Name: Dean “Karnage” Kearney
D.O.B: 12 September 1988
Location: Waterford, Ireland / Los Angeles, CA.
Profession: Professional Drift
Interests: Drifting / Rallycross / X Games
Having had a keen interest in cars from an early age, Dean Kearney was first introduced to the world of motor sport through his father who was involved with Irish Rallying in his younger years. This passion and love of Motorsport naturally lead Dean to develop a love for cars and indeed it did, and as the drifting scene grew at home in Ireland so too did Dean’s passion for the sport.
So much in fact that he has been building and maintaining his own drift cars since the very beginning of his drifting career. As drifting thrived across Ireland and Europe in its youth the standards grew and each year became more challenging than the last – but Dean continued to meet and exceed these demands as he became one of the most ambitious and determined driver in his field to reach his goals.
2006: At only 16 years old he catapulted straight into the Professional class of the Prodrift Series at his first ever qualifying session in a 1996 Nissan 200sx S14. This car proved to be the perfect breeding ground for Dean in his infancy of competitive drifting and he learned each track quickly while also beating many current top competitors in far superior machinery.
2007: A new year brought a new car for Dean, an older model but iconic car and very successful for drifting in its native country of Japan a 1992 Nissan S13 Silvia – This car helped him to gain much of his success as he finished 2nd in the D-rift Battle Championship and 6th in the Prodrift Irish Series Championship in only his second year of competitive drifting.
2008: Dean proved his long-term dedication to drifting when Dean became the only competitor in Ireland and indeed Europe to log two cars competition ready under his own name for the coming season. These cars were his trusty Nissan from 2007 which is the car he used to great success in 2007/08/09 and also another S13 Nissan Silvia – a 600bhp S13 Nissan Silvia ex Professional D1GP straight from competition in Japan. These two cars were great assets to Dean as he accomplished 2nd place in the 2008 Prodrift Irish Series Championship and he also finished up in a very respectable 4th place in the Prodrift European Championship.
2009: This year gave Dean his big break with an exclusive tyre deal to partner Maxxis tyres throughout his Prodrift Irish and Super Series campaign’s. He got off to a great start by winning the opening event in Donington Park, UK giving himself the initial championship lead in the Prodrift Super Series where he held off stiff competition all year long to be crowned the 2009 Prodrift Super Series champion at his home and final event of the year at Mondello Park. He also finished up a respectable 6th overall in the Prodrift Irish series championship and with a title under his belt he set off to the USA to fulfill a lifelong ambition to compete in the Formula Drift finale at Irwindale speedway in October 2009 with Intec Racing/Maxxis Tyres.
2010: Four years after Dean Kearney took to the wheel at 16 years of age as an amateur drift driver he finally got the break he deserved. After winning the 2009 Prodrift Super Series and impressing at his debut Formula Drift event at Irwindale his dream came true. He got to drive for team VLEDS in the Intec Racing Nissan S14 to campaign a full 7 round program in the toughest and most premier drifting series in the world – Formula Drift. Dean completed his “Rookie” season and finished up the season in a respectable 26th overall.
2011: TBA!!
Follow Deans championship progress on the Formula Drift official website: www.formulad.com
