DIALED IN
Montgomery Man
Jim Howard keeps big brother George’s dream alive
W
hen it comes to drag racing
promoters, Jim Howard has cer-
tainly been around the block sev-
eral times during his multi-decade
involvement with various tracks
across the state of Alabama. Howard had the
unique opportunity to sharpen his skills of
promotion by working alongside
a man he thought of as his hero,
as well as someone he regarded as
being among the very best in the
business: his big brother, George
Howard, who passed away this
past January.
Jim fondly reflects on the great
times and memorable events they
held at tracks like Huntsville and
Montgomery, as well as smaller
venues like Bama Dragway, a track
once located just west of Birming-
ham. During the Howards’ Hunts-
ville tenure, the brothers once fa-
mously paid $20,000 to win in
Outlaw 10.5 in 2004, which was
an unheard-of sum of money at
the time.
“We had 86 cars show up for
that race, and it seems like Mike
Hill won,” remembered Howard.
“I don’t know if there’s even 86
Outlaw 10.5 cars left in the world,”
he laughingly speculates. Jim has
seen a healthy roster of trends in
drag racing come and go through
the years. “My brother and Johnny
Finn created ORSCA and we had
some great events. It was like the
‘Duck race’ of its day,” he said.
Jim has also watched the evo-
lution of big-money bracket rac-
ing sweep the country, and while
he feels racing at any level is too
expensive, it’s nevertheless im-
pressive to see the opportunity for
sportsman racers to take home such
huge purses. “There’s a 10-grander
somewhere every single week,” he
marveled.
From a stand-packing perspective, Howard
is extremely complimentary of Donald “Duck”
Long and the mega-brand he’s created in drag
radial racing. “There’s a lot of good people doing
some really good stuff in our sport right now,”
Jim surmised.
As for his own promotional endeavors of late,
Jim has been operating Montgomery Motorsports
Park most of the time since 2000. “It’s been either
George or myself who’s operated Montgomery for
the last 17 years; we sort of took turns over the
years.” Jim has experienced first-hand the vari-
ous economic feasts and famines of drag strip
operation while at the helm of Montgomery.
“From 2008 until 2012 it was very rough and
we struggled,” he admitted. Besides the economic
hardships felt nationally during that timeframe,
Jim said the general economy in Montgomery,
Alabama, isn’t exactly a booming prospect any of
the time. Regardless though, Howard has been
enjoying phenomenal crowds thus far in 2017,
and amazingly, he maintains that his business
at Montgomery is as big as it’s ever been as of
just recently.
He’s particularly excited about his Southern
Outlaw Tour, an exciting Pro Mod show now in its
10th year. Despite having a title that suggests it’s
a traveling attraction, the SOT has actually been
a Montgomery exclusive since its inception, but
that’s all going to change this season. “I’ve always
wanted to tour this series, and now on its 10th
anniversary that’s exactly what we’re going to do,”
said Howard. Another first for the
series this year was the decision to
separate blowers and nitrous into
separate eight-car fields instead of
having them compete together.
The Southern Outlaw Tour
kicked off a seven-race roster at
Montgomery in April, with addi-
tional events scheduled later this
season at South Georgia Motor-
sports Park, Alabama’s Atmore
Dragway and Emerald Coast Drag-
way in Florida before returning to
Montgomery for the season finale.
“Coolshirt Systems and VP Race
Fuels have come on board as series
sponsors and I’m real excited about
taking SOT on the road this year,”
Howard added.
Among the sportsman ranks,
Montgomery is also famous for its
Super 7 Series, which will gather
on five weekends this season, pay-
ing a guaranteed $15,000 to win
on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Howard is also anticipating a huge
turnout for the famous Million Dol-
lar Bracket Race slated for October
19-22. “The Million is special to me
because my big brother started it 22
years ago,” recalled Jim. Last year’s
running of the Million saw a whop-
ping 614 entries come through the
gates of Montgomery, so expecta-
tions are high for another robust
turnout later this year.
On a week-to-week basis, Mont-
gomery is open 2-3 days per week,
with over 40 events on the sched-
ule, as well as hosting plenty of
private test sessions. “We stay very
busy with a wide assortment of events each year,”
said Howard.
Realizing that his decorated career is winding
down, Jim concludes that if he ever left Mont-
gomery he’d probably retire rather than relocate
to another track. “I hope to keep doing this for a
few more years. We’ve had a blessed life and we’re
happy with what we’ve got, so we’re just gonna
keep chugging along!” he smiled.
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64 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
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Issue 122
By Van Abernethy