Bang! Racing is a former NASCAR team. It was majority owned by entrepreneur Alex Meshkin, and minority owned by both crew chief and analyst Larry McReynolds and its 'hands off' seed investor George Blacker, LTD- each with a 5% minority equity share. Bang! Racing fielded entries in the NASCARCraftsman Truck Series. It only ran one full season, in 2004.
Travis Kvapil's No. 24 truck after winning the team's first race
The team was founded in 2003 by Alex Meshkin, an internet entrepreneur who had achieved notoriety by losing more than $3 million of investors' money in his failed Surfbuzz.com venture.[1][2][3] Initially planning to race in the then-Winston Cup Series by purchasing Andy Petree Racing,[4][5] the team instead signed a three-year contract with manufacturer Toyota to run in the Craftsman Truck Series as one of four new and independent of Toyota race teams to utilize Toyota Tundra's for Toyota's debut into NASCAR. Meshkin also recruited Larry McReynolds as a part-owner and vice president[4][5][6] and he received $400,000 of seed money from investor George Blacker's investor group which was used to procure a racing shop which was a contingent requirement dictated by Toyota in order to be granted a Toyota race team contract.[7] Accordingly, the team then leased operating race shop space from veteran driver Jimmy Spencer.[5][8] The team was named after one of Meshkin's companies, Bang Technology Software.[6][9]
The team made its debut at a Daytona International Speedway race in February of 2004. Its two drivers were Travis Kvapil in the No. 24 Line-X Truck and Mike Skinner in the No. 42 Toyota Truck. It marked the first time in series history two former champions raced for the same operation.[10][11] By lap 15 of the race, both Bang! Racing drivers had already led the race. Kvapil finished second in the race, while Skinner finished 28th due to a crash.[12] Bang! also announced plans to run several late-season Cup Series races, with sponsorship from eBay.[10][12][13] From then on, Bang! lived up to its namesake, with Kvapil racking up two victories, including the first NASCAR win for a Toyota at Michigan, earning one "fast time" qualifier pole, and finished in eighth-place in season points.[5] Skinner, despite not winning a race, had two poles during his tenure with the team. Meshkin meanwhile was credited for his salesmanship abilities, as he recruited sponsors such as Line-X and eBay.[5][12][14] Later in the year Meshkin announced he would field the No. 82 Dodge in the Busch Series in 2005, with Kvapil at the wheel.[5] He also began negotiations for a potential NEXTEL Cup Series team (the No. 28 Dodge) with driver Ward Burton and NetZero sponsoring; both were with Haas CNC Racing at the time. The Cup Series deal ultimately fell through.[15]
However, trouble soon began brewing within the organization. Despite the team's success, McReynolds left the team in July due to funding and financial disagreements with Meshkin, including unpaid bills to suppliers.[5][14] In August, Toyota ended its factory support of the team due to the departure of McReynolds, with the No. 42 team shutting down and driver Mike Skinner moving to Bill Davis Racing.[5][14] Toyota later maintained its agreement until the end of the season which saw Bang! Racing end that season as the first race team to both lead a lap and win a race for Toyota Racing in a major NASCAR series.[5][14] But after the season, several key executives at Bang resigned, and in January 2005, Bang let all of its help go and closed down its shop.[5] Blacker wrote off his Bang! Racing seed investment money as a complete loss.
Referencesedit
^"Wipeout! Surfbuzz Goes Under". Wired. 6 June 2000. Retrieved 23 June 2018. If ever a startup embraced the whole make-a-fast-buck, dot-com ethos, it was Surfbuzz.com, an auction site that awarded expensive prizes to its customers. The only buzzing to be heard now is from the flies swarming over the corpse of Surfbuzz, which said Tuesday that it is going out of business.
^Walker, Leslie (25 November 1999). "Brothers With a Selling Point". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
^Dean, Katie (26 October 1999). "Teen trades education for e-biz". Wired. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
^ ab"Toyota confirms Truck Series teams". crash.net. November 15, 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^ abcdefghijAshenfelter, Mark (May 16, 2005). . Scene Daily. Archived from the original on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^Hyman, Mark (February 7, 2005). "A Wild Ride in Nascar". Bloomberg News. from the original on 2016-04-22. Other refugees from the race team.....is Investor George Blacker....
