So far the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series has been rough on JR Motorsports.

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick made her stock car debut in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards season opener at Daytona International Speedway in early February. After performing well and earning a 6th place finish, Patrick decided to try her hand behind the wheel in the Nationwide opener the following weekend.

That decision bumped fellow JR Motorsports teammate Kelly Bires out of the Daytona race since team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was scheduled to run in the event as well.

In the end, the Nationwide debut did not go so well for Patrick who got caught up in an accident and finished 35th. Earnhardt was a contender all day until he was turned and flipped the No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet. The wrecks made the weekend pretty costly for the team.

During the second race of the season at Auto Club Speedway, Patrick once again piloted the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet but only managed a 31st place finish. Bires got his first shot in the driver’s seat of the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet since Earnhardt did not pull double-duty. The young driver earned a respectable 7th place finish.

Sin City this past weekend was not quite as friendly to the JR Motorsports drivers as California had been. Bires ended up in the wall only five laps into the race after cutting a right front tire; he ended up a dismal 42nd with heavy damage to the vehicle.

Patrick’s day also ended early when she tangled with Michael McDowell which resulted in a 36th place finish for the No. 7.

So now, three races into the season, the two teammates are surprisingly equal in the point standings. Both Patrick and Bires have earned 183 points and Bires is listed in 33rd with Patrick behind him in 34th. Interesting considering Bires has only run two of the three events so far this year.

But, some costly weekends will not stop this bunch and the team will now run only one car for a while as Patrick focuses on the beginning of the IndyCar season. She will not compete in the Nationwide Series again until the end of June at New Hampshire.

Unfortunately, it will be very hard for Bires to make a true run for the Series championship after having to sit out the first race of the season especially with Sprint Cup regulars dominating the top-10.

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