Danica a 9th-15th Place Nationwide Driver Says McReynolds

An interesting summation of his opinion of Danica Patrick's and Cole Whitt's driving potential this week on SPEED by Larry McReynolds commenting on the departure of both Eurys from JR Motorsports:

I think their current driver lineup is running as well theyre going to run. In the Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick is probably as good as shes going to be. Shes going to run between ninth and 15th and maybe score a top five on a really good day. I dont care if you put Chad Knaus in as her crew chief. Shes going to run where she is running. As much as Id love to say she could run fender-to-fender with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Austin Dillon or Elliott Sadler, I dont think its there. Danica is great for our sport and Im excited about her running fulltime in the Cup Series. But she has run 51 Nationwide Series races, and thats a lot of races.

By the same token, Cole Whitt is going to run where he is running. He was thrown into the deep end pretty fast. I think hes between a sixth and 12th place driver right now. Thats where he ran with the Eurys, and thats where hes going to run without them.

JR Motorsports has some pretty good benchmarks to judge by. JR Motorsports is a Chevrolet team. RCR is a Chevrolet team, and theyre winning races and sitting second and third in the points, so its not a Chevrolet problem. JR Motorsports runs Hendrick engines but Turner Motorsports is winning races with Hendrick engines, so its not the engines. So, I think this is why they had to do something to try to make their race cars better.

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

can you say pain - this outfit has pain - there is politics in a two person hotdog stand - well jrm has more politics than your local police dept - nobody realized brad k was going to be as good as he is - why do you want a developmental driver program when your developing them to race for another team - this is a sore spot - larry mac is right on this - the drivers they have are not getting it done and cant get it done any better - ol sue patrick is leaving at year end and taking the go daddy dollars with her - im sure stewart hass appreciates jrm for developing her - though they didnt get much - if you can read between the lines the family drama over there is a little clearer - somebody has to be the scapegoat - sponsor problems are allready there - and ol junior doesnt want to drive in the nationwide seris - cole whitt has done a good job as a rookie - but does anyone outside a hardcore race fan know who he is - i wish i could tell you what is happening - but i better keep my mouth shut .

David , I do not know anything at all about JRM but what I see from my outside looking in viewpoint..From that viewpoint I am seeing exactly what you are describing spot on. I wish you could say more but I totally understand your last sentence..Not being a real Larry Mac fan I will in this instance say that I also agree with that assessment as well...Although I hate to say it, this article seems to sum up JRM pretty neatly! Thanks again.

As an outsider, one can only imagine the politics....and pain of family involvement at this level. It would probably make a great reality show if it were allowed to be aired. This is a snap shot of what its like to compete at the top...or try to, complicated by involving family members. All those pressures of dealing with personalities on a "personal" level combined with the money aspect/pressures. Wow!

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