Gone Too Soon: RIP Shaun Carlson

By John Naderi

StreetFire.net

Why do the truly great ones among us always get taken prematurely? It is with a heavy heart that I report the death of Shaun Carlson. He passed away on October 4, 2009. Earlier this year Shaun was diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome and as a result he received a pacemaker. At this time it is unknown if this was a contributing factor to his death. You can read more about this and his career as an NHRA Pro Stock driver here.

But Shaun was much more than a Pro Stock driver, he was a journalist and photographer cutting his teeth at Truckin’ magazine and later helping Turbo make it’s legendary mark on the dawn of the Sport Compact era. I always wanted to shoot like him, he could make a car look absolutely beautiful in a studio decades before Photoshop replaced raw talent. Then he revealed another side busting out a single cam CRX with Jason Whitfield. This car had an unparalleled amount of fabrication and paint job that screamed mid-nineties 909 mini-truckin’ style (and I say that with the utmost admiration).

Shaun soon outgrew the journo game (he actually had more to offer the world) and he took his Nuformz fabrication shop public. His B-series block guards were revolutionary. And then came Steph’s yellow EK Civic hatch that stood the FWD drag world on its steelies. Shaun essentially built the world’s first tube-chassis FF drag car with Steph Papadakis forever changing the game. Thinking back, I must admit to being honored to see that car make its first pass at Battle in Palmdale in ’98 I believe.

In 2000 Shaun dropped a Ford Focus on the SEMA Show that was quite possibly the pinnacle of his tuning and fabrication talents. The car was eventually reskinned as an SRT-4 and was the start of a long relationship Shaun had with Mopar Racing.

Shaun was never given a real shot in Pro Stock, which may have been a good thing since – while he was no slouch behind the wheel, always able to cut a great light – his true talents are on the fabrication side of things. This led to a team ownership of the Mopar drift team where he and driver Samuel Hubinette captured two FD Championships. After trying to polish a turd in the way too-long wheelbased Charger Shaun’s latest, greatest work, a Mopar drift Challenger has yet to smoke a tire in competition. I don’t know if that car will ever run or for that matter if Samuel will run the Viper at this season’s FD finals but hope both come to pass.

I’ll miss Shaun’s infectious grin, his style, which as of late included a Mohawk and his wild ways, which we had in common. But most of all, I’ll miss his work and the impact he had on this sport, which may never be duplicated. Here’s to you, Shaun Carlson.