Alex Meshkin

Brooklyn, M.I., Aug. 1, 2004 – Travis Kvapil stepped into his sponsor’s suite at Michigan International Speedway on Friday and with his usual, quiet candor asked a foretelling question as he was drawn to the brightly-colored yellow and black Line-X logo decorating the infield grass just outside the window.

“If I win tomorrow, I’m going to run through the grass and spin out across that logo but only if that’s ‘OK’ with everyone here,” he asked. Call it fate with a little bit of luck, but just don’t call it happenstance. Kvapil was on a mission to keep that promise and did. After capturing the checkered flag, he wheeled the No. 24 Line-X Tundra into the infield as a victorious nod to the jubilant yellow Line-X shirts lining the roof of their suite.

The historic victory was one of many firsts: the first checkered of the season for the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion, the inaugural win for first-year team, Bang Racing, and an achievement that etched a place in the history books for Toyota as the championship manufacturer continues its winning legacy in NASCAR.

“This is huge.what a day!” Kvapil exclaimed. “Toyota gave me some great horsepower again. I screwed up yesterday and drove my truck into the wall off turn 2 after only getting five or six practice laps. Then we broke a motor and had to start in the back. I really have to thank crew chief John Monsam, Mike Skinner and the 42 crew for helping us out with all their notes. They had a fast, fast race truck in happy hour yesterday, and we were able to look at their notes and go a little bit more in their direction from where we were and tune on our truck for the race. So we relied a lot on my teammate and his setup.”

The win marks the second time Kvapil and Bang Racing have made history and helped Toyota to the forefront of acclaim after an impressive out-of-the-box display at Daytona International Speedway earlier this season. Kvapil drove Bang Racing and the No. 24 Line-X Tundra into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history books by breaking the highest finish for a new team at Daytona, previously held by Kenny Martin who finished fifth at the Speedway in 2000, clinched the highest qualifying position (third) for the new manufacturer and led the first lap on Lap 8 for the Toyota Motorsports contingent.

“We went to Daytona and didn’t really think we had a shot at the win – and we finished second,” Kvapil said. “It seems like it’s been so long since then. To be able to pull it off here with Line-X sponsoring my truck and the event is just awesome. We’ve been trying so hard all year. For Bang Racing and Toyota to put the total package together in the other manufacturers’ backyard is pretty special.” Kvapil battled against the odds from the back of the pack and another grazing off the turn 4 wall as the initial laps ticked down. From the wave of the green flag, racing action looked more like Daytona as Kvapil worked the advantage of the draft and quickly knocked off 15 spots in 20 laps at the two-mile venue despite loose conditions.

“The draft definitely played in my favor at times,” Kvapil said. “I’d be back a little ways and I’d just fit in and catch the next group. Then I’d pass some more and draft up behind the next group. But it played against me a couple of times, too. I’d try to make passes down on the bottom, and it seemed like everyone wanted to lay-up on the outside. If I had any help, I could make some passes but everyone wanted to stay in line. It was just like Daytona – if you had someone to go with you, you could make your way to the front. But during the last 20 laps of the race, my truck was strong enough to do it on my own.”

Following the first caution flag for debris and a quick pit stop for air pressure, track bar and wedge adjustments to tighten up his ride, Kvapil exited pit road just outside the top-10. As teammate Mike Skinner took the lead mid-way through the 100-lap event, the reigning champ had worked his way into 10th and waited for his green flag pit stop. Then fate stepped in. Kvapil pulled the wheel from heading down pit road for a green flag stop in seventh place as NASCAR called the fourth of seven caution flags for debris. After the crew feverishly changed all four tires taking air pressure out of each and added two cans of fuel, the No. 24 team gained four spots as an ecstatic crew watched Kvapil fall in line behind teammate Mike Skinner. The pair sailed past race leader Bobby Hamilton on lap 77 until yet another caution on lap 81 for Kelly Sutton’s spin in turn 2. When racing action resumed three laps later, Kvapil drove past Skinner and never looked back despite two additional yellows and the race finale ending under caution. “I knew if I ever got to the lead and out in clean air, I could get to the front fast,” he said. “Clean air is so big at Michigan. You’ve got all the downforce on the truck working for you. I thought I had a good enough truck that I could drive away from them, and that’s exactly what happened. It was a great feeling to look in the mirror and see that I was pulling away.”

