Pemberton In For Eury Jr. At JR Motorsports

UPDATE The team has confirmed – JR Motorsports director of competition, Ryan Pemberton, will serve as interim crew chief for the No. 7 GoDaddy.com team and driver Danica Patrick this weekend in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway, general manager Kelley Earnhardt-Miller confirmed today. Earnhardt-Miller said a crew chief for the team beyond this weekend has not been determined.

Pemberton started at JR Motorsports this week, becoming only the second director of competition since the company opened the position in 2007. In that role, Pemberton oversees car development and personnel management for the No. 88 and No. 7 Nationwide Series teams.

Pemberton’s selection as interim crew chief for this weekend's race comes on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that Tony Eury Jr., formerly crew chief for Patrick and the No. 7 team, is no longer with the company.

Saturday’s Kentucky 300 is set for a 3:30 p.m. ET start and will be televised live on ESPN. It is race 27 of 33 on the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule.

09/17/12 JR Motorsports has released Tony Eury Jr. from his duties as crew chief for Danica Patrick and the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Nationwide Series team.

Eury was told Monday morning he was being replaced by Ryan Pemberton. Eury joined JRM after working as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Sprint Cup team at Hendrick Motorsports.

“They’re trying to fix the competition of the cars, “ Eury said. “They thought they could do better without me there. They hired Ryan and Ryan’s their guy."