Max Brady played by Darin Brooks

This sexy race car driver escaped from his abusive father at an early age. He and his big brother, Frankie, made their way to Salem. They were taken in by kind-hearted Patch and Kayla Brady, and eventually adopted by Shawn and Caroline Brady, although the boys would eventually grow up leave Salem.

In the summer of 2005, Jennifer ran into Max at the racetrack, and renewed ties with both him and Frankie. Once back in Salem, Max was immediately drawn to young Chelsea. When Chelsea was blamed for the accidental death of Zack Brady, Max stood by her.

Chelsea became more than a mere "attachment" for Max; he truly loved her and wanted a committed relationship. Unfortunately, she was a little too immature for this. And another young lady came on the scene: fellow race car driver Stephanie Johnson. After Philip Kiriakis wrecked Max's car in a fit of rage, Stephanie helped him rebuild itm and the two became closer - much closer. Chelsea, however, remained in the picture until she messed up one final time. Max thought she was responsible for altering Claire Kiriakis' hospital file. Even after Chelsea was cleared of this, Max didn't forgive her.

Max dated Stephanie for awhile, but he was nowhere near as interested in her, as she was in him. After she was seriously injured in the Salem Grand Prix - thanks to Max's engine blowing up after being tampered with by the "gloved hand" - he knew he had to break things off with her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Frankie had to do it for him.

After her marriage to Shawn ended, Mimi came to Max looking for a job. Being the softie that he is, he helped her out by giving her a position as a bookkeeper. Abby, who was also working at the garage, was none too pleased by this. She had a major crush on Max and, despite his protestations, knew that he was attracted to Mimi.

When he agreed to help Mimi with the search for Philip, Max got himself in over his head. They went to Victor with their suspicions that he might know more about Philip's whereabouts than he was letting on. They were right. Victor was holding his severely injured son in his house, and he didn't like that Max and Mimi were snooping around. He had them kidnapped and thrown into the basement of an abandoned church.

While they were tied up - literally - Max and Mimi grew closer. In the basement, they accidentally unearthed a skeleton dressed in a Civil War uniform. It turned out not to be so old; it was Mimi's father! Under pressure from Mimi, Bonnie revealed that, when she was a little girl, Mimi had accidentally killed her father when she tried to stop him from abusing her mother. Bonnie had hidden the body to protect her, and now that the case had been re-opened, Bonnie confessed to the crime so Mimi wouldn't go to prison. Bonnie advised her daughter to leave town for her own protection, and after a sad goodbye to Max, Mimi left.

Abby and Max tentatively began a relationship, but her family was none too happy about it. In fact, it wasn't long before she left Salem to spend some time with her parents in London. At the very least, thanks to Abby, Max became good friends with her cousin, Nick Fallon, who was new in town.

Max was without a relationship, but when Stephanie returned to town along with her new boyfriend, Jeremy Horton, he did get a new business interest. He borrowed against his garage to invest in Jeremy's airline, Touch the Sky. Max didn't like the way Jeremy treated Stephanie, and became suspicious about Touch the Sky's legitimacy. His feelings for Stephanie began to resurface, and he started to worry about her safety. Sure enough, they finally learned that Jeremy's unseen business partner was Andre DiMera (then posing as Tony.) Max and Stephanie were thrown off a plane in mid-flight, and parachuted into the wilderness. They spent the night in a cave and almost gave in to their attraction, but they were rescued before they could make love.

Back in Salem, Max and Stephanie denied their feelings for each other. Stephanie tried unsuccessfully to reunite with Jeremy, but he left town, fearing the law. Max was forced to sell his garage because of the money lost on the airline, and took a job working at the Cheatin' Heart, a bar owned by Stephanie's Aunt Adrienne.

Stephanie and Chelsea joined a sorority at Salem U, and Max soon met their sorority sister, Morgan Hollingsworth. Max was drawn to the flirtatious southern belle, and they began to date, making Stephanie jealous. When campus rapist, Ford Decker, drugged Morgan at a party, Max saved her before she was assaulted. Ford's father managed to get the charges against his son dismissed, prompting Chelsea and the other sorority sisters to take the law into their own hands. The young women plotted to lure Ford to the house, drug and humiliate him. However, they didn't count on Ford chasing Chelsea up the stairs and falling! Ford died of his injuries, and Stephanie and Chelsea called on Max to help them cover up what they'd done. Max hid the body and dressed in Ford's clothes to fool the security cameras.

In the midst of it all, Max realized he didn't reciprocate Morgan's feelings for him, so he broke up with her. It was getting harder and harder for Max to ignore his feelings for Stephanie, and he and Nick lamented their love lives. At Nick's urging, Max went to Stephanie, but she pulled away from him. Max remained a patient, supportive friend, and finally, Stephanie confided in him that Ford had raped her. Max did his best to comfort her, and encouraged her to go to a counselor.

As Stephanie has grown stronger in her recovery, her relationship with Max has deepened. The sorority sisters decided to confess what happened with Ford, and Max had to face up to his role in the cover-up. Fortunately, he was given community service time, but he also had bigger things to worry about.

Max was dealt a huge blow recently when his adoptive father, Shawn, was killed in a plane crash. Max tried to be a support system for Caroline, and took on extra hours at the Brady pub to help out.

Though his relationship with Stephanie is blossoming, long hours at the pub and doing community service at the dock are starting to take their toll on the young man. As his girlfriend and his friends move ahead in their careers and their education, Max is starting to feel left behind. Will Max eventually begin to find his purpose in life and will true love finally allow Max to be happy with himself? Only time will tell.