“Eric [Phillips] and everyone on my team did a great job and gave me tremendous pit stops today,” he said. “They picked up three and four spots every time I pitted and made perfect adjustments on the truck. Earlier in the race, I was able to drive up to about 10th or 15th fairly easily, but once I got to those trucks they were pretty good and it was hard to pass. My truck was just too loose. We really had to work on our truck pretty hard to get it to where I was that fast. The draft was a big equalizer, too. There were some guys that probably don’t have the horsepower that Toyota has under the hood, and they were able to keep up. But I had a good horse under the hood. The last 20 laps were the best laps I had all weekend. I was just riding around wide-open. And Mike and I worked together really well at the end. I thought it was going to be a one-two, but it was pretty darn close.” Kvapil’s joy ride couldn’t have come at a better momentum-boosting time mid-way through the season.

“I expected it a little earlier than 13 weeks into the season to be honest,” Kvapil said. “I knew my owner, Alex Meshkin, had put together a tremendous group of people. With Toyota behind us giving us all the tools we need to go to the race track to run well – I know I’ve got great bodies, I know I’ve got great engines and I know Alex has got the best pieces bolted on the truck that we can buy. I’ve got Eric and Brad [Whaley], a great engineer, and now John’s on board as the new 42 crew chief. We’ve got a good group of people that really work together and communicate well, and I think that’s what the key was to our weekend. We finally put the whole package together. We tested last week in Nashville, and it was a huge turn around for our team. Since testing there, we brought a completely different truck with a totally different setup to Michigan, and Toyota providing us with that testing time and giving us that opportunity to get on the track was a key in my victory.”

As the youngest team owner in NASCAR to reach victory lane, 24-year-old Meshkin’s laurels were all the more sweet as both drivers finished inside the top-three after a roller coaster month of average finishes and changes within the organization. “For the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken more hands-on control of the team making changes to help the two teams become stronger and bring them together,” Meshkin said.

“I think we’ve accomplished that. Thanks to the hiring of our new crew chief on the 42 team, John has helped further solidify our team. Our track performance today, Mike having the best happy hour yesterday, two top-five finishes in which either of our trucks could’ve won and to have Travis win his sponsor’s race, it just can’t get any better than this. It’s an honor to be able to deliver Toyota their first win. To have Travis in victory lane – nothing could be more special.”

“I’m just really proud of the teamwork from the 24 and 42 crews working together to change the motor after we hit the wall in happy hour,” Phillips said. “Everyone put in so much effort and hard work to get us to the front, and I had all the confidence in the new Toyota engine we put in our Line-X truck. Our team has had the Michigan race circled on the calendar since Daytona and really wanted to win for Line-X and for Toyota in the big-three manufacturers’ backyard. To go up there and run really well with both teams just shows how good our race team really is. Our momentum keeps getting stronger which is so important since we’re just getting into the middle part of the race season.” “One of the biggest positives of our team’s win is an answer to a lot of the doubts over the past month about our race team and where we’re headed and what we’re doing,” Phillips said.

“There have been a lot of changes, and I still believe all of the changes are for the best for Bang Racing and its future. I’m really proud of the guys standing behind me and this race team through all of it. I think running one and two at the end of the race just shows how strong this race team can be when we work together. The communication with John has been really great, and I know we will work well together the rest of the year to continue down a successful path.” From victory lane and a momentous time in motorsports history, it’s hard to imagine less than 10 months ago Bang Racing didn’t even own a hammer. “I remember last fall when we didn’t have any employees or a race shop,” Kvapil said.

