By Chuck Corder

Brannon Fowler has a tranquil temperament and an easy disposition that all stock car drivers yearn for.

If he could somehow bottle that cool demeanor and sell it to his fellow drivers, Fowler would make a killing.

The 33-year-old driver from Molino is rarely rattled when he’s up on the wheel of his white No. 00 Sportsman car.

It also helps when you’re winning everything in sight.

Fowler looks to stay perfect in 2014 on Friday night at Five Flags Speedway. He took home the checkered on Opening Day last month in Pensacola and has already won twice at Mobile International Speedway.

It got Fowler off on the right foot to achieve a goal he’s accomplished twice before.

“We’re going for both championships at Five Flags and Mobile,� he said. “Ultimately, that would make us the Gulf Coast champion. If we could conquer those two, that’s our ultimate goal.�

Fowler’s march toward a Gulf Coast sweep — which he accomplished as a Sportsman driver in 2012 and as a Bombers driver in 2007 — continues Friday night when the Sportsman share the local class stage with the Bombers.

It promises to be a night that quenches the thirst of all types of racing fans, as the famed half-mile oval will also play host to open-wheel action.

The Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series (MSRXSS) return for its annual show and the Southern Motorcycle Asphalt Racing Series (SMARS) boasts its deepest field in the three years since motorcycles have returned to Pensacola’s high banks.

Gates open at 4 p.m. Friday and admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, students and military; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids under 6.

“The mindset we have week-by-week is winning races,� Fowler said. “That’s what we’re about. We don’t points race. We go out and try to win. If we continue to do that, the points will fall as they do.�

He started the season off with a bang in mid-March at Mobile. On the weekend highlighted by the third annual Mobile ARCA 200, the Sportsman cars raced a special 50 lapper.

Fowler set the track record in qualifying and then provided the perfect encore with a wire-to-wire trip to Victory Lane. Included in the 15-car field he beat was friendly archrival Steve Buttrick.

“It began at the end last year,� Fowler said. “We rolled off the last two wins at Five Flags and discovered a few issues with the car. That really propelled us into this season.�

In his ninth season, expectations seem astronomical for Fowler — from himself, no question, but more from others — with Buttrick not committing to a full schedule this year.

Fans and even his counterparts expect Fowler to fill a void left by the three-time defending sportsman Snowball Derby champion who won 10 feature at Five Flags last season.

Fowler sets his own measuring stick, though, which helps him refrain from getting caught up in the conjecture of others.

“I block all that out for the most part,� he said. “Each week is a new race; each weekend a new slate. I haven’t won anything, done anything on that day. I say to myself, ‘Let’s go out here and win some races this weekend.’ �

That has been Fowler’s recipe so far in the season’s first month.