Tag Archives: dean kearney
Dean “Karnage” Kearney Post Formula Drift Finals & Into 2012
As Dean “Karnage” Kearney ends his 2011 Formula Drift season on an up note. He was kind enough to give us some time to tell us about how he and Team SHR ended the season as well as some insight on 2012, SEMA and moving to the states…
EverythingDrift: How was it to make it into the Top 16 after the struggles of the season with the Viper having several issues, causing a lower ranking and making yourself and the team struggle?
Dean “Karnage” Kearney: “Irwindale was my second Top16 of the season. My first came at V-LEDS home event in Evergreen Speedway at round 4, the event that I eventually breathed a sign of relief and was also a major turning point for me, the team and all involved. Basically without getting into too much detail about the reasons behind the troubles and dwelling on them, my aim was to focus on the cure and get better results after 3 difficult events. The judging criteria in FD has changed so much over the years and with cars becoming faster and technologically super advanced I guess the old Viper was stuck in a FD time warp and needed some changes to get some more performance from the car and also more performance from me. Basic things such as traction to carry more drift speed was required but like everything, to every action there is an equal opposite reaction. This new found traction and speed suddenly made the car trickier to steer and transition through drift so we needed more angle and quicker lock-2-lock steering rack. Not an easy task, especially mid season to be re-engineering steering, anti roll bar and spindle design to “hopefully” gain an advantage on its current setup without any prior testing or knowledge from someone else to clarify the changes will actually work, a lottery in other words! Luckily after an all nights work in Seattle we basically junked the roll bar and re-engineered the spindles in such a way to have zero Ackermann angle which in turn alleviated the other steering rack issues as the hubs now turned more degrees with less steering input = quick rack. It was a gamble and it paid off this time. The steering improvements along with the teams hard work and dedication to making the car perform 100% at the remaining round such as Vegas where I was disgusted with myself for falling out in Top32 I really wanted to say thanks to everyone with a Top16 or better at Irwindale. On another day Top8 or more was capable but no shame in losing to Tyler on a day where he ended up winning the event….il get you one day Tyler!!” J
Hübinette Shoots for Breakthrough at ‘House of Drift’
Newport Coast, Calif. (Oct. 5, 2011) — There’s not much that two-time Formula DRIFT (FD) champion Samuel Hübinette hasn’t accomplished in his career. The man known as the “Crazy Swede” has the most career wins of any FD driver, but victory has eluded him at the most prestigious venue on the FD circuit — legendary Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway, also known as the “House of Drift.” Hübinette will look to end that drought at Irwindale with a victory in the 2011 FD season finale, scheduled for Oct. 7–8.
Hübinette has earned a number of podium finishes at Irwindale, including one to clinch the 2006 FD championship. The Dodge Motorsports BFGoodrich Dodge Challenger pilot and his Samuel Hübinette Racing (SHR) driver and teammate, Dean Kearney, who will once again take the wheel of the V-LEDS Dodge Viper SRT10, are poised for strong runs in the Irwindale field.
2011 Formula Drift V-LEDs Atlanta (Video)
V-Leds does a quick recap with Dean Kearney at Formula Drift: Round 2 at Road Atlanta.
Hübinette Dealt Tough Outing at Long Beach; Kearney Advances to Top 32
Two-time Formula DRIFT (FD) champ Samuel Hübinette is ready to put the season-opening FD Long Beach event in his rear-view mirror. Hübinette encountered mechanical problems in his Samuel Hübinette Racing (SHR) Dodge Motorsports Dodge Challenger and was unable to make a qualifying run at Long Beach, forcing the “Crazy Swede” to miss the tandem drift elimination battles on Saturday, April 9.
Hübinette still gained some encouragement from the weekend, as his new SHR driver, Dean Kearney, qualified for the show at Long Beach in his Mopar-powered SHR Dodge Viper SRT10. Kearney qualified No. 28 and fell in the opening round to Rhys Millen.
“One of the two SHR/Dodge race vehicles made it in to the show at Long Beach,” said Hübinette. “Due to a mechanical problem with the Challenger it was not able to get out on time for the qualification runs on Friday. I’m very disappointed to not make it into the show, but at the same time I’m happy that my driver Dean Kearney qualified in his SHR V-LEDs Dodge Viper. We’ll head to Atlanta for Round 2, where I will get my chance to grab some very important points for my chase for a third championship.”
Next up is the Round Two Formula DRIFT event at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., May 6–7. For more information, visit http://www.formulad.com.
Adams Drift: “Feeling Lucky” 3-31-2011 Gallery
We got the chance to see Dean Kearney out testing the V-Leds Dodge Viper before next weeks start of the Formula Drift season while out at the Adams Drift “Feeling Lucky” event. We also got to see Gushi out playing in friends cars and the local grassrooters doing their thing. Click here for the event gallery.