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By Bambi KiserPhotos by K2 Images Drake’s TowingBusiness Focus

Owners, Bobby and Debra Drake

Bobby Drake (right), Connor Drake (son, left),

and Jackson Smith (grandson, middle)

54 Postcards Magazine: Piney Woods Edition | April 2014

Texas motorists stranded anywhere between Huntsville and Buffalo are likely to be rescued by Drake’s Towing & Recovery, a long-time, fami-ly-operated business. Drake’s has been assisting motorists since 1981, and is located at three neighboring Interstate 45 points: Huntsville, Madisonville, and Centerville. Covering the stretch of highway from the 101-mile marker to the 180, Drake’s Service Center reaches beyond its Madisonville headquarters to help motorists.

Despite their success, business owners and husband/wife team Bobby and Debra Drake are amazed by their good fortune. He is high-energy and quick response; she is calmness, grace, and efficiency. Together, they manage a vigorous business venture spanning three decades.

“None of this was planned,” Bobby says. “I never intended to start

a wrecker business; it was just a way to make a living.” Thirty-three years later, the Drake enterprise includes three towing and recovery sites, along with Tire Werx, a full-service tire facility in Madisonville, and a full service auto repair facility.

Lively and demanding, Drake’s Towing & Recovery in Madisonville is one minute from I-45 at 2303 East Main Street. Phones ring as motorists request towing or assistance, intercoms buzz mechanics, and front-office staffers welcome visitors paying for services or reclaiming vehicles. Drake’s stays busy with light and heavy towing (but doesn’t offer “repo” work). “We’re also remodeling,” Debra explains, with construction taking place outside office doors. “We remodeled Tire Werx, and now we’re making our towing business and auto repair

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Tire Werx Crew

April 2014 | Postcards Magazine: Piney Woods Edition 55

business more customer friendly. New televisions, comfortable seating, interior paint, and expanded parking are in the works.” Next door to Drake’s is Tire Werx, where workers sell tires, inspect vehicles, and finish oil changes. Tire Werx offerings include Bridgestone, Firestone, Fuzion and most any other branded tire on the market—with a 24-hour mobile tire service to assist customers.

Thirty employees serve the three Drake’s sites, including several family members. Son Connor, a recent Sam Houston State University graduate, is driving a wrecker and learning the family business, while daughter Amanda serves as a night dispatcher. Bobby’s brother Darryl works as manager, and their brother Nelson runs a separate body shop purchased from Bobby. Debra’s cousin Beverly greets visitors in the front office.

Automotive work and professional service are the lifeblood of this family business, which evolved after Bobby realized the value of towing. He and Debra were lifelong residents of Madisonville, married at 24 and 19—and never guessing they’d work side by side in the wrecker business. “I learned to work on cars as a kid,” Bobby says, “just keeping my own cars running.” He first went to work for independent shops and local dealerships as a mechanic and service manager, but the oil industry lured him away. When the oil industry faltered in 1981, he opted to stay in Madisonville and develop his own business: an I-45 Exxon station. “I worked long hours to make the station survive, usually 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but the hard work paid off. I was able to hire my brother Nelson to join me,” Bobby says.

Nelson wasn’t the only new face at the shop. AAA began

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Business FocusDrake’s Towing

Kurtis Todd, Driver

Elverton Ogg, DriverCedric Byrd, Driver

56 Postcards Magazine: Piney Woods Edition | April 2014

to refer stranded motorists to the station, and Bobby saw the need for local wreckers. The brothers began a towing business from the station and did automotive repair. They soon found the wrecker business more profitable than the original gas station. “I knew how to work on cars, but it was towing and recovery that paid the bills,” Bobby says.

“In 1982, we added our first tow trucks to the business. Today, we operate 30 pieces of wrecker and hauling equipment, including trucks and trailers. We even have a rotator, a wrecker that doubles as a crane and can pick up heavy oil field equipment.”

By 1987, the brothers plunged whole-heartedly into the body shop and wrecker business. Customer growth pushed the wrecker service to its current location on Main Street in 1989, and Bobby sold the body shop to Nelson in 2001. Debra was keeping the business books

at night and became office manager, so the couple has served in the automotive world most of their adult lives.

The Drakes are a positive and motivated team, focused on the tough business of managing a spectrum of automotive services. The Internet, cell phones, and Facebook have made it easy for customers to find their website or Google their phone number after a break down, accident, or wreck. The challenge for the Drakes is serving a clientele that is usually upset. “When wreckers arrive, people are often stressed, angry, or even in tears,” Bobby says. “They may be involved in an auto accident, hurt, or stranded. Sometimes they cannot even tell us where they are.”

“Of course, we always find them,” Debra says, “and we encourage our drivers to offer quick, patient, professional service. People stranded on the freeway are our priority; we want them off the road and back to safety. Since accidents happen day and night, our towing service is open 24/7. Drakes is always on call; some nights are extremely busy.

“We are on call during all holidays, with our busiest days the day before Thanksgiving and the Friday before Mother’s Day. Sometimes, we’ve handled 80 or more calls a day.

“Every now and then, one of our customers will send us a compli-mentary letter about how great their experience was with one of our

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Drake’s Towing and Recovery / Tire Werx2303 E. Main St.

Madisonville, TX 77864

Office Open Hours: Mon-Fri: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Sat: 7:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Phone Numbers:Drake’s: (936) 348-6419 or

1(800) 347-0126

Tire Werx: (936) 348-9991

Drake’s Roadside Emergency Service &

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1(800) 347-0126 or (936) 348-6419

Drakes Towing & Recovery – 24 Hr. ServiceHuntsville: (936) 295-3663 or 1(800) 347-0126Centerville: (936) 348-6419 or 1(800) 347-0126

www.drakestire.comdrakestowing@sbcglobal.net

Drake’s Crew

Shelly Plotts, Dispatcher

Beverly Newton, Dispatcher

Denise Williams, Dispatcher

April 2014 | Postcards Magazine: Piney Woods Edition 57

employees,” she says, “and it makes us feel great to get that positive input. It’s nice to feel like you’ve helped someone; that’s why we make ourselves so available.”

While responding 24/7, Drake’s and Tire Werx also offer auto unlock service, mobile tire delivery to stranded motor-ists, tire changes, commercial account services, air-cushion recovery, and other special services.

Bobby credits the successful Drake legacy to longevity, tenacity and diversity. “We’re a one-stop spot for auto-motive needs,” he says. “We tow your car and work on it, we change your tires or your oil, and we inspect your automobile. You know you can get what you need here. We also have all kinds of transportation services and can move heavy equipment—bulldozers, tractors—you name it.”

“We just offer a little bit of everything,” Bobby says. “In a small community, you can’t specialize, or you’ll starve to death; you’ve got to do just about everything in your field—and we do. We work on just about anything you can drag up here or we can haul. We never have slow times here, and we’re going to keep going until we can’t go anymore!”