Dean Karnage confirmed for Formula D finale at Irwindale:

Press Release:

Team Karnage to compete at Formula D, Irwindale October 16th/17th:

Dublin, Ireland. September 16th 2009:

Dean “Karnage” Kearney the 2009 Prodrift Super Series champion has confirmed a dream of his today to compete in the USA in the elite drifting series worldwide, Formula D. The final round of the Formula D championship will be staged at the Toyota Speedway or more popularly known as the “House of Drift” in Irwindale, California on the 16h/17th October 2009. Deans ambition to compete in the USA came after witnessing the REDBULL Drifting World Championships in 2008 at the port of Long Beach and wanted to follow in the footsteps of past Prodrift Champions of 2006 Darren “DMAC” McNamara and 2007 Eric “Flat Eric” O’Sullivan.

Following a successful championship campaign in the Prodrift Super Series which is a championship consisting of the best of both Irish and UK competitors Dean managed 1 victory, 2 seconds and a Top 16 to secure the 2009 championship on home soil earlier this month. Team Karnage will be traveling to the USA in the coming weeks to join up with Intec Racing based out of Seattle, Washington and meet up with Lawrence Ojas the founder of Intec Racing and his crew. Intec Racing are supplying Team Karnage with the use of their ex-Falken Nissan S14 which Mitsuru Haruguchi drove throughout the 2007 Formula D season. Lawrence Ojas was quick to realize the potential he saw in Dean “Karnage” Kearney and seize the opportunity:

“It was great to hear from a team so hungry and determined to get out here to the USA and compete, let the truth be told I was planning on selling the S14 but suddenly these guys have re-lit a fire inside of me! I am delighted to have a Prodrift Champion contact me and drive my Intec Racing S14 and I will be doing my utmost to deliver a competitive package for these guys at Irwindale. With the car being a similar S body platform to what Dean is used to driving already an being Right Hand Drive, and finally having the same tire support package from Maxxis means that we have quite a strong overall package in both the driver and team around him to forget about making up the numbers and really challenge for honors! The sooner these guys can get out here the sooner we can start testing and preparations for Irwindale and I cant wait.” – Lawrence Ojas

Haruguchi lined up on track at Irwindale in 2007.

Here are some current pictures of the car taken only last week:

Although the car is Falken color blue/teal inside, Dean will not be using Falken Tires for this event. Team Karnage is delighted to announce that it will be continuing to use its championship winning Maxxis MAZ1 drift tire for the Irwindale final, a tire which Dean has used all season. Brandon Bentley from Maxxis tires USA was delighted to hear about and International Maxxis driver and now champion from Prodrift was coming out to drive.

“Having witnessed past Prodrift champions like DMAC successfully making the transition from Prodrift to Formula D driving for Falken, and more recently Eric O’Sullivan doing likewise for Hankook its great to see another champion like Dean Kearney joining the Formula Drift field but this time on Maxxis tires which is also currently sitting 1st and 2nd overall in the Formula D championship standings. Dean has proved the MAZ1 is an International championship winning tire and hopefully our Formula D drivers can do likewise at Irwindale next month. I will be all looking forward to meeting with Dean and his Team and working together at Irwindale.” – Brandon Bentley.

Chris Forsberg and Ryan Tuerck both Maxxis tires drivers sit 1st and 2nd of the Formula Drift championship going into the final round at Irwindale. Team Karnage is delighted to have continued support from Maxxis and will be doing all they can to make them proud at Irwindale.

Formula D is considered by most as the most elite drifting series in the world today. It showcased a 7 round championship throughout 2009 and numbers are continually growing from both sides of the fence. Exclusive TV coverage with a mainstream network TV station has been confirmed and goes out to 75 million homes which shows why most drivers worldwide want to see themselves competing with the best at FormulaD.

– Ends –

Team Karnage would like to thank all its sponsors throughout the 2009 season and is looking forward to working with Intec Racing and Maxxis USA at Irwindale. We will be looking at putting together a program to compete in Formula D in 2010 and is currently seeking sponsorship support. If you would a copy of our 2010 sponsorship and marketing plans and you are interested in joining Team Karnage and become part of Dean “Karnage” Kearney’s future within Formula D and drifting throughout 2010 please contact us on the following:

Team Karnage – www.deankearney.com

Post: 23 Brookdale Avenue, Rivervalley, Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Phone: +353 86 165446/ +353 87 1216621
email: ian@deankearney.com
fax: +353 1 8407021

Dean Karnage.