“We have done a lot in a very short time. And we just keep getting stronger and stronger. I’ve been saying for the last couple of weeks, the second half of the year is when Bang Racing is going to come on strong. We’ve been testing all this time, and the engines are getting better under the hood. Now that we’ve been to a lot of these race tracks once and know exactly what to bring for setups, we’ll start climbing our way to the top. We still definitely have a shot at the championship. Our team hasn’t given up and is looking for some more victories.” As Kvapil pulled away from the field during the last laps of the race, his crew and the Line-X employees weren’t the only ones acting as a cheering squad. Little known to anyone else, Kvapil himself acted as a cheerleader for his team before the race had even begun. “I told my crew the last time I wrecked my truck in practice, I won in Texas a couple of years ago,” Kvapil smiled. “And we’ve seen Carl Edwards change his motor a couple of times and come from the back to the front to win. So, this wasn’t going to be all bad. I knew if there was a place that I had to drive from the back to try for the win, Michigan was going to be one of the easiest places to do it. I’m just proud to be the driver to bring home Toyota’s first NASCAR victory.”

By Dick Brinster, The Associated Press June 10, 2004
3:53 PM EDT (1953 GMT)

Dressed in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, his cap on backward, Alex Meshkin bears little resemblance to other NASCAR team owners.

That’s what Larry McReynolds thought when the former crew chief was approached last spring by Meshkin and asked to join Bang Racing, now a fledgling team in the Craftsman Truck series.

“I asked him, ‘Where’s your dad at? Your dad must be the one who’s going to do this deal,”‘ McReynolds recalled.

Little did he know this was a 23-year-old whiz kid who six years earlier took some money his parents put aside for college and made a few million sitting at his computer trading stocks.

“I was able to (turn) it into a little bit of wealth and start my own company,” said Meshkin, whose Bang Technology Software affiliate is based in Bombay, India.

He also heads a merchandising company and Nutzz.com, which rewards consumers for the use of products in a manner similar to retailers giving frequent flyer miles.

The two-truck team is costing Meshkin nearly $15 million a year, and he expects the operation to be profitable by 2007. That’s the fast lane in a sport where sponsorship can be tough to maintain.

But super salesman Meshkin isn’t concerned. His teams, with series champion Travis Kvapil and former Cup driver and Craftsman champion Mike Skinner, are backed by Toyota and eBay among others.

Meshkin laughs when asked about his attempt to become a racer.

“I always wanted to be involved in racing since I was a little kid,” said Meshkin, who briefly campaigned a formula car. “I prefer the ownership side. I think I’ll just stick with what I do well.”

To McReynolds, who owns a small share of the team, Meshkin stands out because of his “passion” for the sport.

“Every other business I’ve been involved in, the excitement to me was when I could sell it to make money,” Meshkin said. “For this, I don’t care how much they offer me, I wouldn’t sell it.”

In fact, he plans to expand to the Busch series and eventually to Nextel Cup. The truck teams are just the foundation of his racing program.

Meshkin knew he wouldn’t have much credibility without bringing aboard a high-profile racing figure. So he targeted McReynolds, and was persistent when first rebuffed.

“I wasn’t really interested in talking to him,” said McReynolds, Dale Earnhardt’s former crew chief and a TV racing analyst. “Since I stepped off the pit box at the end of 2000, I’ve had 30 or 40 people come at me.

“I always had the feeling that they were looking for someone with a magic wand in their back pocket to wave over the race team and try to fix it.

“Even though I won 23 Cup races as a crew chief, I lost 447. So, obviously, I don’t have a magic wand.”

Finally, Meshkin sold McReynolds on the team and then sold him a piece of it.

“He’s an awfully good salesman,” McReynolds said. “And he knows how to go out and get those sponsors.”

With McReynolds as vice president of racing, Meshkin is able to concentrate almost solely on the business side of the operation. Part of that is pairing sponsors and trucks.

Skinner’s effort is backed by Toyota and Kvapil’s chief sponsor is Line-X, a spray-on bedliner for pickup trucks. Meshkin secured them and is confident his acumen as a salesman will eventually allow Bang to field about a half-dozen teams spread through NASCAR’s top three divisions.

“Our goal is to be the best and the biggest,” Meshkin said. “We’re not modest here.”

