To the Aussie rev-head, the job as a Supercars team transporter would be on the list of dream gigs apart from sitting pole in the racing seat. Days on the road, navigating the Australian vistas and ensuring the team’s prized race cars arrive at each event in pristine condition, that’s the life of Supercars transporter, Vinnie Borgia. Our recent pitstop with Walkinshaw Andretti United’s ‘main man’ proved this demanding role is much more than a V8 Supercar groupie
Benny Hill theme music blares through the infotainment system of Vinnie Borgia’s Kenworth K220. It’s his ringtone, and I’ve heard it nearly 20 times this trip. It could be the soundtrack to his life.
That’s not an insult. I mean to say that, like the rhythm of the iconic TV theme music, Vinnie’s life goes by fast, humorous… and chaotic.
He did say he was a “walking encyclopaedia of stupidity”.
But it’s allowed to be chaotic, after all, he’s the man behind the wheel of the Walkinshaw Andretti United team transporter.
Trust me, there’s been plenty of interstate drivers who’ve come for the glitz and the glam who are spat out pretty quickly.
An integral part of racing life, for 12 rounds of the year, Vinnie finds himself crisscrossing the country with more than $5 million worth of race cars and equipment in tow.
Some sort of job, huh? Trucking around the country for the pinnacle of Aussie motorsport – an amazing perspective.
Did you know that some call the likes of Vinnie … ‘yuppie truck drivers’?
“They think we sleep in hotels all the time and watch Bathurst on the hill sipping Piña Coladas.
“Trust me, there’s been plenty of interstate drivers who’ve come for the glitz and the glam who are spat out pretty quickly,” he jibes early on in the trip.
For 12 rounds of the year, Vinnie Borgia finds himself crisscrossing the country with more than $5 million worth of race cars and equipment in tow
Quick returns like this make it clear that he was the perfect man for this feature.
I’m no motorsport buff, but life behind the wheel of the race transporters has always interested me, and everyone pointed towards Vinnie.
So, what better way to get to know Supercars’ most renowned truck driver than riding shotgun with him on a two-day drive from Brisbane to the NTI Townsville 500?
The passenger
I scheduled to meet Vinnie at a truck stop just north of Brisbane – I was late, so by the time I arrived, the 61-year-old was buzzing to go.
This weekend is one of the biggest on the racing calendar, and the Walkinshaw Andretti team is searching for a win.
I prefer to use the term ‘multi-wheeled articulated freight forward relocator’.
After consecutive podiums to start the Supercars Championship, the team – comprised of two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert and up-and-coming rookie Ryan Wood – has posted three combined top-10 finishes from the five races in the lead-up to Townsville.
A win in Townsville would close the gap between Walkinshaw Andretti and Supercars juggernaut Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Red Bull Ampol fleet.
Logistically, the trek to Townsville is one of the biggest on the calendar. HQ’d in Melbourne, Vinnie left two days ago, and he wants to complete the 3,000+ kilometre journey by tomorrow evening.
Plenty of time to get to know the man.
Logically, my first point of conversation was to find out how Vinnie got into truck driving. He’s quick to point out he isn’t a truck driver.
ROADBOSS rode shotgun with Vinnie Borgia on a two-day drive from Brisbane to the NTI Townsville 500, logistically one of the biggest events on the Supercars calendar
“I prefer to use the term; a multi-wheeled articulated freight forward relocator,” he says cheekily.
Starting his career in earthmoving, Vinnie soon pivoted to tipper work which ultimately grew his appreciation for trucks. A stint as an owner driver then led to his first job in Supercars in the early 2000s, driving its promotional truck. He’s barely left life on the grid since.
Vinnie is without a doubt a character – he swears, he jokes, he laughs. He’s known to don a new shade of colour in his curly hair, or to stencil artwork into the race tyres. He even has his own social media page and fans.
A sort of celeb in this world – call after call, and more Benny Hill theme music, another contact calling to see if Vinnie was on his way. I couldn’t help but feel I was cramping his style.
We continue on our journey before the UHF screeches while we chat. “I bloody hate those things,” he says. “I rarely turn it on.”
They think we sleep in hotels all the time and watch Bathurst on the hill sipping Piña Coladas.
