Bang! Racing

NASCAR_former_team
Company_Name = BANG Racing


Owner(s) Name = Alex Meshkin, Larry McReynolds
Championships = 0
Wins = 2
Car Number(s) = 24, 42-Craftsman
82-Busch
Notable Driver(s) = Travis Kvapil, Mike Skinner
Notable Sponsor(s) = Line-X, Toyota
Manufacturer = Toyota
Shop Location = Charlotte, North Carolina
Racing Series = Busch Series
Craftsman Truck Series
Year Opened = 2003
Year Closed = 2005

Bang! Racing is a former NASCAR team. It was owned by entrepreneur Alex Meshkin, as well as Larry McReynolds and fielded entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It only ran one season, in 2004.

Meshkin started the operation in 2003, and it made its debut at Daytona International Speedway the following season. Its two drivers were Travis Kvapil in the #24 Line-X Toyota and Mike Skinner in the #42 Toyota Tundra. Kvapil finished second in the race, while Skinner finished 28th due to a crash. From then on, Bang! lived up to its namesake, with Kvapil racking up two victories and an eighth place finish in points, and Skinner, despite not winning a race, had two poles and an eleventh place finish in the championship hunt. What drove the team even further was Meshkin's salesmanship abilities, as he recruited major sponsors and investors to throw money at his growing operation, which they did, as companies such as Line-X and Ebay jumped on board as sponsors. It wasn't long before Meshkin set his sites on moving his operation up to the higher levels of NASCAR. He announced he would field the #82 Dodge in the Busch Series in 2005, with Kvapil at the wheel, and possibly expand into Nextel cup that same year, with NetZero sponsoring the #28 Dodge driven by Ward Burton.

However, trouble soon began brewing within the organization. Despite the team's richoted success, money was tight, and McReynolds and other partners began growing suspicious of Meshkin. Meshkin continued to insist that all is well. But after the season, several key executives at Bang resigned, and in early 2005, Bang let all of its help go and closed down its shop. Bang and Meshkin are facing several lawsuits from unhappy investors and employees, including Kvapil.

External links

* [http://www.alexmeshkin.com Alex Meshkin - Personal Blog]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY3dCl-TGng YouTube Video of Bang Racing's First Win]
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexmeshkin/ Bang! Racing Photos]
* [http://www.nascar.com/2004/news/headlines/truck/06/10/amishkin_feature.ap/ AP Article about Alex Meshkin & Bang Racing]
* [http://www.nascar.com/2004/news/headlines/truck/08/02/toyota_firstwin/index.html NASCAR.com Article]
* [http://www.toyota.com/motorsports/tracksidenews/2004/april/trucks.html Bang! Racing at Toyota.com]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/racing/11/14/notebook.ap/ SI Illustrated.com Article]
* [http://www.bangracing.com Bang's Official Website]
* [http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2005/05/16/scene_story1.html Broken dreams]
* [http://www.jayski.com/teams/bang.htm JaySki section on Bang! Racing]
* [http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2005/02/07/scene_circuit3.html Meshkin, Bang Racing face lawsuits]
* [http://www.gnextinc.com/news/010816053.html What happened to NASCAR dream fairytale?]