Tony Eury Jr. and JR Motorsports part ways

Tony Eury Jr., crew chief for Danica Patrick (not pictured) watches from pit road during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2012 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Tony Eury Jr., crew chief for Danica Patrick (not pictured) watches from pit road during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2012 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

A week after his father left the team, Tony Eury Jr., has left JR Motorsports. The team confirmed the departure of Eury, who was most recently crew chief for Danica Patrick.

“Unfortunately Tony Jr. is no longer with the company,” 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.”

Eury is the cousin of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and worked at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated from 1991 to 2007 and was crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series in 2004, 2006, and 2008. He followed Earnhardt to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 and left the pit box in 2009. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.