Bullring duo to join team in truck series

Las Vegas has lost a racing team but gained two racers in one of NASCAR's national touring series.

Vision Aviation Racing, which was based in Las Vegas last year, merged two weeks ago when Camping World Truck Series stalwart Billy Ballew Motorsports moved from its shop near Las Vegas Motor Speedway to Mooresville, N.C.

The Vision team will employ former LVMS Bullring racers Justin Johnson, 25, and Dusty Davis, 18. They drove in NASCAR Super Late Models last year at Irwindale, Calif., where Johnson won the track title and Davis finished second.

Davis' father and team manager, Tom, said this week that Johnson and Davis will share driving duties in the No. 51 former Ballew Toyota Tundra for the final 22 events of the 23-race season and the team's No. 15 secondary truck for at least 10 races.

Neither driver is approved by NASCAR to compete in the Feb. 18 opener at Daytona because they don't have enough experience on high-speed, high-banked ovals.

Vision is operating out of the former race shop of Kyle Busch Motorsports, which is building new Toyota trucks for Vision.

Ballew-owned trucks have won 18 times in the past seven seasons, including nine times in 2009, when Busch drove for the team.

■ PETTY PICKS RZESNOWIECKY -- Las Vegan Bear Rzesnowiecky was picked as Top Driver last month in the Richard Petty's Driver Search III national competition.

Rzesnowiecky, 18, won a four-day test in North Carolina. He will drive a Petty-owned Dodge in an ARCA Racing Series regional stock-car race this spring.

■ BULLRING TEST -- The LVMS Bullring will have a test session Jan. 22 and 23 for NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Super Late Models, Late Models and SRL Southwest Tour teams. Testing will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

The K&N series' first race at the Bullring is scheduled for June 11. The Bullring's NASCAR All-American Series opens March 19.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.