Another sign that he isn’t your usual truck driver.
The three longest supercar trips for the majority left two days ago, and he wants to complete the 3,000+ kilometre journey by tomorrow evening. Plenty of time to get to know the man.
Logically, my first point of conversation was to find out how Vinnie got into truck driving. He’s quick to point out he isn’t a truck driver.
“I prefer to use the term ‘a multi-wheeled articulated freight forward relocator’,” he says.
Starting his career in earthmoving, Vinnie soon pivoted to tipper work which ultimately grew his appreciation for trucks. A stint as an owner driver then led to his first job in Supercars in the early 2000s, driving its promotional truck. He’s barely left life on the grid since.
After a stint as an owner driver, Vinnie joined Supercars in the early 2000s, driving its promotional truck. He’s been driving car transporters for 24 years, the last six with Walkinshaw
A stint as an owner driver then led to his first job in Supercars in the early 2000s, driving its promotional truck. He’s barely left life on the grid since.
Vinnie is without a doubt a character – he swears, he jokes, he laughs. He’s known to don a new shade of colour in his curly hair, or to stencil artwork into the race tyres. He even has his own social media page and fans.
A sort of celeb in this world – call after call, and more Benny Hill theme music, another contact calling to see if Vinnie was on his way. I couldn’t help but feel I was cramping his style.
We continue on our journey before the UHF screeches while we chat. “I bloody hate those things,” he says. “I rarely turn it on.”
Another sign he isn’t your usual truck driver.
The three longest supercar trips for the majority of teams are Perth, Darwin and Townsville. “So these are a bit of an adventure for us,” he adds.
I tell the crew that however long it takes to fly is how many days it is to drive. So, a four-hour flight takes me four days in the truck.
“We have a bit of a joke between the other team transporters that these trips are the best trips because we don’t have to put up with the team and crew, we’re away from them and we get grumpy when they turn up.
“I tell the crew that however long it takes to fly is how many days it is to drive. So, a four-hour flight takes me four days in the truck.”
Vinnie has been doing this for a while now – 24 years to be exact; the last six with Walkinshaw. He doesn’t see any other world where he doesn’t do this either. No nearer to retirement, “I’m going to work for as long as I can,” he claims.
In many ways, Vinnie is married to the job, and partners usually only last three years in his profession. Luckily she’s still with him.
His start amongst the Supercars in 2000 birthed a passion that grew into more than just a job.
Vinnie is known to don a new shade of colour in his curly hair, or to stencil artwork into the race tyres. He even has his own social media page and fans!
“For me, I love the event world,” he says. “But, people think that we sit and just pull up and polish our trucks all day, you don’t get that time. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
“I think it’s actually a bit of an insult to the people that work out here because they actually work awfully hard most of the time.”
More Benny Hill comes across – “For stuff’s sake, I’m trying to listen to the bloody Hawks game.” He declines the call. “Do you want the radio or the footy?” he asks politely. As a footy fan myself, I gladly accept Triple M footy and turn my attention to Vinnie’s hobbies outside of work.
He’s a mad Hawthorn footy fan, obviously. “One of those members” who gets to one game a year, he notes. Being a Colac boy his favourite player had to be Luke Hodge. Mutual respect.
Motorbikes also played a big part in Vinnie’s life – he wishes he had a BMW rs1000 but doesn’t have time. He’s a workaholic who can’t afford hobbies.
For me, I love the event world. But people think we sit and just pull up and polish our trucks all day, you don’t get that time. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
His life is dictated by a colourful spreadsheet he says over a beer, peering into his rainbow-coloured Google doc.
On the dash of his two-story flat on wheels (a compliment he assures) is a stuffed Taz Devil – the Looney Toons character.
The odd addition to the cabin view has been with Vinnie for a while … 30 years actually. A typically hilarious Vinnie story unfolds, one with colourful language and moments that are hard to believe but the crux of the story is he “rescued it from a bin”.
It’s his good luck charm he tells me. Perhaps a win is on the cards?
The team
Walkinshaw Andretti United was born in 2017 from three of the sharpest organisations in global motorsport – Walkinshaw Racing, Andretti Autosport and United Autosports.
