Howdy Holmes - Athletic Alumni 2011

Howdy Holmes graduated from Ann Arbor High School in 1966.  He played JV football and JV baseball, as well as varsity hockey for three years.  Howdy later competed successfully in the world of motor sports for twenty years.  As a racecar driver, he won championships and was Rookie of the Year at the Indy 500 in 1979.  He competed in six Indy 500 events and when he retired in 1988, held the best average finishing record of anyone who started more than four events.  Howdy started marketing and advertising companies which served the motor sports community, and authored an award-winning book called Formula Car Technology.  After his retirement from racing, Howdy led a transformation of his family’s business, Chelsea Milling Company, as President and CEO.  A loyal and generous supporter of Pioneer Athletics, Howdy has served on the Board of the Pioneer Academic Athletic Foundation since its inception in the late 1990’s.  Howdy says that his Pioneer hockey coach, Art Armstrong, “taught me a great deal about life.”