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Post by dave on May 13, 2011 14:23:21 GMT -8
According to Jayski, Ray Dunlop and NASCARInsiders, VAR has laid off most all of the staff.
Fontaine is in a 51 truck with the Vision hauler but according to reports only the number and the hauler belong to VAR. Glendon Enterprises is providing the race truck, pit equipment and crew just as they do when Fontaine is in the 84.
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Post by Buzzy on May 13, 2011 19:52:28 GMT -8
Vision Aviation Racing closing up shop?
[Twitter from Ray Dunlap - "Hearing that Vision Aviation Racing laid off 95% of staff on Wed afternoon. [Note: #51 is entered at Dover as a Chevrolet with Chris Fontaine as driver.] (Ray Dunlap@truckpits)(5-12-2011)
UPDATE:When asked this morning during Truck Series qualifying about how he ended up in the No. 51, Fontaine replied that he got a call while at a wedding in the Bahamas that he would be racing the No. 51 this weekend. Fontaine remarked that while he has heard all the rumors regarding layoffs at VAR, he is unaware of the details going on behind the scenes in that shop, and that his team was running the No. 51 as a favor to VAR for their support of his race team back at Daytona. The No. 51 truck Fontaine is racing this weekend is the same Chevrolet that he ran as the No. 84 at Darlington back in March. Fontaine's next race will be at Charlotte this coming Friday; no word on which number the team will be running.(Frontstretch.com)(5-13-2011)
UPDATE 2: Three weeks after Justin Johnson qualified third for his best effort as a rookie driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, he was left without a race truck to drive on Friday. The 25-year-old from Las Vegas was affected by major cutbacks this week at Vision Aviation Racing and was not entered in the race at Dover, Del. Team manager Tom Davis said Thursday team owners decided this week to make substantial cutbacks that included laying off 10 employees and scaling back to one part-time team. It is uncertain how many more races Johnson and teammate Dusty Davis, 18, also of Las Vegas, will enter this year. "We'll put some drivers in our truck at high profile races like we did when we put Michael Waltrip in the (No.) 51 at Daytona," Davis said.Johnson was replaced this week by Chris Fontaine and some reports put former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen in a Vision truck for the May 20 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Justin and Dusty will get in some (truck) races at some time this year," Davis said."We're fortunate to have good owners with good business acumen that realized we had to slow up and be prepared for the long haul," said Davis, a former Las Vegas radio executive and father of Dusty, who has competed in three truck races this year for Vision. The team, funded by the owners of Vision Aviation, plan to continue developing the team. "Bottom line is we're going back to our original plan," Davis said. "We're about the future so we had to slow up a bit and get caught up (financially). Davis said Vision chief operating officer Steven Acor, who lives in Las Vegas, decided to scale back the racing operation to compensate for the increased cost of aviation fuel and expansion plans for Vision Airlines, which has one of its four national offices in Las Vegas.(Las Vegas Review Journal)(5-13-2011)
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Post by topfive on May 14, 2011 5:52:20 GMT -8
Expect to see in the future that Vision Air will sell or merge its operation to KBM and just stay on as a sponsor for Johnson and maybe Davis, depending on whether Davis' father is kept on the payroll. KBM has a deal with the F-1 guy and can make some good $ to put him in the 51 truck for the high profile races, leaving Johnson to run the rest and keep the truck locked in the points.
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Post by dave on May 17, 2011 0:12:45 GMT -8
KImi is in the 15 for this weekend. It's a KBM deal, not a VAR deal. Davis doesn't own the numbers or car entries, Billy Ballew does. Davis put the VAR name on Ballew's truck team and now it hasn't worked out. That's too bad. Maybe they should have done a Pro Series West tour this season. Was hoping to see some local guys do good.
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Post by topfive on May 17, 2011 8:25:06 GMT -8
Its a strange situation- Johnson is listed as an entry for Charlotte in the 51 truck. Kimi is using the 15 number, but driving one of kyle's trucks. You would think that VAR/ Ballew would rent out the 51 number since it is locked in and hope for a good finish from the F-1 champ to keep the number locked in points. The 15 number must qualify on time, which would be a huge embarrassment for KBM and Kimi if he didn't make the show.
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Post by heatmizer on May 17, 2011 10:04:37 GMT -8
You're all forgetting the fact that KBM and Kimi are champions. They don't want the taint of the Vision Air(heads) on them. Pay close attention to the race, you won't be hearing any more butt kissing from Waltrip all race about "the Vision guys". VAR....RIP (Rest In Pieces)
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Post by topfive on May 17, 2011 14:28:08 GMT -8
The latest is that they let Doug George go- George is their best crew chief, with a lot of experience and is a supporter of Johnson. It looks like Tom Davis is maneuvering to end up with only himself and his son on the team- I wonder how long it will take the Acor brothers to catch on.
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Post by goneracing on May 18, 2011 13:50:22 GMT -8
He wasn't let go he left hard to stay when there is no money come in I was by VAR shop a weekago and there was 2 cars in the parking lot it is all but shut down yes they should have ran the west series for a year first. It takes alot more money to ran the top three serise then they where planing for.
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Post by topfive on May 19, 2011 4:47:33 GMT -8
I wonder if Johnson could withdraw from the rookie of the year competition since he has only run 4 races, then re-enter next year.
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