Earnhardt team replaces Kelly Bires with McMurray

UPDATE Richard Petty Motorsports announced that driver Kasey Kahne has informed the team he will not renew his contract at the conclusion of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Kahne, driver the #9 Budweiser Ford Fusion, has been with RPM since entering NASCAR's premier series in 2004. "Kasey is a very talented driver and I have enjoyed watching him race. We all wish him nothing but the best and hope he succeeds in anything he chooses to do," said team owner Richard Petty. "Drivers like Kasey Kahne are the very reason we got into this sport. Kasey has helped us get to where we are today," George Gillett, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports said. "We wish him well in his future however we have the rest of this season to race together and we're looking forward to a successful remainder of the year." RPM

04/13/10 JR Motorsports has released driver Kelly Bires from his contract and will replace him with Jamie McMurray for at least nine of the remaining Nationwide Series races this year, the team announced Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Bires had a seventh-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in California in the second Nationwide race of the season but has not had a finish better than 12th since then. He did not lead a lap in the five events he competed in this year in JRM’s No. 88 car.

“We are extremely appreciative of Kelly Bires and wish him the best," JRM co-owner Kelley Earnhardt said in a news release. “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."