Fruition of his plan would put Bang at the level of Hendrick Motorsports or Roush Racing, the biggest operations in the sport. Meshkin believes that’s attainable because he expects to hold sponsorship by giving backers a fair return on their investment.

“That’s why sponsors come into the sport and are gone in a few years,” he explained. “We need to keep them by doing what’s right for them and the race team.”

Meshkin, now 24, says being young hasn’t hurt him in his marketing. Actually, he’s always considered youth an asset.

“Even when I started my first company as an 18-year-old,” Meshkin said. “People would look at me and figure, ‘I want to hear what this kid has to say.”‘

http://www.nascar.com/2004/news/headlines/truck/06/10/amishkin_feature.ap/

By JEFF WOLF
REVIEW-JOURNAL

NASCAR Craftsman Truck series driver Travis Kvapil, left, and 24-year-old team owner Alex Meshkin have teamed to win two races this season. COURTESY PHOTO

The past year of racing for Travis Kvapil has been so unique it makes the spelling of his last name seem like Smith or Jones.

It started at the end of the past NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season when he had to sit in his truck after the finale in Homestead, Fla., until race officials determined whether he or Ted Musgrave had won the season championship.

Although the ruling favored Kvapil, his reign started under clouds of uncertainty as owners of his truck team had decided to cut him from its 2004 lineup.

So the 28-year-old from Wisconsin hooked his championship wagon to a team owned by Alex Meshkin, a 24-year-old Internet entrepreneur who never had owned a race team before starting Bang Racing late last year.

Adding to Kvapil’s gamble: Meshkin’s team would rely on the new Toyota Tundra in the truck series. The Japan-based manufacturer had a proven history in other forms of racing, but this would be its first in one of NASCAR’s three major series.

It was a pair of long shots for Kvapil, but both gambles have paid off.

He will start Saturday night’s Las Vegas 350 truck series race as one of three drivers through 18 races who have won more than once this year. He has six top-five finishes.

With one year left on his contract with Meshkin, Kvapil has no regrets that he joined the youngest team owner in a major NASCAR racing series.

“I really believed in the program he was building, and I knew that Toyota would put good motors and trucks on the race track,” Kvapil said.

Kvapil and teammate Mike Skinner, the series’ first champion in 1995, are among four teams using Toyota equipment, but Kvapil is the only one who has won.

His second win was Saturday in Loudon, N.H.

“To get the second one makes a statement that this team is for real,” Kvapil said. “We’re contenders.”

Kvapil’s team is sixth in the standings with six races left and 188 points behind leader Bobby Hamilton. While Kvapil remains a contender for the season title, he also is looking toward next season when he and Meshkin move up to the NASCAR Busch Series.

“That’s the plan,” Kvapil said. “I wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent solid, but our sponsors are behind us to move up to Busch. (Meshkin is) working on some other sponsors, so we really have the money we need.”

Kvapil also denied rumors published last weekend that he was in line to replace Las Vegan Brendan Gaughan in the No. 77 Dodge for Penske/Jasper Racing in the Nextel Cup Series.

“It’s that time of year for rumors,” Kvapil said. “No one from Penske has talked to me.”

Meshkin, a native of Washington, D.C., said he expects to make an official announcement about his NASCAR plans in 45 to 60 days and it could include a second part-time team in the Busch series. He also said Kvapil will compete in some truck races next year to support one of the team’s sponsors that makes products geared to pick-up trucks.

“When we go Busch racing, it’s more competitive and you’re racing Cup teams,” Meshkin said. “It’s an opportunity to beat (teams like ) Hendrick, to beat RCR (Richard Childress Racing). That will give us the momentum when we go Cup racing.

“We won’t go racing in any series unless we’re going to be competitive.”

Meshkin’s first year in NASCAR has included a learning curve. A disagreement with Toyota over unspecified issues led the manufacturer to announce three weeks ago that it was pulling support from the team that would have forced Meshkin to find Fords, Dodges or Chevrolets for his drivers to finish the truck season.

A week later, however, Toyota backed off the threat, but Skinner left Meshkin’s team and began driving for Bill Davis Racing, another Toyota-backed program.

