Bio

Name: Tanner Munson
Birthday: May 6th
Age: 21
Hometown: Hinesburg, Vermont

Background:
       I started drifting back in the fall of 2009. I first got the idea to drift after buying my first and current 240sx, I had originally been looking for a cool project car and decided upon the Nissan 240sx because it was simply my favorite car in the Need For Speed video game series. After I purchased my 240sx and I started joining forums I started to realize their potential and usage in the drift world, at the time I still wanted to focus on building a nice street car, but the drifting thing was always in the back of my mind. My father and I originally swapped a 5.3l & 4l60e LSx drivetrain into the car, which then got a T56 six speed after a while, and it's just snow balled from there into the current Pro-Am spec LS2 powered 240sx with a hood scoop everyone knows me for. But before everyone knew me for my drifting and hood scoop, I had an awesome street car, until I was rear ended one night. From that night on I decided it was time to start drifting.

In the late summer/fall of 2009 I had joined a semi-local drifting organization known as "Drift Spot", where I met my good buddy Russ Barcomb (www.dangdrifters.com) who really helped give me the confidence to step up and drift. I participated in a few Drift Spot events and during those events I excelled quickly and started to realize just how fun this sport is, as well as how awesome the atmosphere and community of drifting really is. With Russ's help and advice I decided to step up and pursue my goals of driving in the "A-Group" at New Jersey's premiere drifting organization ClubLoose; whom I had watched so many videos of and decided I could be and wanted to be featured in those videos.

Over the winter of 2009/2010 I watched as many videos of ClubLoose events as I could possibly find, all the while building my car with the help of my father. My mother and father have been so supportive of drifting and when I told them I wanted to pursue drifting and become a professional drifter, they dug in with me and have done everything they possibly can to help me get as far as I have and I am forever grateful. My father has been my main pit crew & crew chief for the 2010 season and has helped me build my car to the tech passing masterpiece it has been since the first event. At the first Clubloose event of the 2010 season, I was one of few people to breeze through tech and that made my father as well as myself very proud. At that same event I advanced from C-group to B-group after the first morning session of drifting, but my first run in B-group resulted in a broken tie rod. Due to it being the first event of the season and having never driven at this level before, my father and I were done for the day having brought ZERO spare parts with us...needless to say we learned the hard way and have been over prepared ever since. Upon arriving to East Coast Bash, Matt Petty (organizer and chief of Clubloose) approached me asking if I had my firesuit...I was shocked. A-Group drivers were required to wear firesuits, I would have had one, however I was not aware I was in A-Group yet being that East Coast Bash was only the 2nd Clubloose Event of the season. I sadly told Petty I didn't have a suit with me, and he responded, "Well you need one 'cause I want you in A-Group....lemme get on the horn and see what I can do". Petty showed me what an awesome and rad dude he really is at East Coast bash, he was able to hook me up with Ed Tini who let me borrow a firesuit for the weekend (Ed has been a great friend of ours ever since then and I really look forward to driving with Ed more in the upcoming 2011 season!). At East Coast Bash 2010 I got my first taste of tandem drifting and I knew right then that drifting was 100% what I wanted to do. I got a chance to go to the first D-UP! drift event held at Monticello Motorclub in New York and that turned out to be awesome! While many people were skeptical of there being a drift event at Monticello Motorclub, I was able to contact Andrew Ruggles (D-UP! Drifting founder/president) and find out the event was for real. Although the turnout was low, the facility and atmosphere of the event was incredible and made for one of my favorite events of the 2010 season. Throughout the 2010 season I participated in 13 drifting events in New Jersey, New york and New Hampshire all the while gaining exposure, learning the in's and out's of drifting, progressing as a driver and meeting tons of great friends along the way.

My 2011 season was awesome! I successfully qualified for every competition I entered, I had several podium finishes, I learned more than I could have imagined and I had a blast the entire time! The season started with a practice event before the first competition where we were able to get pretty comfortable with the car. Our first competition went well, but our second wasn't as good. At our second competition of the year I sadly wrecked hard in Orlando, putting my beloved S13 hatch (first 240sx I owned, first drift car I built, and the first car I put my all into) out of commission. We luckily had anticipated this sort of thing and had a S13 coupe caged and built for a back up car. Two weeks after the wreck we were up and running ready for our next event. I immediately got back into the swing of things and felt super comfortable in the new shell. Things just started rolling from there! Event after event the car performed amazing, I drove well, me and my crew jived well, the whole season just took off! We started doing better and better, got a few podium finishes and finished off the year strong with some great new things for 2012, including being apart of the 2012 ASD Mob program! But I'm gonna have to leave you all right there until some more things come public, stay tuned and check back often though because awesome things are inline for 2012!!!!

Goals:
      The 2012 season is going to be awesome! For 2012 I am now on board with ASD Motorsports for the 2012 Mob program! I am incredibly excited to work with ASD next season and with their help, knowledge and support I'm hoping to earn as many podium finishes as possible throughout my 2012 season. I'm really looking forward to learning about chassis setup and making adjustments to the car at each event to make the car perform its best. Having fun, chassis knowledge, increased program exposure and creating new relationships are just a few of my main goals for the 2012 season!