Quick Hit: BorgWarner’s Turbos Keep Stuckey Motorsports On Top

Getting ahead in the racing world is no small thing; countless hours are invested into making the driver more attuned to the vehicle’s strengths and weaknesses, and likewise the vehicle goes through many changes to reach its perfect medium. For Philip Palmer of Stuckey Racing/Team Green, that continuous process has left him with a stellar career.

Thanks to some great sponsors along the way, including BorgWarner, Palmer and his crew have managed some big wins and record-setting achievements in the world of high-performance diesel drag racing. The team has taken some time off in 2016 to regroup and plot out what’s next, but he was nevertheless eager to share and comment on his racing efforts up until now.

By trade, Philip is an engine machinist at his business, Palmer Performance & Machine. He got his start in racing in 2004 when he was introduced to Earl Stuckey out of nearby Whigham, Georgia, and his 1994 Dodge Ram, and the rest was history. “I was doing machine work on the truck that Earl owned,” said Philip. “He was having issues with it, you know, and he suggested, ‘Well, if you know how to fix it, then why don’t you take the driver’s seat?’ So that was how I got into racing.”

Philip proved himself as a racer with his inaugural season in 2005, and he hasn’t let off the throttle since. Since that time, the truck has undergone a few modifications and now competes in the 850 index in NHRDA. “It’s been a great decade,” he said. “We’ve set many national records and broke our own records and did it all over the country.”

BorgWarner’s involvement in Palmer’s efforts was early and consistent, and has stayed so for the duration of his career. Philip credits his crew chief, Rob Donalson of Donalson Diesel Performance, as the linchpin that brought both parties together. “BorgWarner’s engineering and R&D helped us out a lot and we went from using one turbocharger per race, to using a turbocharger that would last us an entire season.”

It was also thanks to BorgWarner that Palmer was able to surge up into ever higher output numbers, despite sticking with the same 5.9-liter Cummins that he began with. “We’ve gone from 800 to 1,400 horsepower,” he said. The current setup on the truck is a compound setup, using an S400 series on top and an S500 series on bottom. “We’ve been pleased with the results from that,” said Philip.

Through it all, BorgWarner has been indispensable with its help and care in getting Palmer and his team to ever greater successes. “The company has always been on the forefront of forced induction innovation, and it’s been a big boost to our efforts from the start,” he said. “We always get the first updates and date from R&D, and the BorgWarner team is second to none in what they can produce and how they take care of us. It’s that level of care and quality that shows, and explains why I see them on every corner and in every shop, setting records and taking care of business.”

Palmer plans to use his downtime to shed some more weight from the Dodge and return in 2017 with a fresh pickup ready for battle. BorgWarner will be there once more to keep Team Green’s truck boosted and burly. In the meantime, check out more from BorgWarner on its website and Facebook page.