Shaun Carlson - Industry Icon and Most of All - My Friend!
Written by Andy Williamson Tuesday, 06 October 2009
I have taken sometime to myself before I have said anything about the recent tragedy, which has been the passing of Shaun Carlson. Some of you may not know him, but many of you have seen his fingerprint and incredible cars that he has built over the years. It would take me several hours to sit and tell you all the accomplishments that Shaun has had but I will leave that to some others that are doing stories on Shaun right now. I will post at the end of this blog some other sites that have talked to his accomplishments so you can hear from the others whose lives were so greatly affected by Shaun.
For me though, I want to tell you about my friend. Shaun is a guy that I admired and respected for many years now. A close mutual friend (Jason Whitfield) introduced me to Shaun around 2000 and we immediately hit it off. He took me in and I was able to get right into his inner circle. He had that way about him to make you feel incredibly important. At that time of my life, I was working as the Executive Editor for HCI Magazine and Shaun really helped me understand the publishing business as he had great success there and made a great impact in the magazine business before he moved into being one of the industries greatest car builders and fabricators.
Shaun's career was a very robust one. He had done everything from building the baddest street cars in the world, to building earth shattering race cars. He was able to catapult many careers in racing due to his creations and worked for companies like Ford, which he single handedly put them on the map with his tube chassis Focus. He then had a close deal put together with GM but things did not work out and that deal unfortunately ended, which opened up the door for Daimler Chrysler to enter. Shaun and NuFormz Racing were able to stay under the radar while building this new custom Neon SRT-4 racecar that he then unveiled at the 2002 SEMA Show. This car without a doubt stole the show and created a major buzz within the automotive industry and put Mopar back on the map and on the radar screens of the youth market all across the nation!
I had the great opportunity to have the exclusive photo shoot of his Neon SRT-4 racecar for HCI Magazine (full feature available below), and I made sure to go the distance and really do it justice. It was a labor of love for me and at a time that really cemented my friendship with Shaun. Recently he had been diagnosed with some heart issues, and had gone through many medical procedures to help keep him healthy. That alone was such a shock to all his family, friends and industry as Shaun Carlson was such a young guy with LOTS of life in him. Everyone that knew him or dealt with him on a daily basis would ever think anything was wrong with him.
Unfortunately this story doesn't end well. On Sunday evening Shaun went to sleep around 10:00 pm Pacific and left this earth sometime between then and midnight. His passing has shocked the industry and has hurt many of his friends and family - I don't know quite how to feel yet.
I am still in shock and in a place where I want to celebrate the life of Shaun Carlson rather than harp on his passing. Shaun, you will always be remembered, I thank you for all that you have taught me and all that you have done for the marketplace. You will never be replaced! Thank you for your constant care and love for me and my family. I will always remember that and will take it upon myself to pass on that same spirit to other young people that are following in my footsteps. You have been an inspiration for me. I will always love you and am better because I was able to call you my friend.
Below are a few links of stories already posted on Shaun. I am sure they will give you some more insight on how talented and profitable he was to our industry.
http://www.nhra.com/story/2009/10/5/former-nhra-pro-stock-sport-compact-racer-carlson-dies/
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/06/racecar-fabricator-and-nuformz-owner-shaun-carlson-dead-at-35/
http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/10/05/gone-too-soon-rip-shaun-carlson/
Just to show you just how much of an innovator Shaun was, here is a home video of him making history with Stephan Papadakis by being the first 9-second ¼ run in a FWD car.
HCI Magazine - June 2003 - Shaun Carlson Feature:
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