Inside Look: Joe Bornhorst’s Sworkz Nitro Buggy

Joe Bornhorst is in his third year racing for the JConcepts Team! Bornhorst has repeatedly demonstrated that he has what it takes to drive at the highest level. Bornhorst drives for Sworkz, and we felt this would be a perfect opportunity to show you behind the scenes of a vehicle we’ve never shown you before. Bornhorst is also a driver for VP Fuel, MKS, Boom RC Graphics, Amain, ProtekRC, Futaba, and The Drake Racing! Let’s get started with this inside look!

Starting with the outside of Bornhorst’s Sworkz S35, he has the JConcepts S15 Body painted up in his signature Florescent Red and Yellow scheme. In addition to the signature colors, his painter Brad Shearer added the sleek honeycomb design. Something to note about the body: Bornhorst uses the Mugen s15 bodies. For his Nitro Buggy, it fits perfectly and for his E-Buggy he has to keep the sides a little bit longer and below the cut line. The mounting holes line up the same. To Complete the look, Bornhort sources his decals from Boom RC Graphics. At the Psycho Nitro Blast, Bornhorst chose to run the JConcepts Razor wrapped to match his paint scheme. For Tires, he went with the Reflex, Dirt-Tech Inserts, and Bullet Wheels.

Next, let’s take a look at the engine and the various electronics that make this vehicle come alive. The stand-out piece that everyone notices first is the engine. Bornhorst is on The Drake program, racing the OS Speed AD3. To compliment the engine he’s using the OS Speed TB03-2100SC Pipe. For servos, Bornhorst runs the MKS HBL599 spec. As in all nitro vehicles, Bornhorst is using a power switch and chose to go with the S-ePower Mini Electric Switch Pro. The final piece to this puzzle is his Futaba receiver.

Next, we wanted to give you a moment to check out his front and rear shock suspension and setup. You’ll also be able to get a close-up look at the Reflex tread pattern and the holes Bornhorst added to his Razor Wing.

Overall, we hoped you enjoyed this close-up look at Joe Bornhorst’s Sworkz Nitro Buggy! We’ve seen him have a lot of success with it, especially at the 2022 Dirt Nitro Challenge where he took the overall TQ and landed 2nd on the podium! Bornhorst has asked us about creating Fin Titanium Turnbuckles for the Sworkz 1/8 Buggy. Comment below if you’d like to us make turnbuckles for this vehicle too! We have a couple more Inside Look articles coming your way, so stay tuned!