“When there’s stuff like that there’s always going to be distractions, but it was neat the guys in the shop never missed a beat,” Kvapil said.

Meshkin brings a new approach to NASCAR’s tradition-based world.

“I think we’re the most successful new team in NASCAR history,” he said.

“You can accomplish anything; it’s how you go about it. I think we’re more relaxed than other teams. By having a culture that has created unity, we are a more competitive team.”

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Sep-21-Tue-2004/sports/24812898.html 

Place your bids
Bang Racing announced an agreement with online aution site eBay, which includes a co-primary sponsorship of the Bang Racing motorsports teams in the NASCAR Nextel Cup and an associate sponsorship in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

“We’re thrilled to have eBay become an associate sponsor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and support a young entrepreneurial team’s entrance into the Nextel Cup, NASCAR’s premier series,” said Alex Meshkin, CEO and principle owner of Bang Racing. “We hope other technology companies will follow eBay’s lead and join forces with Bang Racing to reach brand loyal NASCAR fans.”

EBay’s associate sponsorship of Bang Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series includes the No. 42 Toyota Tundra with driver Mike Skinner, the 1995 series champion, and the No. 24 Tundra with driver Travis Kvapil, the 2003 champ. The agreement includes eBay’s sponsorship of Bang Racing in the Nextel Cup series during the second half of 2004 as the team prepares for its full-time entrance in the Nextel Cup Series in 2005.

“We’re proud to sponsor Bang Racing and be part of NASCAR series,” said Gary Dillabough, vice president, eBay strategic partnerships. “This sponsorship agreement provides eBay an opportunity to reach the passionate motorsports community and introduce Bang Racing to the eBay community, now totaling more than 95 million registered users.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1732213&type=story 

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Toyota officially became part of NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck series on Friday, announcing agreements with four teams for the 2004 season.

Bill Davis Racing, Innovative Motorsports Inc., Waltrip Racing Inc. and Bang Racing, all new to the series, will field Toyota Tundra trucks in the season-opening event Feb. 13 at Daytona International Speedway.

Davis will bring 18-year-old Shelby Howard to the truck series, while Robert Huffman and Hank Parker Jr. will drive for George deBidart’s Innovative Motorsports.

Darrell Waltrip, a three-time Winston Cup champion who is now a TV analyst, has hired David Reutimann as his driver and will get behind the wheel of a second entry for two or three events in 2004.

The new Bang Racing team, co-owned by Larry McReynolds, former Cup crew chief and now also a TV analyst, and Alex Meshkin, has hired 1995 truck series champion Mike Skinner and is expected to run a second entry for new series champion Travis Kvapil.

Davis also will work with Toyota Racing Development in building the race trucks and V8 engines for all four teams.

“What I’ve seen Toyota accomplish in such a short time in the IRL series, and the support they have given those teams … there’s no question that their intentions and goals are the same as they head toward the truck series in 2004,” said McReynolds.

Toyota engines competed in the IRL series for the first time in 2003, and Scott Dixon won the series championship in a Toyota-powered car.

In another truck announcement Friday, General Motors will add to its role in the Craftsman series with sponsorship of three teams.

A Chevrolet Silverado driven by Dennis Setzer for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports will carry the Silverado sponsorship, while Jack Sprague will drive a vehicle sponsored by Chevy Trucks for Xpress Motorsports.

Kevin Harvick Inc., will field a Silverado driven by Matt Crafton and sponsored by GM Goodwrench.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/racing/11/14/notebook.ap/

By Gary Graves, USA TODAY

Rarely has a NASCAR entrance generated as much buzz as Toyota’s announcement that it would enter its Tundra model in the Craftsman Truck Series this season.

		Mike Skinner, who”ll drive a Tundra, says the engine needs work, but “I’d be very surprised if it weren’t competitive within four or five months.”
		By Tim Dillon, USA TODA

The din has only slightly abated as some fans appear willing to welcome the Japanese carmaker to the heretofore-American sport. But keepers of the flame fear another Yankee stronghold is slipping away to a foreign interloper. Just recently, Nextel Cup and sometime Craftsman driver Jimmy Spencer broke off a xenophobic rant that NASCAR declined to discipline.

