Toyota drops Bang Racing

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team Bang Racing, based in Charlotte, NC, and owned by internet entrepreneur Alex Mishkin and former Winston Cup crew chief Larry McReynolds, has had its support agreement from Toyota Racing Development terminated with immediate effect. Diana DeJoseph, Toyota's senior motorsports public relations administrator, confirmed that the manufacturer ended its contract with Bang Racing and its two drivers, Travis Kvapil and Mike Skinner, yesterday, despite the team scoring the manufacturer's first NASCAR win at Michigan last month

Aug 31, 2004, 11:50 AM

"What we can say at this point is that we have exercised our right to terminate our support agreement with Bang Racing," DeJoseph said. "We notified Bang after the Bristol race. We don't discuss the details of any of our team contracts or ongoing discussions, so Bang Racing's contract is no exception."

Bang Racing, through a statement, disputes Toyota's position and has admitted it is considering litigation: "According to Bang Racing's sponsorship and support agreement with Toyota, Bang was and continues to be entitled to receive full factory support for our two Tundra teams. Bang is currently in discussions with litigation counsel regarding the legal ramifications of TRD/Toyota's position."