Shawn learned to drive, starting with his father’s VW powered pan buggy, in the sand dunes of Colorado and Wyoming. Raced motocross on a Yamaha YZ80 and then moved up to a Pinto powered buggy in his high school years.

After returning from the Marine Corps, Shawn worked in several automotive repair shops until opening Proformance Auto Repair in 2003. During this time Shawn built his own sand car. This hand built sand car was Shawn’s pride and joy. Starting with a Hi Jumper frame, front Aarm suspension, 5 link rear, powered by a Chevrolet 4.3 V6 and with a Mendeola transaxle backing it up, Shawn continued his passion of high performance off road driving.

Shawn started driving for Viers Industries in 2006 racing in the 1600cc class in the local CORE (Colorado OffRoad Extreme) series. He placed 2nd in points in his first season with 4 wins. The following winter, he ran in the 1600cc class in the Stadium Buggy Competition in Denver, CO and took a 1st and 2nd to place 1st overall. In 2007, Shawn drove a class 10 car and placed 2nd overall in points with (2) 1st place the 3 top 5’s in the CORE series. Shawn finished the year by taking (2) 2nd’s to place 2nd overall in the Class 10 car in the Stadium Buggy Competition.

Around the of the year in 2008, Shawn reviewed his last 2 years in offroad racing, and decided he wanted to race in the professional ranks. He recruited good friends and fellow offroad enthusiasts Pat Duffy and Scott Viers, to research the requirements and competitiveness of the WSORR Series. After talking to chassis and motor builders’ in the series, Shawn and Pat embarked on designing and building his Pro Super Buggy. Continuously consulting the off road racing community, they refined their designs and put the finishing touches on the car in the late spring.

The new chassis was designed and hand crafted with great care taken to insure safety and functionality while working within the guidelines of the WSORR rule book. The highest quality offroad racing components were used such as Fox Shocks, CNC Pedals and Brakes, Douglas Racing Wheels and Maxxis Tires. Race proven power and drive train components by Fat Racing Engines and Mendeola Transaxles are used on the car. After the car was completed Shawn and his crew spent many weekends at the local tracks performing testing and dialing in the chassis and suspension. This meant that Shawn would have to start the WSORR 2008 season half way through the season.

Shawn’s Rookie Season in the WSORR – Pro Super Buggy class debuted was at Oshkosh, WI. in Rounds #7 & #8. Shawn and his crew drove all night and arrived late at the track and were unable to make any of the practices. Shawn met Randy Eller, a fellow Maxxis sponsored racer in the Pro Light class, who was very helpful, suggesting tire grooving specs and overall track information. Shawn started the race, very nervous, and dead last without ever making a lap on the track. Shawn drove cautiously throughout the race, learning the track and the competition. He had a good first run and placed 9th in Round #7. Shawn started Round #8 again in the back, but had gained a lot of confidence and experience from the race the night before. He worked consistently though the field while gaining respect for the rhythm sections and hanging it out in the sweeping corners. Shawn placed 6th in round #8 and was very pleased with his performance while suffering no mechanical failures. Many thanks go out to Randy Eller for his advice and experiences.

The next events for the WSORR were Rounds #9 and #10 held at Bark River, WI. The Bark River track is very fast with speeds in excess of 90 mph, has many tight turns and huge jumps. The infamous “CEMETARY JUMP” will get even the most experienced drivers attention as jumps over 200 feet are common.

Shawn and his crew made the long overnight journey to the event, and came ready to run. The crew had the car set up to handle good in the corners and able to take the big air of the jumps. Shawn started in the 2nd row of the land rush start and moved up quickly. He placed 8th in round #9 and finished on the podium in 3rd place in round #10. This was the highlight of the 2008 season for team. Shawn was ecstatic during the interview almost stealing the show from the winners.

The last events of the season for the WSORR were rounds #11 and #12 held at Crandon, WI. on Labor Day weekend. This event included the WSORR season finals, the BorgWarner Shootout and the Forest County Potawatomi 'Decision at Sundown' PRO Light Pickup Cup race.

Coming off an extreme high from the last race, Shawn and his crew were very anxious to get to the track and race along with experiencing all the finales of the WSORR season. Shawn raced to an 8th place finish in round #11 and experienced brake failure due to mud being packed around the calipers during the final laps of round #12 and finished 12th . Although their finishes were not what the team had hoped for, they had a great time at the event.

The 2008 season of the WSORR – Pro Super Buggy class was a great racing experience for Shawn and his team. They will work hard on perfecting the set ups on the car and Shawn will continue to improve his driving skills for the up coming 2009 season.

Team Information

2009 Goals: Run full race schedule of the 2009 WSORR - Pro Super Buggy series. Place in the Top 5 in points or better for the season.