But Spencer’s comments seemed to express the sentiment of some, whom at the very least wonder if this is Toyota’s first step on the way to Nextel Cup. The company, which builds the trucks in Tennessee and Indiana, won’t comment.

Time will tell whether it comes true. For now Toyota will settle for being able to hang with American brands Ford, Dodge and Chevy.

Preseason testing revealed a horsepower deficit and other issues, but most expect the dependable Tundra to close the gap by season’s end, setting the stage for more suspense in NASCAR’s most competitive series.

“It’s stable,” said 1995 series champion Mike Skinner, who will team with reigning champion Travis Kvapil as part of Toyota’s four-team, seven-truck contingent. “We’re behind the gun a little bit, but I think we’re off to a great start. They’ve just got to make the engine better. I’d be very surprised if it weren’t competitive within four or five months.”

If signing Kvapil was intended to help give Toyota track credibility, adding irascible Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds provides experience as well as comic relief. Waltrip, the three-time Cup champion, and McReynolds, the late Dale Earnhardt’s longtime crew chief, are best known for their repartee as Fox TV analysts.

They will be respectively known as team owner and management. Waltrip will drive in three Craftsman races this season but will mostly oversee David Reutimann’s progress in Darrell Waltrip Racing’s No. 17 Tundra.

McReynolds will supervise Kvapil and Skinner as Bang! Racing’s vice president, a prospect he didn’t consider until examining Toyota’s business plan last year. That erased his reservations, but he quickly discovered that not everybody was so open-minded.

“It’s disappointing to me, this old-school thinking,” McReynolds said. “I’ve been called a traitor and a lot of other things I can’t repeat. But I’d bet that those who are against Toyota coming into NASCAR probably have Mitsubishi and Sony TVs and a lot of other foreign things in their homes.

“If you had come to me five years ago and told me Toyota would be in NASCAR. … I’m more enlightened now. It’s very American-oriented.”

In addition to Bang! and Waltrip, Bill Davis Racing will field a two-truck effort with Bill Lester and Shelby Howard. Innovative Motorsports will enter Robert Huffman and Hank Parker Jr.

Toyota will be the primary sponsor for Kvapil, Huffman and Lester.

If Kvapil thought it was tough rallying from third to win the closest-ever points race last season, consider what he’ll face as the man to beat. There’s the matter of Ted Musgrave, who finished 18 points back in third after officials black-flagged his final-restart pass for the lead at the Homestead finale. He immediately vowed to be more, er, daring, this season.

As if that isn’t enough to deal with, there’s runner-up Dennis Setzer (nine points back), fifth-place Jon Wood and seventh-place Rick Crawford, whose three-wide victory at Daytona last year set the tone for the season. Former Cup regular Steve Park joins Orleand Racing, and 2002 truck champion Jack Sprague is racing for Xpress Motorsports.

That makes the points race too hard for even drivers to handicap.

“With Toyota in, it has to be stronger,” Crawford said. “It has stepped everybody up to the plate. Toyota didn’t come into NASCAR just to play around and be a number in the finishing order; they’re coming in to win. Look at what they’ve done in other forms of racing. I’m sure they’ll make the same impact in NASCAR.”

That confidence sustains Kvapil as he gets used to a new truck and his third team in as many seasons. Last season’s jump from third to series champion in the finale taught him that things somehow fall into place, minimizing his initial concerns about Toyota. He also believes Toyota eventually will silence debate over its place, which might be the biggest victory.

“We’ve blown a few engines in testing, but that was to be expected,” said Kvapil, who set a series record by completing all but one half-mile lap last season. “Toyota is building engines to be there at the end. They’re fine-tuning some things, so there are definitely some question marks. But we’ll be there.”

Also competing are Tina Gordon, the series’ only full-time female driver, and Kelly Sutton. Gordon will drive the No. 13 Chevy, while rookie Sutton, a former Dash series driver, will guide the No. 02 Chevy.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2004-02-12-bonus-toyota_x.htm