CLEVELAND – Lawn mower operators have long wondered what it would be like to put the pedal to the metal and tear up some turf, but contractors wouldn’t be caught dead mowing a customer’s property at speeds of 60 miles per hour. Not only would that tear up the lawn, but hardly any of the grass would be cut. So where can contractors go to fulfill that need for speed? Try racing a lawn mower in the STA-BIL® National Lawn Mower Racing Series.
The STA-BIL Series is organized by the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association (USLMRA) and kicks off each year on April Fool’s Day. The annual April 1st start coincides with the tongue-in-cheek attitude of the popular motorsport. "It seems to work," said Dave Silbar, USLMRA marketing director, "because it’s not a joke. It’s no April Fool’s. It’s really lawn mower racing season." The joke doesn’t stop there, as one of the April 1st events is the annual Grass Cutter’s Ball where "sod slingers relive days of lawn mower racing glory."
According to Silbar, the STA-BIL racing series started off in 1992 as a straightforward product promotion for STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer, which is a gasoline additive manufactured by Gold Eagle Co. for use in lawn mowers and power equipment to keep gas fresh between uses. The series was originally scheduled for one year, but the sport quickly gained popularity and is now in its ninth annual season with more than 600 USLMRA members in the United States and abroad.
In the 2000 racing season, there are 16 scheduled STA-BIL Series registered races and a large number of Mowdown races. STA-BIL Series races include a point system for determining overall winners in the series, while the Mowdowns do not count in the standings. The STA-BIL Series culminates Labor Day weekend with the STA-BIL National Lawn Mower Racing Championships, which will be held in Indianapolis this year. "We decided to race on Labor Day weekend because if the Indianapolis 500 [a NASCAR racing event] always takes place over Memorial Day weekend, it makes sense to race lawn mowers over Labor Day weekend," said Silbar.
The season does not really end Labor Day weekend because several southern states continue with Mowdown races through October. Mowdowns are often held at fairs and festivals with race entry fees benefiting local charities and civic groups. Silbar explained that the sport does not include cash prizes. Rather, the drivers, who range in age from 16 to 82 years old, race for trophies, bragging rights and fun. "We don’t take ourselves too seriously because once you start to do that and once you start to put money into the equation, you lose a lot of the tongue-in-cheek aspects," explained Silbar.
THE BRITISH INVASION. Although lawn mower racing is fairly new to the United States, the sport actually got its start in 1973 in England as fellow pub dwellers were complaining about the escalating costs of motorsports and decided to race their lawn mowers as an inexpensive hobby. The result was the first ever sanctioned lawn mower race and the forming of the British Lawn Mower Racing Association (BLMRA).
The American version of the sport has stayed true to its roots by recently becoming involved with the BLMRA through international events and competitions. This year a new chapter in the history of the sport is opening with the inaugural "Rider Cup" at the Eyes to the Skies Festival July 1-2 in Lisle, Ill., near Chicago. At the event, dubbed the "STA-BIL Transatlantic Mowllennium Mow Down," American and British lawn mower racers will compete for the international Rider Cup title as the BLMRA plans to bring several mowers, drivers and pit crew members to the event. The Rider Cup races are scheduled to alternate between Wilsborough Green, England, and Lisle, Ill.
"We’re ready for the next British invasion in the new Mowllennium," said Bruce Kaufman, president of the STA-BIL Series. "Our British friends promise a real turf battle. As they like to say, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’"
SAFETY FIRST. The STA-BIL Series is open to any racer age 16 or older, and the USLRMA asks that participants not take the sport too seriously as "a sense of humor is not required but is strongly encouraged." An official USLMRA Racing Handbook includes all of the sport’s rules, including driver and mower eligibility, mower requirements and safety equipment information. USLMRA events are open to all self-propelled rotary or reel style lawn mowers. The mower must have been originally designed and sold commercially to mow lawns, and it must remain suitable for lawn cutting, apart from the modifications permitted and the mandatory removal of mower blades.
According to the rules, the only fuel allowed is pump gas, and the only fuel additive allowed is, naturally, STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer. To protect the "sod warriors," as lawn mower racers are sometimes called, every driver must wear an automobile racing or motorcycle safety helmet, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves and shoes on the track. "We laugh a lot. We have a lot of fun," said Silbar. "But our races are run very professionally with corner people, flaggers, checkered flags and a Le Mans style start where the racers have to run to their mowers at the gun, start them and then go."
Mower classifications range in speeds from 6 to 60 miles per hour, depending on the type of mower and the allowed alterations. The STA-BIL Series consists of riding lawn mowers racing in four road and oval track classes as well as in three Grass Eliminator drag racing divisions. Racing classes include:
- Stock Class: These mowers run at an average speed of 10 mph and are raced as delivered from the factory, except for minor alterations to improve speed.
- IMOW (International Mowers Of Weeds) Class: Some components of these mowers, which run at about 25 mph, can be altered, including the frame and front axle.
- Prepared Class: These mowers, which go 35 mph, operate as delivered from the factory, except that certain components may be altered, including the drive train.
- Factory Experimental Class: Major modifications are allowed in this class to create mowers that travel at 50-60 mph.
Although the top speed is close to 60 mph, that is only possible when races are held on pavement tracks with long straightaways, such as the mile-long oval tracks at the Charlotte, Texas and Atlanta Motor Speedways. Most STA-BIL Series races, however, are held on ¼-mile, kidney bean-shaped, grass tracks that only allow vehicles to reach an average of 35-40 mph in the fastest classes.
THE SPORT’S NOTERIETY. The USLMRA has enjoyed a great deal of media coverage, including being featured on CNN Headline News, CBS This Morning, Inside Edition and Newsweek and being named the "Worst New Sport of the Year" by PARADE magazine. However, the organization’s biggest claim to fame occurred on the 1993 season finale of the television show Home Improvement.
On this episode, Tim Allen’s character, Tim "The Toolman" Taylor, raced against home improvement guru Bob Vila in a mock lawn mower racing event. In the race, Allen (actually, a stunt double for Allen) drove The Dixie Chopper Jet, which is referred to as The World's Fastest Lawn Mower because it has a jet engine mounted on its back. Vila drove the Turfinator, a mower owned by Ken Smolecki, the captain of the U.S. STA-BIL Rider Cup team. The Dixie Chopper Jet is the Official Pace Mower for the USLMRA, and Allen’s character actually told his television wife, Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson), that he got the mower on loan from the USLMRA.
Other television coverage of the sport includes airing of the STA-BIL Series on Speedvision Network for several shows from October through December. Speedvision is a 24-hour cable network devoted to racing enthusiasts.
Coinciding with its non-serious attitude, the USLMRA likes to use clever puns to describe the sport, including "on the cutting edge of motorsports," "the fastest mowing sport in the country" and "grassroots sports at its finest." With its unique spin on motorsports, the association has turned a weekend chore into an enjoyable competitive sport involving the whole family as Silbar explained that people bring their sons, daughters, wives, husbands and even groups of 15 people to be their pit crews.
Even with the number of racers and their devotion to the sport, Silbar said there’s probably no such thing as a professional lawn mower racer. However, some people do take the sport very seriously and compete in several races each year. "Some guys get their mowers from a junkyard, pay 50 bucks for them, and perform the work themselves. Some guys spend thousands of dollars on their lawn mower," he said. "And a lot of times it’s the guy who bought the mower at the junkyard who wins."
For more information about the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association, call 847/729-7363 or visit the USLMRA’s web site at www.letsmow.com.
The author is Internet Editor of Lawn & Landscape Online. Images provided courtesy of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association.
