JR Motorsports President Kelley Earnhardt confirmed that Kelly Bires is on the list of possible replacements for Brad Keselowski should the company and the driver part ways. Many in the garage have called Bires, who turns 25 Tuesday, the front-runner for the #88 Nationwide Series ride.(FoxSports)(8-24-2009)
UPDATE: Driver Kelly Bires and JR Motorsports co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. share a mutual interest in joining forces next season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The only question is when and if they will. The recent announcement of Brad Keselowski’s departure from the #88 JR Motorsports entry at season’s end leaves a full-time vacancy in one of the Chevrolets that Earnhardt Jr. co-owns with Rick Hendrick. Plans for the organization’s No. 5 team also remain in the works, possibly giving Bires another way in. “Kelly is a good kid,” Earnhardt Jr. said after finishing third in Saturday night’s Nationwide race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “I’ve watched him for a couple of years. He’s got some opportunities to do a couple of different things next year. We’ve talked to him about working with us and he seems excited about that opportunity. We’re working with him and pitching him to several partners we have, and hopefully, the new partners that sign up with us. Bires indicated on Saturday at AMS that he would be open to the idea of driving the #5 or #88 JR Motorsports entry and expressed a clear interest in the organization, which has won races with both its cars in the last two Nationwide seasons. Bires expects an announcement about his future to be just around the corner. “I would think the sooner the better, so I think the next couple weeks are going to be real critical and I think you’ll see something come in the next couple weeks,” he said.(SceneDaily)(9-6-2009)
UPDATE 2: Kelly Bires has signed to drive a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series entry for JR Motorsports in 2010-11, general manager Kelley Earnhardt announced. JR Motorsports fields the #88 and #5 teams in the Nationwide Series.It has not been determined which of the two Bires will drive in 2010, as JR Motorsports is still in the process of securing sponsorship for next season.(JR Motorsports PR)(9-15-2009)
UPDATE 3: Bires was interviewed on Sirius’ NASCAR Radio Tuesday afternoon:
Host, Rick Benjamin: “We’re at that time of the season where, historically in this sport, drivers that announce a move may start a little early. Guys may run a few races before the current season is over. Any talk about you maybe being in that #5 car a few times or something like that?”
Bires: “Well, we’re currently working on a lot of those different details to do that and to get me in a car over there before the season’s over. I mean, that would obviously be a huge jumpstart going into 2010 and the ability to work with the team and the organization and just to figure out how it all works and to get together and what people do. It would be a huge advantage for us to do that. We’re currently working on an opportunity to do that with some sponsorship. You know that’s obviously going to be a big plus if we can get that accomplished and that’s what we’re working hard on doing. It may be the #5, it may be a different car, who knows what it will be in, but that’s obviously a step that we’re working towards.”(Sirius NASCAR Radio)(9-15-2009)
