Many of those in East Tennessee racing circles readily recognize the free-spirited, soft-spoken modified driver Billy Palmer. He’s been a fixture of that scene since 1974. The 70-year-old still wins, as evident last weekend at Mountain View Raceway. He’s also the reigning open wheel modified champion at the Spring City, Tennessee, oval.
Racing Through the Ages
Over the course of his career, Billy Palmer has raced hobby stocks, late models, and modifieds. He has more than 200 feature wins and 10 track championships, all of which earned him the nickname “The East Tennessee Legend.”
Palmer said times have changed since he first started racing.
“They also call me the ‘70-year-old hippy,’” Palmer, of Knoxville, Tennessee, said. “People remember me racing in the 1970s. I had long hair, a big beard, and I looked and acted the part — I had a wild side to me.”
Palmer reflected on the early days of his career.
“Racing used to be a big party — it’s not like that now,” said Palmer. “The whole world is different. Back then everybody was wild. You’d never know where you would wake up the morning after a race. One time I woke up sleeping on the floor of a Sears department store in Gainesboro, Tennessee. I did not remember how I got there.
“I calmed down when I reached age 60 — but I never stopped racing.”
One Good Turn Deserves Another
Billy Palmer has had a number of helpers over the years. These days, he heads to the track solo, but many of his former crew members help him when needed.
“I would get a helper, and then he would get bitten by the racing bug,” Palmer said. “They start racing themselves. That has happened over and over.”
Fortunately, the likeable Palmer finds help when he needs it in the pits. One those friends and fellow competitors was Ricky Tinch. Tinch raced modifieds and built his own, one-off chassis, which won in its first night out and two championships in that same year. Palmer bought Tinch’s car at the end of 2016 after running a modified from Warrior Race Cars for 20 years. (For more on Tinch, specifically his wife, read “Renee Tinch: One’s Effort to Clean the Pits”.)
“I drove the second Warrior [modified] chassis that was every built,” said Palmer. “After 20 years I decided it was time to update my equipment.”
On a Mission
Throughout his career, his wife, Debra Palmer, supported Palmer. Unfortunately, she passed away from Covid in 2020.
“She got sick on November 19 and passed on December 19,” Palmer said. “She was in the hospital for three weeks. We were married 46 years. Once, a few years back, I sold all of my equipment. She told me if I didn’t keep racing, she would divorce me.”
Last season, Palmer set out to make Debra proud.
“After she died, I didn’t know what to do next,” Palmer said. “So, I did what she would have wanted me to do.”
Looking Forward
Billy Palmer still works 10 hours a day as a HVAC sheet metal mechanic. He shows no signs of slowing down, although he’ll stay close to home.
“I am so fortunate to have two sponsors for more than 30 years — Mighty Muffler & Brake Center and Hardin Valley Body Shop,” said Palmer. “I’ll be at Mountain View Raceway, maybe [a few races in the] Cumberland Plateau Open Wheel Series, and I’ll try to run in a couple of Iron-Man Modified Series events. For the most part, I’ll stay within 100 miles of home. There is plenty of racing nearby.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
