Palestine trucker's rig gets makeover, thanks to CMT's 'Trick My Truck'

LONGVIEW — When Ben Brownlow and his brother were growing up, they shared a dream of one day owning a trucking business.

"All our toys were trucks," Ben recalled Friday by phone from his Palestine home. "That's all we ever liked, was trucks."

Tammy and Ben Brownlow (enlarge photo) Trucker Ben Brownlow of Palestine got a surprise at a Joplin, Mo., truck stop when CMT producers with the show 'Trick My Truck' told him his truck was getting a makeover. Now, the truck is painted to resemble a Texas flag, with a gaming system and cowhide upholstery.

The two never lost that love, and years down the road, both would find themselves in the driver's seat of a rig.

But they never quite made it to their ultimate goal. Before Ben and his brother, Brady "Brad" Brownlow, could buy their own trucks and go into business, Brad died in an oil rig explosion. He was 24.

"I had a hard time dealing with it," said Ben, 36, adding that at one point he even considered getting out of trucking totally.

After much soul-searching, and with the help of his wife, Ben finally made up his mind. Six years after the 1998 explosion, Ben bought his own rig and went into business for himself, hauling cattle.

It was still a bittersweet move. After all, it was money from his brother's life insurance policy that made the purchase possible.

It's this story that ultimately got Ben on the CMT show "Trick My Truck," which takes rigs and totally refinishes them from the inside out. His story is being told an an episode that aired twice Friday and will air nine more times between now and April 3.

In an e-mail, Ben's wife, Tammy Brownlow, a nurse in Longview, related his story to producers, but never expected it to amount to anything.

"They have thousands of letters that are sent in," Tammy pointed out. "We were very lucky, and we feel very blessed."

About a month and a half after sending the e-mail, CMT producers called Tammy to let her in on their plans to redo Ben's rig.

"It was really hush hush and secretive," she explained. "When it finally happened, (Ben) called me and said, 'You're not going to believe what happened,' and I already knew."

Like with every show, the driver is surprised at a truck stop with the news that his rig is about to get a makeover. Ben got his surprise at a Petro in Joplin, Mo.

"When I came out (of the store), they were all standing around the truck. One was standing on the truck," Ben said. "I was like ... what's going on. I wasn't sure."

Five months later, after working with a truck loaned to him by the show, he got to see his truck again.

"I had a little bit of anxiousness to see what it looked like," Ben admitted. "I tried to go in with no ideas of what I thought it might look like. I just tried to blank everything out."

As it turns out, he had no reason to worry. From the exterior, painted to resemble a Texas flag, to the interior, complete with a gaming system and cowhide upholstery, Ben loved everything he saw.

His favorite part is the memorial to Brad, a sign with the outline of Texas above the words, "In memory, Brady Dale Brownlow."

"It's as much Brad's truck as mine," Ben said solemnly. "Through his death, his life, he enabled me to live out a dream that we both had."