Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

11 days after JR Motorsports parted ways with Tony Eury, Sr., the directory of competition and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s uncle, the organization has Tony Eury, Jr. has been released from his role as crew chief for the No. 7 NASCAR Nationwide Series car of Danica Patrick.

Patrick is currently 11th in the overall Nationwide standings following her 12th place finish on Saturday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway.

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

The decision to let Eury go has many wondering if the problem really is Danica Patrick and JR Motorsports is just using the Eury’s as a scapegoat.

Tony Eury, Jr. told Nate Ryan of USA Today in June that Patrick “needed to start being more aggressive and earning the respect of fellow drivers on the track.”

Since Patrick has taken the lead to NASCAR from IndyCar, she has made 51 starts. Within those starts, she has one top five and five top-10 finishes. In her first full-time season, her best finish is eighth at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

Has the big leap from IndyCar to NASCAR to much on Patrick?

The last time JR Motorsports won a race in the Nationwide series was September 4th, 2010 when Jamie McMurray drove for the organization at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With Eury out at JR Motorsports asap, the question is now who will be the next victim, I mean crew chief for Patrick. It looks like Ryan Pemberton, who was hired last week by the organization to take over as competition director, will be on top of the box on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway. However, Earnhardt has said no decision has been made.

Guess we will wait and see how the new crew chief is with Patrick.

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Brad Keselowski celebrates with his crew in victory lane after he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 16, 2012 in Joliet, Illinois.

The first race in the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup is in the books.

On Sunday afternoon, it was Brad Keselowski celebrating in victory lane for the fourth time this season and giving his team owner and Penske Racing a reason to smile after a horrible night in the IndyCar Series last night dampened the spirits. Behind the wheel of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, Keslowski was able to get a head of Jimmie Johnson after a crucial pit cycle with about 35 laps to go and never looked back. Johnson would finish 3.171 seconds behind.

“There’s no better place to start than in the lead, right?” Keselowski said. “It feels like Round 1 of a heavyweight title bout. It’s a 10-round bout, and Week 1′s done. We might have won the round, but didn’t by any means knock ‘em out.” Read the rest of this entry »

Brad Keselowski does a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Stewart)

With two laps to go in Sunday afternoon’s first race of the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint, the Geico 400 from Chicagoland Speedway, Brad Keselowski came on the radio with a question for his crew chief, Paul Wolfe.

“Is it Miller Time, yet?” Keselowski asked.

The Geico 400 was basically the story of two drivers, Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson. While it was Johnson who led the most laps, 172, it was Keselowski who was celebrating in victory lane.

“I don’t know if we sped up or he slowed down,” Keseloswki said about Johnson. As far as drawing first blood in the Chase: “This feels like round one of a heavyweight title bout. It’s great to have won, but there’s a lot more to go.” Read the rest of this entry »

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2012 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

22 laps. That’s all 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion led to win the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday afternoon and overtake Elliott Sadler for the NNS points lead. Stenhouse now leads the points by nine over second place, Sadler.

“In this business and in this sport, anything can change at any time,” Stenhouse said. “You have to keep your guard up and keep not making mistakes. We overcame the mistakes we had today on pit road with the wrong adjustment and a stalled car [coming out of a pit stop].”

The weekend for Stenhouse has been fantastic, aside from winning Saturday’s race. On Friday, it was announced that he would drive the No. 17 Sprint Cup car for Roush-Fenway Racing on a full-time basis in 2013 and that  Best Buy was coming back as a primary sponsor. As you may recall, current driver of the No. 17, Matt Kenseth, is heading to Joe Gibbs Racing at season’s end. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, poses with his pole award after he was the fastest driver during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2012 in Joliet, Illinois.

With a speed of 182.865 mph, Jimmie Johnson will start the Chase for the Sprint from the front row for the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. This is Johnson’s second pole of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season as well as at the 1.5 mile tri-oval track. Aric Almirola will start second, in his first career Sprint Cup series start at the track.

“We’ve never won there, which is kind of frustrating, especially because we’ve been close so many times” says Johnson of Chicagoland.

Denny Hamlin, who is the top seed for the Chase, will start eighth.

Coverage for the Geico 400 from Chicagoland Speedway starts at 1:00pm EST on ESPN.

Starting Lineup:

Joey Logano earned the pole award for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2012 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Piloting the No. 18 Toyota around Chicagoland Speedway with a speed of 178.012 mph, Joey Logano has won the Coors Light Pole Award for Saturday afternoon’s Dollar General 300.

“I feel like I’ve got a good shot at another win today,” said Logano. “We just have to do the right things.”

This is Logano’s fourth pole of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide season and his first at the 1.5 mile tri-oval speedway. Logano has start P1 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway already this season. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tony Stewart celebrating his victory on Monday at Chicagoland Speedway.

10 races to go in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. 10 races until NASCAR crowns a champion. Will it be a former champion or will someone new hoist the trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway? This year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers include: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex,Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon.

In the first Chase race, the series heads to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Chicagoland Speedway is a 1.5mile tri-oval track, which opened in 2001. In this race last year, Tony Stewart was able to stamp his name as a contender, even though 4 days prior to the race he said he wouldn’t be able to win the Chase and become a Sprint Cup Series champ. Stewart was able to save fuel during a 50-lap green flag run and cross the stripe 0.941 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick. The win was Stewart’s first of 2011 and the 40th of his career. Read the rest of this entry »

Justin Allgaier celebrates his second career win. (Photo: Randy Peterson)

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series taking a much needed break from the action this weekend, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide Series take to the 1.5 tri-oval speedway of Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois for some great racing and excitement. Last year in the Nationwide Series, Trevor Bayne came back from his six week illness induced layoff but it was Justin Allgaier who won over Carl Edwards as both drivers ran out of fuel at the end. Will this year’s race end in an exciting finish? There are only two Sprint Cup drivers taking time away from their vacation to race at Chicagoland this weekend; Sam Hornish, Jr has been driving the No. 22 for the suspended A.J. Allmendinger will continue to drive the No. 12 for Penske Racing and Kyle Busch will strap in for his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and give his big brother Kurt a much needed rest behind the wheel.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:
2011 Pole Winner: Steve Aprin
2011 Winner: Austin Dillon
Laps: 100
Distance: 225 Miles

Friday, July 20th, 2012:

NO TV Coverage

Saturday, July 21, 2012:

12:30 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice ESPN 2
2: 30 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Final Practice ESPN 2
4:00PM NASCAR Camping World Truck Series SPEED
5:00PM ARCA Re-Max Series SPEED
7:00PM Speed Center SPEED
7:30PM NCWTS Set-Up SPEED
8:00PM NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race SPEED
(American Ethanol 225)

NASCAR Nationwide Series Race:
2011 Pole Winner: Aric Almirola
2011 Winner: Justin Allgaier
Laps: 200
Distance: 300 Miles

Sunday, July 22, 2012:

11:30 AM NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying ESPN 2
2:00PM NASCAR Countdown ESPN
3:00PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Race ESPN
(STP 300. Justin Allgaier in-race reporter)