Carlson began racing in 1999 and soon made his mark on the sport compact scene. As owner of NuFormz Racing in Ontario, Calif., Carlson was acknowledged as an elite engine builder and FWD performance guru, and created the first sport compact drag car with a tube chassis. Carlson was the first FWD builder to run in the 9-second and 8-second range.

A native of California, Carlson enjoyed a long and illustrious career competing under the Team Mopar banner. He took the wheel of the Mopar/NuFormz Dodge SRT4(R) in the 2003 NHRA Sport Compact Series and captured his first career NHRA victory in May 2003 at Gainesville. He also set Pro FWD records for elapsed time and speed at the event. He finished third in the Pro FWD standings in 2003, was fourth in 2004, and in 2005 he seized a second career victory at the Palm Beach NHRA Sport Compact Nationals.

Carlson also competed for Team Mopar in the NHRA Pro Stock series. In his very first race, subbing for an injured Darrell Alderman at the 2004 NHRA Winternationals, Carlson demonstrated his skill behind the wheel, grabbing an early round win and nearly advancing to the semifinals. Carlson also piloted the Team Mopar/SRT(R) Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock car for Don Schumacher Racing in 2006, and used his mechanical skills to assist Allen Johnson's J&J Racing squad in tuning friend Richie Steven Jr.'s Mopar Dodge to two late-season 2006 wins.

Carlson also enjoyed great success as owner of a Mopar-sponsored team in the growing motorsport of drifting. NuFormz Racing maintained the Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe Samuel Hubinette steered to the inaugural Formula Drift (FD) championship in 2004, and Carlson owned and tuned the Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 Hubinette drove to the 2006 FD championship. Carlson and Hubinette also teamed for FD series runner-up finishes in 2005 and 2008 and nine FD event wins during their partnership-a series high.

"On behalf of Mopar and Chrysler Group LLC, I would like to express deepest sympathies to the friends and family of Shaun Carlson," said Jim Sassorossi, Director, Global Parts Sales & Marketing - Mopar Parts. "We are shocked and saddened at Shaun's sudden passing. Shaun possessed a great passion for life and for racing. He was a dear friend of Team Mopar and will be greatly missed."

Team Mopar driver Allen Johnson would have been more than happy if his outing at the rain-delayed O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park had lasted just a bit longer. Johnson exited in the quarterfinals of eliminations, which had been scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 4, but were delayed until Monday, Oct. 5, due to persistent rain showers.

Johnson qualified No. 6 in his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T and faced Warren Johnson in the opening round of eliminations. Allen Johnson recorded the round win with an elapsed time of 6.624 seconds and a speed of 208.68 mph to Warren Johnson's 6.653/208.75 run.

In the quarterfinals Allen Johnson faced fellow NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs competitor Jason Line. Johnson has worked hard recently to improve his reaction time off the starting line, and his practice paid off with a .017 reaction time (.000 is perfect) to Line's slower .025 mark. Unfortunately, Johnson's pass of 6.620/208.49 was bettered by Line's 6.601/209.60 mark. Line's margin of victory over Johnson was approximately 4 feet.

Mopar-powered Pro Stocker Johnny Gray also advanced to the quarterfinals, losing to Mike Edwards. Johnson is fifth in the Countdown to 1 point standings; Gray is seventh. Next up is the fourth race in the six-race Countdown, the Virginia NHRA Nationals, Oct. 9-11. For more information on the NHRA, visit http://www.nhra.com.

Allen Johnson exited in the quarterfinals at the rain-delayed O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals on Monday, Oct. 5 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Johnson is now fifth in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs standings with three races remaining.

Courtesy of Darren Jacobs