JR Motorsports signs Bires; Eury Jr. could be next

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Thursday, September 24, 2009

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The hiring of Kelly Bires was made official by JR Motorsports, and more hires – including a key person to work on the car – could be on the way.

Tony Eury Jr. could be reunited with his father as well as driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. if he accepts a job offer from JR Motorsports.

Earnhardt Jr. said Sept. 18 that he has made an offer to Eury Jr., who was his crew chief for two seasons at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and then moved with him to Hendrick Motorsports to guide the No. 88 car until he was replaced by Lance McGrew as crew chief in late May.

Eury Jr. currently works in the Hendrick research and development department.

“I’ve been talking to him for about a month about coming over to JR Motorsports and being a big part of that with me because I feel like me and him have some unfinished business,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We enjoy being around each other, and so I’ve presented him some things to think about. … He knows everything that we’re doing right now as far as our direction on our sponsors and our drivers. … Hopefully he will be a big part of it.”

Eury Jr. is not unhappy at Hendrick, but Earnhardt Jr. said he could provide a unique opportunity for his cousin at the Nationwide Series organization co-owned by Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick.

“He is happy, but ... it’s an opportunity to work with his daddy again, and him and his father were one hell of a team years ago,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “His uncles, Robert and Jimmy Gee, are there. Danny Earnhardt, Danny [Earnhardt] Jr., my mom and my sister – he’s got a lot of family over there to be around and can be around having just as much fun and having a lot more opportunities to go to victory lane.”

Earnhardt Jr. signed Bires to a two-year deal, announced Sept. 15. After spending 2007 running 26 races in the Nationwide and Truck series for JTG/Wood Brothers Racing and then a full 2008 in Nationwide where he finished 13th in the standings for JTG Daugherty Racing, the 25-year-old Bires did not have a full-time ride this year.

But after a year of frustration, the Wisconsin native has a full-time Nationwide ride in the No. 88 Chevrolet.

“This was the hardest year of racing I have ever had,” Bires said. “I’ve had years when I was back home Late Model racing on my own, building cars and finding sponsorship, basically living off the credit card to be able to go racing.

“And whatever your winnings were at the end of the night for that race, that’s how you paid your tire bill for that week. And if you tore your car up, you weren’t going to be racing the following week. I’ve had some hard times. That was plenty hard, I thought. But this year has been by far more difficult. It’s just part of racing, the ups and downs, and whoever is strong survives.”