About Us

BangShift.com is “The Car Junkie Daily Magazine”. Whether you are looking for the latest gearhead news, tech, features, or video, we’ve got it all right here at BangShift.com. We’re your source for online gearhead fun. Started by two fanatics of 4 wheels, Chad Reynolds and Brian Lohnes, BangShift.com has become the go to spot for your daily dose of hot rod mojo. And thanks to a talented crew of overpaid Contributors, we’ve got more content than anyplace else. Whether you are into Drag Racing, Land Speed Racing, Trucks, Pro Touring, or just good old hot rods, we’ve got you covered. Together Brian and Chad have created a gearhead destination on the web that allows you to get your fix, no matter what your automotive vice.

After 5 years online, BangShift has taken itself to the next level in 2014 with the launch of BangShift 1320, BangShift APEX, and BangShift XL, which focus on Drag Racing, Stuff That Turns, and all thing Trucks respectively. With these new BangShift.com sites we are providing even more content, right where you want it, about the vehicles you love.

Here is a little info about the guys behind the curtain.

Editor in Chief: Brian Lohnes was born with two things, an enormous head and an unnatural love for motorized vehicles of all shapes and sizes. It was at a very young age that he fell in love with his dad’s old 8N tractor and things have been downhill from there. Growing up in the back seat of a 1964 Pontiac GTO hitting shows, cruise nights and watching American Sports Cavalcade on Sundays at home, it was gasoline and speed that really turned his crank. As a kid, he dreamed of being an engineer someday but the 5th grade came and math stopped being something that he was capable of doing so he turned to singing, which also failed, and he settled on the idea of writing about cars. (Chad Note: Which is funny because although he does know cars, he doesn’t know spelling.)

Along with his duties here at BangShift, Lohnes is an active motorsports announcer who can be found at ECTA land speed meets in Wilmington, Ohio, New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire along multifaceted events like LS Fest and Goodguys autocrosses, Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week, the Diesel Power Challenge, and he’s a member of the announcing staff on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. Brian’s name can be occasionally found in the pages of magazines like Hot Rod, Popular Hot Rodding, and others. He’s got a wife and two car obsessed sons, a Chevy Caprice, a 1968 Chevy tow truck, and dreams of owning a large tractor someday.

Publisher: Chad Reynolds was born with three things, an enormous mouth, an unnatural ability to talk non stop, and the ability to drive just about anything. Growing up at Fremont Drag Strip in Northern California, riding in the back seat of a 1968 Z28 Camaro, and attending every race and show imaginable was just part of what shaped him into the hot rod junkie he is now. When every available spare minute was consumed with learning new things about cars in his Grandpa’s repair shop, or under the back of Dad’s Z28, it’s no wonder he has turned out the way he did. He’s driven everything from Pro Stock on down, and hope to add Pro Mods and Funny Cars to that list shortly. And although cars have always been his passion, they weren’t the direction he expected with regards to a career. Like Brian, he had other aspirations, and worked in the high tech and telecom industry for a while before doing the dumb thing and opening a hot rod shop.

It was during his stint as a hot rod builder that Chad’s loud mouth started to pay dividends. After being noticed by the gang at Hot Rod, Chad became the voice of Hot Rod Power Tour and then went on to announce at races and events all over the country, including Goodguys events, Hot Rod Magazine events, NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing events, NHRA UnLeashed, and many more. Like Brian, he’s been published in several magazines. It was during the very first Hot Rod Drag Week that Chad and Brian met, and it’s been down hill every since. Chad has a wife and two kids at home, along with Bear the shop dog, Otis the wannabe shop dog, and a Camaro Convertible, ’56 Bel Air Wagon, ’66 Bel Air Wagon, Monza, 1993 S10 Blazer, and some other projects that don’t run. He dreams of actually having all his projects run someday.

Staff Editor: Bryan McTaggart Wasn’t born with jack squat past a heartbeat and a name, but had the proper influences in his early years that doomed him to the second most expensive hobby in the world. Remember, music is the first! Growing up with minimal supervision and maximum exposure to the truly insane side of automotive culture, McTaggart has done quite a bit in his years, from racing dirt-bikes through the forests of Washington State to canyon-carving mountain passes in Colorado and Arizona, to bracket racing wherever his travels took him. Just like Brian and Chad, McTaggart had a life previous to this: that pissed-off vet look comes naturally, as he spent nine years as a helicopter technician for the United States Army.

McTaggart’s choices in vehicles can best be summed up in one word: questionable. For the gems he’s owned, he’s got about three or four that makes everybody else wonder if everything is alright upstairs in that head of his. He’s got a fascination with unloved Mopars, Mustang IIs, and junk from the 1970s and 1980s. His past automotive life isn’t all bad, though…among other rides, he’s had a few G-bodies, a four-speed cop car Dodge, a 1973 Chevelle with a very sketchy history behind it, and others. His happy place is behind the wheel, whether on the strip, the road course, or while mowing down the miles on a road trip. And thanks to the powers of BangShift, he has a loving wife who is very, very understanding about the sickness that plagues him.

The Contributors here at BangShift.com are the best ever. They may not be the smartest, after all they work here for peanuts and warm beer, that we usually require them to supply, but they sure do work hard! To list each and every one of them would take up too much space, but look for them on the pages of BangShift.com each day. A couple of our newest contributors who will be showing their faces around here most often, are listed below along with a tidbit on each of them.

Dave Nutting doesn’t know how he feels about writing about himself in third-person, but he’s going with it anyway. He is contractually forbidden from ranting about his obsession with General Motor’s G-body platform within this bio, and so will instead mention his love of turbocharged vehicles and motorsports that require turning both left and right. When he’s not placing himself and his camera in precarious situations to get “The Shot” while shooting photos for BangShift, Dave is also a writer in the loosest sense possible and a certified shadetree mechanic. (Chad Note: He deserves hazard pay for working so closely with Lohnes, although I’ll deny that should any lawyer ask.)

Darr Hawthorne feels fine about writing about himself in the third-person. Darr is contractually obligated to rant about all that is good in the world of drag racing, and specifically Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars. He’s also into long walks on the beach, working on hot rods, getting into trouble with fellow Funny Car Junkie Donnie Couch, and anything racing related. As he is fond of saying when Chad thanks him profusely for working a million hours for no pay, “It’s my passion…”. The reason for that passion is simple, Darr has completely submersed himself into the Southern California and Nostalgia Drag Racing scenes for decades and is a staple in the pits at any good drag race.

Craig Fitzgerald is a published writer and photographer, with credits in Hemmings Motor News, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, Forbes, Esquire, BoldRide.com and CarTalk.com. At least the first 5 of which make him either overqualified, or way to straight laced, for BangShift.com. He spent seven years at Hemmings Motor News, where he edited both Hemmings Muscle Machines and Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car. Over the years, he’s had a 396-powered ’69 El Camino with a four-speed, a ’68 Buick Riviera, a ’96 Buick Roadmaster Estate, more motorcycles than you can count, and a ’65 Vespa motorscooter. These days, he’s working on a 1979 Chevy Blazer, while also perfecting the art of bashing on Brian thanks to some thoughtful instruction from Chad. It would appear that Craig’s rapidly increasing skill level is making Chad a bit nervous however, as he starts to contemplate the ramifications should the student turn on him. Ha ha.

There are several more BangShift.com Contributors who are stepping up to be a bigger part of our daily content here at BangShift.com and we’ll make sure to keep you posted on all those guys as well. We thank each and every one of them for anything they do for us, big or small.