The loss of diesel-enthusiast/YouTube and social-media influencer Thomas “Turba Tom” Borrell has been on my mind a lot. If you were one of his 20,000 plus loyal followers you probably feel like you knew him personally through his videos, even if you never had a chance to actually meet him.

Turba Tom from Quarryville, Pa., passed away July 29 at the young age of 37, from injuries he sustained in an on-track accident at the Outlaw Diesel Super Series’ Rocky Top Diesel Shootout drag race in Crossville, Tenn.

It took only minutes for the news of his death to spread throughout our tight-nit diesel community, but it will most likely take a lifetime to really sink in that he’s gone. In his early 30’s diesel performance caught his attention and like everything else, Turba Tom just ran with it. Diesels soon became his life and this passion is on full display in his countless videos. He built and fabricated his own pro street drag truck while documenting his build over the course of several years and gaining thousands of followers. His work ethic and never-give-up attitude will live on as part of his legacy. 

For years I’ve enjoyed watching Turba Tom compete at the Ultimate Callout Challenge—diesel motorsports’ premiere event, and a grueling test of the diesel scene’s top-performing trucks, drivers, and teams. His determination was inspiring as “The People’s Champion” hung with the well-funded, better-equipped proverbial “big guns” of the hobby.

At the past two UCC competitions, Tom and his home-built 2,000-horsepower 2010 RAM 2500 earned back-to-back top-five finishes in the drag strip segment. What made this year’s competition different was the rule change where teams were now allowed to enter multiple trucks to compete, breaking from the original format where one single truck competed in the drag, dyno and sled pull over the same weekend in an attempt to be crowned the Ultimate Callout Challenge winner.

Despite the new rule change, Turba Tom made it known to everyone that his same truck competed in all three events this year as he was just one of five drivers who could say that. He even went as far as to duct tape a cardboard sign to the front of his truck on day three for the sled pull race to let everyone know he had competed in all three events with the same truck. The homemade sign read, “Turba Tom One Truck, 3 Events” and it got a lot of laughs, but it also sent a clear message that he was proud of his accomplishment despite the rule change. He ended up taking ninth overall this year at the UCC with no indication that he wouldn’t be back to run again. In the moment there was no way of knowing tragedy would strike on the drag strip at a different race less than two months later.

A GoFundMe page (www.gofundme.com/f/tom-borrell) was set up on his behalf and it’s a good indication of just how much he meant to the diesel community as well as how we’ll be mourning the loss of this great man for many years. Rest in peace Turba Tom. You will surely be missed but never forgotten.

Brady L. Kay,
Diesel Tech Editor