacement. It would be very challenging to find somebody as fun to work with as they were. Things come and go in life.”

Sponsorship could determine who drives the No. 5 car, said Earnhardt Jr., who has talked to several drivers, including Michael McDowell, about that car. Hendrick Motorsports also has development driver Landon Cassill, who drove in 16 races for JR Motorsports last year.

“I would like to bring Landon back, but I need someone who has some interest in funding his opportunity,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “When we looked at Kelly, we had some partners that were interested in that and there was some outside interest in that. The other people  that we’re talking to about the 5 car have some potential sponsor partners that are interested in being involved. Every driver that I talk to, whether it’s Michael McDowell or anybody, I tell them straight up that it’s a challenging market to find sponsors and we’re currently working as hard as we can.”

Earnhardt Jr. said he hopes that moving JRM Vice President Joe Mattes into an expanded role that includes overseeing obtaining sponsorship will help the team in its negotiations. Mattes has significant experience in licensing and racing merchandise, and Earnhardt Jr. said he could be vital in conversations with new companies to the sport.

He would like to see the sponsor-driver lineup wrapped up by November. In the meantime, he also would like to find a sponsor to get Bires in a car for a few races before the end of the season.

“I would love to do that, and we’re talking to one of our current partners on the financial side of it to work something out,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We have a lot of races that the 5 car isn’t going to right now that it could go to with Kelly, and I think Tony Sr. would like to work Kelly before the end of the season. That’s something that we’re trying to do, and I think we’ll be able to do.”

But as Earnhardt Jr. knows, things can change for the company, which he owns and is run on a daily basis by sister Kelley.

“Me and Kelley have been trying to put together a 3-to-5-year plan for our company, but it’s so damn challenging,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You can’t anticipate how many races you’ll be able to run year to year. We’re a top-three team in this series, in my opinion. We don’t know whether we’ll run a full season each year or what. … Or in what series. Who’s going to come along and steer us in a new direction?

“We were sitting at one point three months ago where it could have went either way, as far as us running in the Nationwide Series or going into the Cup series and we were just waiting on a couple of other things to fall in place. That’s not really the comfortable way to do it. I’ve got a lot of people employed, so I’ve got to make sure we’re doing something so they’re working and they have somewhere to work.”