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We are hearing this afternoon that the Truck Series team Vision Aviation Racing is shutting down.  Supposedly they laid off the majority of their employees earlier in the week.  The team’s #51 is at Dover for this weekend’s CWTS race, but in number and hauler only.  The truck, team, equipment, and driver are all that of Glenden Enterprises, which is usually the #84 team of Chris Fontaine.  Management informed employees that they are working on trying to reopen the team in 90 days.

Vision Aviation Racing came into 2011 as the renamed Billy Ballew team from years past.  Their plan was to run two trucks full time with young drivers Dusty Davis and Justin Johnson.  Since neither driver was approved for Daytona however, they debuted with Aric Almirola and Michael Waltrip in February.  Waltrip won that Daytona race in controversial fashion.  The first signs of trouble for the team came in the series’ last race at Nashville, where only the #51 truck showed up.

We will keep you posted on any additional details.

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NASCAR issued the inaugural fines of the season on Tuesday – in fact they were the inaugural fines for a newish team too. If you missed the penalty announcement or the act itself, NASCAR found:

The No. 15 truck driven by Michael Waltrip was to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20B-3.1.2E (rear spoiler did not meet specifications in post-race inspection) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, crew chief Doug Howe has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Owner Billy Ballew has been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points.

This of course is for the spoiler “issue” the team had toward the end of Waltrip’s emotional Daytona win. After initially saying it looked like a part failure, NASCAR apparently decided something different because they don’t generally issue fines for part failures – and if they do the team generally appeals.

Now in the interest of fairness how do you award a win to a driver or team that is found to have been in violation of the rules at the time of that win?

The NCAA certainly has a take on that. Ask USC. NASCAR though never really has been in the business of taking wins away from drivers who fail post-race inspections. They see it as a matter of a team deciding to push the envelope and a driver not necessarily being involved. Why punish the driver for an action of the team?

The argument though runs into trouble because the driver is ultimately given an unfair advantage over a competitor. In the Michael Waltrip spoiler situation, Elliott Sadler said in the post-race:

“I mean, it definitely helps his truck as far as drag. When he pulled out, he went by me. I was like, ‘Wow, he’s fast.’ I tried to side draft off of him and I couldn’t… It definitely helped him.“

Though he concedes that he thinks Waltrip would have won anyway, who knows? And shouldn’t it say something that NASCAR likely would have black flagged the #15 if this had happened on lap 10 as opposed to the last lap? I’m not really sure how many of you feel about this but I have a lot issues with it.

Lately NASCAR’s been stepping up the point and monetary fines given to teams found to have violated the rulebook. In the last several seasons record fines have been doled out. The thing is, if NASCAR really wants for teams to play by the rules they need to give them incentive to do so. Taking a win or two away from drivers whose teams don’t follow the letter of the law will send that message.

I have a feeling that won’t be happening in the near term though.

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Last week Aric Almirola filed paperwork with the North Carolina Superior Court indicating he may have a breach of contract dispute with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

According to SceneDaily, which reported on the filing, Almirola indicated a breach of contract and unfair and deceptive trade practices. The filing gives Almirola until November 5 to file a complaint.

Almirola, who had been signed with DEI prior to the merger, drove the #8 car for seven races this season before the team was shut down due to a lack of funding. EGR has been working all season to get the car and Almirola back on track, and at one point we heard they had a sponsor signed, but they never received the money.

For his part, Almiorla has been running sporadic races with Billy Ballew, Key Motorsports and Phoenix Racing.

From where I stand this looks like a situation where Almirola has been told he won’t get the #1 ride. I’m guessing Bass Pro Shops is not the least bit interested in him. I know Chip Ganassi isn’t interested in giving another untested driver another shot in one of his cars (he’s been bit one too many times). Almirola really never had a chance.

Reminiscent of Elliott Sadler’s strong arming in the off-season, I’m guessing Almirola is looking to see where he stands. I’m not sure if he’s been offered a buyout and I have no idea if he has a leg to stand on here, but I think whatever the case, this is a bad move.

People don’t forget when you do stuff like this, especially around here. I think Sadler’s situation is a little more forgivable because he was presumably being forced out of his ride. He was desperate and in a very bad situation because of timing. Not the case here.

Almirola lost his ride because there was no money (that was seven months ago). He knew the situation going into it (no, he wasn’t forced out). On top of that he had a very lackluster seven races. He had an average finish of 32.8. His best finish was a 21st at Atlanta (for some reference during the same period Martin Truex had an average finish of 22.8 and Juan Montoya, 15.8). It’s not too easy to sell sponsorship when your driver is consistently running in the back.

Almirola won’t be driving the #1 car next year. He may get some cash from EGR, but you tell me if that’s worth forever being ‘that guy’. Let’s hope this gets settled before a suit is brought.