^Jenkins, Chris (September 11, 2004). "Spencer growing impatient with race shop buyer". USA Today. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^Chemris, Thomas (March 29, 2004). "Bang Racing showing championship form". motorsport.com. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^Rose, Shannon (February 8, 2004). "Kvapil Out To Defend His Title: Travis Kvapil Will Drive A Toyota Tundra For Alex Meshkin, His Third Racing Team In As Many Seasons". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^ abc"Bang Racing embarks on its first season". motorsport.com. February 29, 2004. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^ abcdHyman, Mark; Burke, Jordan; France, Mike; Cady, John (February 7, 2005). "A Wild Ride At NASCAR: How a whiz kid talked his way into owning a race team -- and then hit a wall". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
^"Bang Racing goes Nutzz". crash.net. 2004. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
External linksedit
YouTube Video of Bang Racing's First Win
Bang! Racing Photos
Bang's Official Website
Broken dreams
January 01, 1970
bang, racing, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, march, 2014, learn, when, remo. This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message Bang Racing is a former NASCAR team It was majority owned by entrepreneur Alex Meshkin and minority owned by both crew chief and analyst Larry McReynolds and its hands off seed investor George Blacker LTD each with a 5 minority equity share Bang Racing fielded entries in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series It only ran one full season in 2004 BANG RacingOwner s Alex Meshkin Larry McReynolds George BlackerBaseMooresville North CarolinaSeriesCraftsman Truck SeriesRace driversTravis Kvapil Mike SkinnerSponsorsLine X ToyotaManufacturerToyotaOpened2003Closed2005CareerDrivers Championships0Race victories2 Contents 1 History 1 1 Car No 24 42 history 2 References 3 External linksHistory editCar No 24 42 history edit nbsp Travis Kvapil s No 24 truck after winning the team s first race The team was founded in 2003 by Alex Meshkin an internet entrepreneur who had achieved notoriety by losing more than 3 million of investors money in his failed Surfbuzz com venture 1 2 3 Initially planning to race in the then Winston Cup Series by purchasing Andy Petree Racing 4 5 the team instead signed a three year contract with manufacturer Toyota to run in the Craftsman Truck Series as one of four new and independent of Toyota race teams to utilize Toyota Tundra s for Toyota s debut into NASCAR Meshkin also recruited Larry McReynolds as a part owner and vice president 4 5 6 and he received 400 000 of seed money from investor George Blacker s investor group which was used to procure a racing shop which was a contingent requirement dictated by Toyota in order to be granted a Toyota race team contract 7 Accordingly the team then leased operating race shop space from veteran driver Jimmy Spencer 5 8 The team was named after one of Meshkin s companies Bang Technology Software 6 9 The team made its debut at a Daytona International Speedway race in February of 2004 Its two drivers were Travis Kvapil in the No 24 Line X Truck and Mike Skinner in the No 42 Toyota Truck It marked the first time in series history two former champions raced for the same operation 10 11 By lap 15 of the race both Bang Racing drivers had already led the race Kvapil finished second in the race while Skinner finished 28th due to a crash 12 Bang also announced plans to run several late season Cup Series races with sponsorship from eBay 10 12 13 From then on Bang lived up to its namesake with Kvapil racking up two victories including the first NASCAR win for a Toyota at Michigan earning one fast time qualifier pole and finished in eighth place in season points 5 Skinner despite not winning a race had two poles during his tenure with the team Meshkin meanwhile was credited for his salesmanship abilities as he recruited sponsors such as Line X and eBay 5 12 14 Later in the year Meshkin announced he would field the No 82 Dodge in the Busch Series in 2005 with Kvapil at the wheel 5 He also began negotiations for a potential NEXTEL Cup Series team the No 28 Dodge with driver Ward Burton and NetZero sponsoring both were with Haas CNC Racing at the time The Cup Series deal ultimately fell through 15 However trouble soon began brewing within the organization Despite the team s success McReynolds left the team in July due to funding and financial disagreements with Meshkin including unpaid bills to suppliers 5 14 In August Toyota ended its factory support of the team due to the departure of McReynolds with the No 42 team shutting down and driver Mike Skinner moving to Bill Davis Racing 5 14 Toyota later maintained its agreement until the end of the season which saw Bang Racing end that season as the first race team to both lead a lap and win a race for Toyota Racing in a major NASCAR series 5 14 But after the season several key executives at Bang resigned and in January 2005 Bang let all of its help go and closed down its shop 5 Blacker wrote off his Bang Racing seed investment money as a complete loss References edit Wipeout Surfbuzz Goes Under Wired 6 June 2000 Retrieved 23 June 2018 If ever a startup embraced the whole make a fast buck dot com ethos it was Surfbuzz com an auction site that awarded expensive prizes to its customers The only buzzing to be heard now is from the flies swarming over the corpse of Surfbuzz which said Tuesday that it is going out of business Walker Leslie 25 November 1999 Brothers With a Selling Point Washington Post Retrieved 26 June 2018 Dean Katie 26 October 1999 Teen trades education for e biz Wired Retrieved 26 June 2018 a b Toyota confirms Truck Series teams crash net November 15 2003 Retrieved 12 April 2016 a b c d e f g h i j Ashenfelter Mark May 16 2005 Broken dreams Scene Daily Archived from the original on 2012 02 04 Retrieved 12 April 2016 a b Brinster Dick June 12 2004 Young millionaire trying to win racing championships The St Augustine Record Associated Press Retrieved 12 April 2016 Hyman Mark February 7 2005 A Wild Ride in Nascar Bloomberg News Archived from the original on 2016 04 22 Other refugees from the race team is Investor George Blacker Jenkins Chris September 11 2004 Spencer growing impatient with race shop buyer USA Today Richmond Virginia Retrieved 12 April 2016 Chemris Thomas March 29 2004 Bang Racing showing championship form motorsport com Retrieved 12 April 2016 a b James Brant February 11 2004 Aid urged for family in speedway death St Petersburg Times Daytona Beach Florida Retrieved 12 April 2016 Rose Shannon February 8 2004 Kvapil Out To Defend His Title Travis Kvapil Will Drive A Toyota Tundra For Alex Meshkin His Third Racing Team In As Many Seasons Orlando Sentinel Retrieved 12 April 2016 a b c Bang Racing embarks on its first season motorsport com February 29 2004 Retrieved 12 April 2016 NASCAR series gets Ebay sponsorship San Francisco Business Times February 24 2004 Retrieved 12 April 2016 a b c d Hyman Mark Burke Jordan France Mike Cady John February 7 2005 A Wild Ride At NASCAR How a whiz kid talked his way into owning a race team and then hit a wall Bloomberg News Retrieved 12 April 2016 Bang Racing goes Nutzz crash net 2004 Retrieved 12 April 2016 External links editYouTube Video of Bang Racing s First Win Bang Racing Photos SI Illustrated com Article Bang s Official Website Broken dreams Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bang Racing amp oldid 1201199306, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
