Bang! Racing
| Owner(s) | Alex Meshkin, Larry McReynolds |
|---|---|
| Base | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Series |
Busch Series Craftsman Truck Series |
| Car numbers |
24, 42-Craftsman 82-Busch |
| Race drivers | Travis Kvapil, Mike Skinner |
| Sponsors | Line-X |
| Manufacturer | Toyota |
| Opened | 2003 |
| Closed | 2005 |
| Career | |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 2 |
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 Truck and Mike Skinner in the #42 Truck. 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, including the first NASCAR win for a Toyota at Michigan, 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 the Nextel Cup Series 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 including President Edward DuCoin, and in early 2005, Bang let all of its help go and closed down its shop.