Shaun Carlson, NuFormz Owner, Dead at 35

Shaun Carlson

Shaun Carlson, former NHRA Pro Stock and Sport Compact racer died yesterday from a yet to be determined cause. According to NHRA, Carlson had been diagnosed a while back with the Brugada syndrome, a genetic heart disease, but at this point it is unclear whether this was the cause of his death.

Carlson had been ill for several years now, with the aforementioned syndrome making him a prime target for sudden cardiac death. Even so, he still kept an eye on his team, car and driver.

Carlson entered NHRA professional racing in 2004, as the replacement for Darrell Alderman in the Pro Stock season. In his debut, Carlson managed to win the first round and nearly went to the semifinals. Still, one year earlier, he managed to set the Sport Compact Racing Series Pro FWD record for speed.

In 2006, he moved to Don Schumacher Racing in the NHRA Pro Stock class for the 2006 season, racing in a Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T. After leaving drag racing at about the same time, Carlson got involved in professional drifting.

Carlson was the owner and founder of NuFormz, a sport compact marketing firm and owner of the Dodge Viper SRT10 driven by Samuel Hubinette in the Formula Drift series. The car and its driver stared in the first edition of the Need for Speed Underground Formula D Drift Series championship in 2004 and since then won the championship in 2006.

NuFormz was the company behind creations like the Honda CRX, as well as the he first sport compact drag car with a tube chassis or the carbon fiber/titanium Ford Focus.