Archive for February, 2011

This April Fool’s Day Weekend it will be mow and go in Southern Maryland as Potomac Speedway hosts the STA-BIL Lawn & Garden Mower Racing Series for two days of sod slinging action April 1-3.

Grass kickers of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association (USLMRA) will mow ‘em down Saturday-Sunday, April 2-3, and will celebrate April Fools’ Day with surprise foolishness on April 1 at Potomac Speedway, 27963 Budds Creek Road, Budds Creek, MD 20659. General admission is $8.00, free for kids eight and under. Racing begins on Saturday, April 2 at 7:00PM with gates open at 4:00PM and Sunday, April 3 at 1:00PM with gates open at 11:00AM. April Fool’s Day festivities will take place at 7:00PM at the track.

“Lawn mower racers aren’t foolish, they’re MOWtivated! ” said Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All” USLMRA Founder and President. “April Fool’s Day is our 19th birthday and what better way to celebrate than by racing lawn mowers around a 1/10th mile track at speeds up to 60mph under the lights on a warm spring evening?”

The Potomac Speedway Mow Down Show Down will feature sod-slinging action on riding lawn mowers with all cutting blades removed in seven different classes at speeds up to 60mph. Racers compete for points, trophies and bragging rights. There are no cash prizes and a sense of humor is not required, but strongly encouraged. Racers from Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia will rock and mow, including national and local racing champions.

Southern Maryland is a hotbed for racing mowers with the DelMarVa Chapter based in the Old Line State and the annual St. Mary’s County Lawn Mower Races held at Bowles Farms in Clements, Maryland each summer. The 2011 Bowles Farms Race Weekend is August 5-6.

To RSVP to this event on Facebook, click here.

Way back in 1993, the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association hooked up with the folks at Disney / ABC to be featured on the famous Home Improvement lawn mower racing episode featuring Tim Allen and Bob Vila.

From Wikepedia.org:

The series centered on the Taylor family, which consists of father Tim (Tim Allen), his spouse Jill (Patricia Richardson) and their three children: the oldest, Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), the middle child Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and youngest, Mark (Taran Noah Smith). The Taylors live in suburban Detroit, Michigan and have a neighbor named Wilson (Earl Hindman) who is often the go-to guy for solving Tim and Jill’s problems.

Each episode included Tim’s own home improvement show, called Tool Time, a “meta-program,” or show-within-a-show. In hosting this show, Tim was joined by his friend and mild-mannered assistant Al Borland (Richard Karn), and a “Tool Time girl” — first Lisa (Pamela Anderson) and later Heidi (Debbe Dunning) — whose main duty was to introduce the pair at the beginning of the show with the line “Does everybody know what time it is?” They would also assist Tim and Al during the show by bringing them tools.

During a whirlwind trip to Los Angles, we met Tim, Bob and the entire cast. Then, we went to a city park in Los Angeles where the Dixie Chopper Jet powered Lawn Mower was driven by Tim Allen against Bob Vila in “Turfinator,” the race mower owned by Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame Member Ken “Turfinator” Smolecki.

And what a race it was. Here are some exclusive photos taken on the set, and of course, the race itself!

Reminder: this week we kicked off our new Monday Morning MOWtivation series by giving away a Hot Wheels Home Improvement Action Pack that Mattel Hot Wheels put out way back in 1996 to commemorate the famous Home Improvement Racing Mower episode with Tim Allen and Bob Vila. This set features the famous Dixie Chopper Jet Mower and a 1933 Ford Convertible along with a Binford tool chest and characters of Tim and Al.

Leave a comment on the contest on our Facebook Page by tomorrow (February 28th) at 10AM Central and you could win this highly collectible prize!

Click here to enter on Facebook!

The Carbon Hill Lawnmower Racing Association (CHLRA) is an organization designed for lawn mower racing by lawn mower racers. This sport provides racers, their families and friends the opportunity to get involved with competitive racing that is affordable and exciting for the whole family.

Maintaining safe, competitive racing is the primary purpose of the CHLRA and with the cooperation of all members, we can collectively keep this sport as it was intended… FUN!!!!!

Home Track Map:

View United States Lawn Mower Racing Association in a larger map

Classifications:

STOCK

• AGES 12 & under
• All original minus the mower blades

JUNIOR PREPARED

• AGES 13 to 16
• Gear ratio must be no lower than 8 to 1
• Must be 16 inch tires on back
• Mower deck optional
• Stock motor
• Header optional
• Governor optional

SUPER STOCK

• Governor optional
• Must have trans-axle
• Steering optional
• Width 39 inches
• Disk brakes optional
• Tires- same size on front axle, same size on back axle.
• 20 HP and under
• Bumpers optional (Front – no higher than valve cover, no wider than inside tires.  Back – no wider than the center width of tires)
• Seats must be in original position
• Header optional
• Mower deck optional
• Stock motor

SPORTSMAN

• Drivers who made any modifications to their motor must race in this class.
• If you have a machine flywheel, you must have a scatter shield.
• Bumpers optional (same as super stock)
• Seats must be in original position

Michigan’s Tommy Hawley discusses the USLMRA CP Class racing mowers, featuring all single-cylinder overhead valve and two cylinder valve in block, 4 stroke engines 20 hp and under, 42″ minimum unaltered wheelbase, with 6″ minimum front wheels and 8″ minimum rear wheels.

Tommy races with the Michigan Lawn Mower Racing Association and is a consistent top finisher in the STA-BIL Lawn & Garden Mower Racing Series.

Today is President’s Day, and as President of the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association, I’m pleased to announce our first Monday Morning MOWtivation, a contest to win cool stuff from your favorite lawn mower racing organization.

Today’s Monday Morning MOWtivation features the Hot Wheels Home Improvement Action Pack that Mattel Hot Wheels put out way back in 1996 to commemorate the famous Home Improvement Racing Mower episode with Tim Allen and Bob Vila. Featuring the famous Dixie Chopper Jet Mower and a 1933 Ford Convertible along with a Binford tool chest and characters of Tim and Al.

Leave a comment on the contest on our Facebook Page by Monday, February 28th at 10AM Central and you could win this highly collectible prize!

Bruce Kaufman
USLMRA President
“Mr. Mow It All”
twitter.com/mrmowitall

Click here to enter on Facebook!