Vinnie says Walkinshaw Andretti United is like a footy team. And like any team, it’s only as strong as its weakest link, he says
Walkinshaw Racing underpins the company’s venture into Aussie motor racing, while the business’ other ventures, including into IndyCar and the European Le Mans Series on either side of the Atlantic, paint the picture of a globe-conquering, tarmac-eating racing monster.
According to Vinnie, the team hierarchy goes something like this – the owners, Ryan Walkinshaw, Zac Brown (of McLaren Formula 1 fame) and Michael Andretti, sit at top of the chain.
The team’s chief executive, Bruce Stewart, is the next name in the queue before the men tasked with steering the Ford Mustang GT around Townsville’s 2.86-kilometre street circuit.
Since moving to Walkinshaw in 2020, Mostert has remained a consistent feature of the Supercars driver line-up, claiming seven wins for the team although none have come since the team switched from the ZB Commodore to the Mustang ahead of the 2023 season.
Mostert is paired with 21-year-old rookie ace ‘Woody’, who took just five races to crack the top 10 and finished fourth in the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint in May.
It’s like a footy team. Like any team you’re only as strong as your weakest link, I’m happy I play my part.
After the drivers come ‘Macca, the team manager, then the mechanics, and then, finally, Vinnie.
“It sounds worse than what it is,” Vinnie assures me. “It’s like a footy team. Like any team you’re only as strong as your weakest link, I’m happy I play my part.”
But every sports team needs a Vinnie; a person who’s the heart and soul of the operation, the energiser bunny, a force for good (or sometimes bother) that lives and breathes the job at hand.
Race week
So, what does a day in the life of Vinnie Borgia look like, especially come race week? An awful lot of work, he says promptly.
“We work as a team,” he continues. “Basically, myself along with others, we load the A trailer. The back trailer is loaded by the mechanics.”
Ensuring the team’s truck is presentable for the truck parade – a trademark of the Townsville 500 – is a key part of Vinnie’s job
Come Tuesday morning in Townsville, Vinnie takes his K220 to the truck wash. “To clean it up and get it presentable for the truck parade” – a trademark of the Townsville 500.
Once at the circuit though, Vinnie finds himself as part of the pit group – as a refueller and tyre man … most transport drivers look after the team’s tyres, he says.
“In reality, we don’t drive a lot, you know,” Vinnie says.
“Everybody sees these shiny big trucks, which, to a point, they’re meant to be that, because they’re meant for advertising, but most of the truck drivers lift an average of probably five tonnes of wheels a weekend.”
To Vinnie, this part of the job is where he gets his kicks from. The hustle, the bustle, the camaraderie and the stress.
In motorsport, one of the true enjoyments we get is a bit of adrenaline from the pit stops.
“In motorsport, one of the true enjoyment we get is a bit of adrenaline from the pit stops. When they’re good, they’re good.
“But when they fuck up, you feel like shit. Because basically, you just ruined a race,” he says. “As much as it’s an enjoyable part, but it’s also very stressful.”
The stress is complemented by a bit of cheek in the pitlane that can only come from someone as seasoned as Vinnie. If you look closely at Walkinshaw’s #25 or #2 Supercars, you may see one of his drawings etched into the tyre tread.
The gag started out years ago though an old race engineer who Vinnie says was a pain in his backside. The markings began as a way to signify which tyres were at the right pressure. It was faces at first, then came sponsors. Now, Vinnie’s drawings are a staple of any Walkinshaw race weekend.
For Townsville, it’s Scooby Doo. Maybe the ROADBOSS logo is next I joke.
Going again
I leave Vinnie and the team to do their things in Townsville – a day out from race day.
At the circuit Vinnie finds himself as part of the pit group – as a refueller and tyre man … most transport drivers look after the team’s tyres
Looking back, it seems my company worked a treat – Chaz finished second in the first race and third in the second race while Woody finished both in sixth – his second-best finish for the season.
Like he has done so for the past 20 years, all eyes for Vinnie and the team are firmly focused on preparation for their next trip on the road.
Perhaps something Vinnie said earlier in the week now makes sense. A moment when Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer” sprung up on his radio, I suggested that perhaps it was a better soundtrack of his life.
His reply: “I prefer ‘I’ll sleep when you’re dead’.”
