12-year-old racer more than holds his own

Twelve-year-old Tyler Howell gets his passion for racing honestly.

His now deceased grandfather, Nathan Howell, started as a drag racer in the early 1960s. His father, Ronnie Howell, builds racecars for a living and raced circular tracks up until just a few years ago.

Two uncles, Randy and Andy Howell, were a drag racer and Go Kart racer, respectively.

It’s in Tyler’s blood.

And he has the mindset for it, too. Just ask him what he likes most about racing at Florence Motor Speedway and Dillon Motor Speedway.

“Passing people and winning,” Tyler says with a smile.

He does plenty of both.

Between the two tracks, Tyler, in his first year of racing, had seven wins going into Friday night. He started the year racing against competitors closer to his age in the Young Guns division, but has since moved up to the Bombers class. And he’s had no problem running strong – and sometimes winning – against adults.

Tyler said some of the older drivers don’t even realize they’re racing against a rising seventh-grader until the race is over, when he’s out of the car celebrating his victory.

“They come over there and they start talking and they say, ‘How old are you?’” Tyler said. “And I’ll tell them how old I am and they say, ‘Gosh, I’ve got to go back and tell my people that I got outrun by a 12-year-old.’ It makes me feel pretty good.”

Tyler’s love for racing already has him thinking bigger and better things down the road. He can’t race at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks until he’s 14. But he said he plans to stick with it and has dreams of driving not only for the love of it, but for a living one day.

“I’m trying to go there. That’s what I want to do,” he said.

His dad, Ronnie, who owns Ronnie Howell Motorsports in Florence, was hoping for that since day one. When Tyler was born, Ronnie said he wanted to name him “Blaze.”

Mom Glenda won that skirmish, though.

And for a while, it appeared racing might not be for Tyler.

When Tyler was 6, his dad bought him a quarter midget car. Even at that age, Tyler was living up to his nickname, “No Brakes” – he doesn’t like going slow. According to Ronnie, Tyler got in the car, took off wide-open and promptly drove the car through a fence.

The problem? The car was too small for Ronnie to get in and take for a test drive, and no one realized the brakes were gone.

“He ran through the fence and after that he kind of didn’t want any more to do with it,” the elder Howell said.

Until this year.

Tyler got his racecar, a Nissan 240, for his birthday in January. After some convincing by Florence Motor Speedway promoter Charlie Powell, Tyler took his car to the track after the season started in April.

“I just hopped in the car and started practicing, did it three times and went right onto the track,” Tyler said. “I started and finished second. Then my third race, I finished first.

“It just came to me.”

“It was in him,” Ronnie said. “It just took some time to get it out of him.”

Ronnie also serves as crew chief for his son, trying to direct him through traffic as best he can. Ronnie admits it’s more nerve-wracking than driving the car himself.

Watching from the stands also makes Glenda more than just a little nervous at times. Her job on the weekends is to make sure her son has everything he needs to go racing: his helmet, safety gear and a cold drink when he gets out of the car.

“The scariest thing for me is that I have no control,” Glenda said. “Once he gets into the car and pulls onto the racetrack, there’s nothing I can do for him.

“I’ve seen him hit the wall. He’s had another car on top of him, been on his side. He’s been in wrecks. You just have to learn to deal with it. But it is scary.”

Even Tyler admits that there can be some hairy moments on the track, but not enough to deter him. He’s already had his go-around with other youth sports like baseball, basketball, football and soccer.

Now, Tyler is all about racing. Once school starts back, all he has to do is concentrate on his studies during the week, which is probably not much of an issue for the Byrnes Schools honors student. His dad makes sure the car is ready to go on Friday and Saturday nights and mom takes care of his other equipment.

And when Glenda listens in on the radio as Ronnie gives his son instructions, there is one thing she is sure she’ll hear.

“The one thing I always hear his dad telling him on the radio all the time is, ‘slow down, slow down, slow down,’” Glenda said.

Fat chance.

Ronnie said he often tells his son to go low to pass another driver, but Tyler more often than not elects to go to the outside.

“I sort of can’t hear him too well on the radio,” Tyler said, “and I just go to the side that I think I can take ’em on.”

Spoken like a true racer.