Archive for September, 2010

Gold Eagle® Co.’s Engine Answerman, and veteran USLMRA Lawn Mower Racer Bobby Cleveland, who set the original land speed record on July 4, 2006 in his 104+® Octane Boost riding lawnmower, has reclaimed his title as the World’s Fastest Lawnmower Driver. During the weekend of Sept. 24-26, Cleveland took back the record with an official speed of 96.529 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

In May, British driver Don Wales (on behalf on Project Runningblade) took the 2006 title by going 87.833 mph at the Pendine Sands in Wales, UK – beating Cleveland’s original record of 80.792 mph. Cleveland was in attendance to see his record broken, and to cheer on his British counterpart.

It took two days and five runs, but Cleveland was able to ‘smash’ the record Wales set just a few months ago. Unlike in 2006, Cleveland had his own personal pit crew this time around – a few who are members of the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association (USLMRA). Cleveland even cut some grass after the final run, to prove to any doubters that it’s a ‘real’ lawnmower.

“I’ve been waiting four years for this,” said Cleveland. “That’s why I was excited about Project Runningblade’s attempt – it gave me an excuse to come back to the Salt Flats. I was hoping we would get my machine up to 100mph, or even 104, but 96 mph is still a record and pretty fast on a lawnmower – it scared me so good! I couldn’t have done it without my team.”

Cleveland’s Crew consisted of USLMRA Vice President Kerry Evans, USLMRA Hall of Fame Driver Chuck Miller, and 2008 USLMRA Driver of the Year Pat “Rocket Man” Sullivan.

You can find Bobby on Twitter and Facebook!

You can download the 2011 Rulebook now, and then head on over to our Facebook page, or use the comments section below, to discuss the changes, including:

• Changes to the rules regarding mandatory attendance of drivers meetings
• Changes to the Le-Mans Style Start in the IMOW Class
• A recommendation of Flywheel use in prepared and FX classes
• The newly allowed use of bumpers

Lets mow!

For more great lawn mower racing video, visit USLMRA TV!

Emily Caswell of the Lapeer Area Review profiles Jay and Roger Keur of the Michigan Lawnmower Racing Association:

If it has a motor, Roger Keur will race it.

Case in point? This Sunday, Sept. 19 during his church’s annual Country Day event, Keur, senior minister at Country Christian Church, will race a lawn mower.

And Keur isn’t alone. In fact, as a member of the Michigan Lawnmower Racing Association he is just one of the hundreds of people around the state who have turned their mower into a vehicle for speed (well sort of, lawn mowers race at speeds of anywhere from 27 to 45 miles per hour).

Keur, who has been the senior minister at Country Christian Church for 19 years, got involved in the MILMRA through the encouragement of his brother Jay two years ago.

“It’s affordable (and) it’s something I can do now,” said Keur.

The brothers, who have always had a passion for racing, saw no reason not to give another vehicle a try.

“We’ve raced everything imaginable,” said Keur. “We’ve always been competitive.”

To read the entire piece, go to lapeerareaview.mihomepaper.com.

Octavian Cantilli of The Columbus Dispatch took some amazing photos of the STA-BIL Lawn Mower Racing Nationals over Labor Day Weekend. Click here to see the full slide show!