Team Position: Driver
Occupation: Professional Drifter, Head Mechanic at Groundwerks performance shop.
Hometown: Reading, PA
Website: www.wreckedmagazine.com/bradhettinger
Hobbies: building race cars, skiing, skateboarding, bmx biking, listening to music, and fourwheeling
About:
Brad Hettinger was born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania. His parents brought him up on 30 plus acres of land. When he was 8 years old he started riding dirt bikes and four wheelers around the property. He always tested the limits and often times hurt himself. Around this time he also started wrenching with his father in the shop he owned learning many things from working on lawnmowers to repairing Over the Road Trucks. At Age 12 he was given his first car, using this car to learn how to drive ended up becoming a backyard rally through the woods. Brad wanted to go faster and do more extreme driving. When he turned 16 he began to drag race at local tracks with his car. When he turned 18 his sport bike was the next thing to hit the track. He would often drive aggressively through the twisty back roads that surrounded his house.
At age 19 he bought his first drift type car and began to build it and learn to drift. This desire was brought on by videos he watched while attending Berks Career and Technology school. While in School Brad became a champion in the VICA skills USA competitions for Automotive Technology in 2005. By the end of 2007 he was fully ASE certified and was considered a master tech for Nissan before he left his job in 2008. In March 2007, Brad lost his biggest mentor, his father, at the age of 54 he died from cancer. He faced a rough time in his life but knew his father wanted him to do the things he loved. About a year after he bought another car, a 1992 Nissan 240sx convertible. In spring 2009 Brad set out with a goal to drive as many events as possible and receive his Formula Drift license. After driving 20 plus events in 2009 he headed to Irwindale, Ca to compete in the Formula Drift Pro am, after qualifying 5th in the ranks he earned his license but would later be knocked out in the competition due to a broken transmission.
In November 2009 Brad also took on the endeavor of owning his own performance shop, while the work came easy the task of handling a business and being able to compete in a wide variety of events for 2010 was not easy. In the winter months Brad built a whole new convertible , after driving 5 events in 2010 Brad was given an offer he could not refuse to sell his S13 convertible and in no time the car was just a memory. In June 2010 Brad began to crew chief for Team Kenda with Dennis Mertzanis behind the wheel of his Nissan s14 240sx, this was a great opportunity for Brad to test car setups and get adjusted to the rules and regulations of Formula D without having the pressure of driving. It was also beneficial for the shop Groundwerks Garage, because of the advertising and extra credentials now underneath his belt. While at the same time he was still able to focus on his business and build his new car for 2011. He was also lucky enough to still drive throughout the season of 2010 in borrowed cars and do well in them.
