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Keeping it all in the Family: Modifieds Points Leader Howell Credits Father-in-Law for Success

By Chuck Corder

Racing Modifieds is a family affair for Brandon Howell.

The Lucedale, Miss., resident is enjoying a breakout year in his fifth season competing at Five Flags.

Howell has compiled three wins in four features in 2013 and looks to pad his 19-point lead over defending track champion Donnie Hamrac when racing returns Friday night for the track’s annual Kids’ Bicycle Races along with Super Stocks, Sportsmen and Bombers.

Reflecting on his recent accomplishments, the 26-year-old pipe builder is quick to defer to the helping hand of Charlie McAdams, the owner of Howell’s No. 99.

McAdams just so happens to be the father of Tesa Howell, Brandon’s wife.

“If it wasn’t for (McAdams), I wouldn’t be where I am today,� Brandon Howell said. “For as much money and time as he has sunk into it, he has been ecstatic about the results this year.�

It’s easy to understand why.

Howell had been a bit snake bitten at Pensacola’s high banks coming into 2013. He reached Victory Lane’s podium, including achieving runner-up honors a handful of times, but never snagged a checkered flag.

“We had always been right there,� Howell recalled. “It seemed we were there at the end until a caution came out late. It would slip away the last five laps or we had bad luck. This year, we’ve finally capitalized.�

He eyes another win Friday at the famed half-mile asphalt oval when the gates open at 5 p.m. Admission is as follows: $10 adults; $8 seniors, military, students; $5 children 6-11; free for kids 5-under.

Howell started racing on dirt in his native Mobile, Ala., when he was just 15.

When his class began to disintegrate at area tracks, he bought a Modified. A decision he immediately regretted.

“I bit off more than I could chew,� Howell acknowledged. “I knew nothing about an asphalt car.�

He has come a long way since.

After driving on his own for his first year, Howell enlisted the assistance from McAdams, a former drag racer.

“I didn’t have the money to get where I needed to be,� Howell said. “(McAdams) stepped up. I owe it all to him. He’s gotten out of it what he wanted to.

“We told each other at the beginning, ‘Let’s do this and have fun. If it gets to where it’s a job, we’ll get out.’ It has become (McAdams’) hobby, too.�

And now this hobby has yielded some crafty results.

Getting the monkey off his back by winning the Mods season opener March 29 was a career accomplishment for an emotional Howell.

“To me, it felt like a NASCAR driver winning a big race in Daytona or Indianapolis,� he said. “You drive so hard for all those years only to come up short.

“We finally conquered the racetrack and it’s the hardest track around to conquer. It meant so much to me I was just about in tears. I couldn’t believe it.�

Howell’s shock, though, soon wore off less than a month later when he backed up his first victorious trip with another commanding performance, leading wire to wire for 35 laps.

The lowest he has finished this season was a fourth.

“If we keep having good runs, strong finishes, I’d really like to win the points championship,� Howell said. “I’ve always been a third-place guy. I’d like to get a championship for my father-in-law.�

Just imagine the outpouring of support if he won the Modifieds Snowball Derby, short-track racing’s most prestigious event.

“I’d love to win it,� said Howell of the race he has entered in five times. “It’d be an all-time dream.�

A dream not just for Howell, but for his entire family.

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