Eury replaced as Danica's Nationwide crew chief

Updated: September 17, 2012, 3:30 PM ET

ESPN.com news services

Tony Eury Jr. has been removed as crew chief of Danica Patrick's Nationwide Series team, JR Motorsports announced.

Eury told Fox Sports' website earlier Monday that he was being replaced by Ryan Pemberton with the No. 7 GoDaddy.com team.

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

Patrick sits 11th in the Nationwide points standings following Saturday's 12th-place finish at Chicagoland.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., founder and owner of JR Motorsports, issued a statement Monday indicating the team and Eury were never quite on the same page. Earnhardt and Eury Jr. are cousins, and Eury Jr. was his crew chief for many years.

"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," Earnhardt said. "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."

Earnhardt did not address the report that said Pemberton will be crew chief for Patrick.

"As for our No. 7 team, no decision has been made on who will crew chief that team this weekend at Kentucky Speedway," he said. "We will discuss our options and make a decision very soon."

Pemberton was hired by the team last week as competition director. He replaced Tony Eury Sr., who was released two weeks ago.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Ivan Maisel 18 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/nationwide/story/_/id/8391361/tony-eury-jr-says-danica-patrick-crew-chief
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