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Howell, Stagner Look to Hold onto Slim Points Lead and Secure Track Championships on Saturday

By Chuck Corder

It’s good to be king.

But the effort, prudence and resolve that go into becoming king aren’t, at times, all that rewarding or glamorous.

Brandon Howell certainly sounds like he’s ready to become the Modifieds king during the Whataburger Night of Champions on Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway.

Howell enters the final night of the season nursing a slim, five-point lead over defending track champion Donnie Hamrac.

But instead of being anxious about holding onto that rickety cushion, Howell is taking a fairly laissez faire approach.

“I want a championship bad, don’t get me wrong,� the Lucedale, Miss., resident said. “But I’ve never been in this position before. We’ll just race, and do what we like to do. It ain’t gonna kill me if we don’t win one.�

We’ll see whether or not Howell’s gameplan is just a disguise for apprehension Saturday. Either way a hotly-contested Mods title will be on the line when the gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday along with four other classes — Allen Turner Pro Late Models, Pro Trucks, Sportsmen and Bombers.

Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, students and military; $8 for children 6-11; and free for kids under 6.

In the Pro Trucks, Steve “Chopper� Stagner’s lead against J ay Jay Day is even tighter than Howell’s advantage over Hamrac.

Despite winning all four Pro Trucks features at the famed half-mile asphalt oval this season, Stagner sits only four points ahead of Day.

With three points separating each finishing position, that leaves Stagner little wiggle room to play with come Saturday.

“We have prepared as well as anybody could,� Stagner said. “We have decided to just go race as hard as we can and hope that the racing gods have mercy on us.

“We came up short at Mobile and hope to change our luck this weekend. (Day) deserved that championship and I know that they worked very hard for it. They will definitely be tough to beat come Saturday.�

Knowing just how you’d react under these given circumstances is open for speculation.

That’s why, on occasion, the underdog can be an overwhelming favorite. Just ask Hamrac.

“There’s no pressure on us,� said Hamrac, in the No. 8 Alabama Pipe and Supply Modified. “We’re gonna give it all we got, but it’s not our championship to lose. Brandon’s got all the pressure on him.�

Perhaps a little of that showed the last time the Mods raced at Pensacola’s high banks.

Leading every lap, Howell had his Mod on a rail until a caution came out with three laps remaining.

Howell missed on the restart, opening the door for Hamrac, who drove straight through and won his first feature of the season.

Things only worsened for Howell, who went up to Nashville, Tenn., the next night.

His No. 98 — the same car that had brought him so much success in the last year at tracks across the southeast — was destined for a junkyard after an opponent put him into the fence.

“It’s really disheartening that a car that was that good was destroyed off somebody’s stupidity,� Howell said. “We got stuffed into the inside wall and it destroyed the car. We had to strip it all the way down. It’s done for the year.

“But that’s racing. That’s part of it. We’ll go again; keep on keepin’ on.�

Howell will drive a backup to the No 98 in its place, a harsh reality that has caused more sleepless nights than worrying about the track hardware that could be his by the end of the Saturday.

“The car hasn’t seen Pensacola in a year,� he said. “I don’t know what to expect.�

Hamrac can relate.

The blue No. 8 he drove in the season opener — the same one that set a track record back in March — was demolished during a feature at Mobile.

After going to his familiar red No. 8 for most of the season, Hamrac has finally put the finishing repairs on the former and will once again be behind its steering wheel come Saturday.

“It’s a really fast car,� the 40 year old said. “We finally got the new motor ready. It has good horsepower and it’s the best car we got.�

All of which should be fingernails on a chalk board to Howell’s ears.

Instead, the expecting 26-year-old father seems poised.

“If we win it, we win it. If we don’t, we don’t,� Howell said. “I’m not gonna get too focused and be stressed out and expect something to happen. If the Good Lord presents the opportunity, then hopefully it works out.�

Truthfully, he’d rather concern himself with wife Tessa’s growing list of honey-dos before “little man� Teadon — a combination of their first names — arrives next month.

“I told Tessa that if she goes into labor at the last race in Pensacola, she’d have to be on her own ’til I get outta the car,� Howell aid. “She said she’d be better off at the racetrack than getting into an ambulance anyway. At least they’ve got one there.�

“It would mean so much if we did win it, though,� he added. “We are a smaller team. Everybody’s still behind me 110 percent. It would mean the world to us.�

King or pauper.

Someone’s fate will change Saturday night.

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