STA-BIL National Lawn Mower Races

By: © Nelson Taylor 2008

Festival Location: Mendotta, IL, USA

Festival State: Illinois Festivals

Festival Type(s): Bizarre Sports Events, Motor Sports Events, Bizarre Festivals

What happens when a weekend chore becomes competitive sport? Turf's up, that's what. As you can imagine, as sense of humor is required to belong to any organization that launches on April Fool's Day, which the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association did in 1992. Yet, for the USLMRA's 500-plus dedicated sod warriors, racing lawn mowers is more than mere grins.

STA-BIL, a Gold Eagle Co. fuel stabilizer, annually sponsors ten regional mow downs in cities from Atlanta, GA, to Swiftwater, PA. But the main event is held in Mendotta, IL, every September. Racers compete in three road track classes, which are factory Stock, Prepared and Factory Experimental. In each class, the lawn mower blades are removed for safety. Mowers in each category reach speeds up to 10 MPH, 35 MPH, and 60 MPH, respectively. And their machines have names ranging from Sodzilla to Turfinator to Lawn Ranger to Garden Gangster.

Bobby Cleveland is probably the world's most famous lawn mower racer, a three-time STA-BIL National Prepared Class Champion, who has been racing for the past 20 years. An employee in the design and engineering department at Snapper, Cleveland says, "I built a lawn mower that would go 75 MPH all the way back in 1976." Wearing two hats, both as racer and spokesperson for the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association, Cleveland does quit a bit of traveling with team-member Mark Boyce, both of the BC Racing Team. "We got a 33-foot Pace Arrow motor home with a 20-foot trailer that carries four mowers and a golf cart," Cleveland, certified mow-maniac, says. In a year, he competes in anywhere from 15-20 races, plus makes stops at many other fairs and parades around the country. "On one of my machines I can ride a wheelie at 25 MPH," he says. "That's always popular at parades."

Cleveland, like most mow enthusiasts, does all the work on his machines. While he says he's got about $2,000 invested in each, he says most people get away with spending between $300 and $400. "But the best thing about the sport," he says, "is that anybody can take the blades off their machine, put on a helmet and race." While it hasn't happened yet, race organizers are planning on having mowers available for rent at each event. Race fees range anywhere from $5 to $30, but you don't have to pay a dime to become one of 2,000-plus who show up to Mendotta to witness America's fastest mowin' sport. The mow the merrier.