To celebrate its 20th Anniversary, the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association has declared February 1 “Hedgehog Day” and will mark the mowmentous occasion by the unveiling of Mike “Hedgehog” Miller’s 80-mph racing lawn mower for the 20th STA-BIL® Lawn and Garden Mower Racing Series.

On Hedgehog Day, Miller will bring his souped up, 80-mph Factory Experimental race mower out its’ burrow. If the Hedgehog does not become scared by his shadow, he will leave his burrow and his lawn mower racing season will begin on April Fool’s Day on the 20th Anniversary of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association. If the Hedgehog sees his shadow, he will return to his garage to tinker and make adjustments for the season, making his racing debut June 23, under the warm summer sun at the 4th Annual STA-BIL Land of Lincoln Regionals, at Nostalgia Days in Zion, Illinois.

“Just like the famous furry rodent from Pennsylvania, I fully expect to be correct in my prediction of the coming lawn mower racing season,” said Miller, from his burrow in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. “And also like my Keystone State counterpart, I will not share my prediction with anyone in advance, not even with the lawn mower racing inner circle: ‘Mr. Mow It All’, ‘Turfinator’, ‘Sodzilla’ or ‘Ace of Blades’.”

Miller built his championship mower, The Hedgehog, 15 years ago and has piloted his trusty ride to numerous STA-BIL Series victories and championships in his 19-year lawn mower racing career. Hedgehog is a 1968 E.T. Rugg, with a 390cc Honda Power motor, turning 45 horsepower. It will go zero to 50 in 5.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 80 mph.

“We plan to make Hedgehog Day an annual tradition,” said Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All” USLMRA Founder & President. “It is only fitting that we present our first Hedgehog Day as part of our 20th Anniversary. I look forward to speaking with Hedgehog in “mowerese” a language understood only by myself, to hear his prediction on the coming STA-BIL Lawnmower Racing Season, so that I may share the news with the world.”

Also like the famous mowtivated mammal that emerges in February, Hedgehog has its own “elixir of life,” HEET Gas-Line Antifreeze & Water Remover that allows his engine to start right up and spring him to life in the cold winter months. Hedgehog fills up with HEET each winter to keep him mowing and going. HEET is the #1 Selling Gas-Line Antifreeze & Water Remover. It removes water from the fuel system to prevent gas-line freeze-up and harmful rust and corrosion. Miller also uses Iso-HEET, the #1 selling Premium Fuel-line Antifreeze, Water Remover & Injector Cleaner. It absorbs five times more water than regular gas-line antifreeze, while it cleans fuel injectors and carburetors. It’s designed for use year-round in all 2-cycle and 4-cycle gasoline engines and diesel engines.

Joe checks out lawn mower racing as a potential event to draw in business. Meanwhile, Jack and Ben host a bingo night at the Backdoor Lounge to try and increase sales on Monday nights and Kenny samples wine while on the job. TV-PG, CC

Truck Stop Missouri “Mow Money, Mow Problems” Air Dates

• Sunday, September 11, 7:00 PM E/P
• Monday, September 12, 2:00 PM E/P
• Thursday, September 15, 8:00 PM E/P
• Thursday, September 15, 11:00 PM E/P
• Sunday, September 18, 7:30 PM E/P
• Monday, September 19, 2:30 PM E/P
• Thursday, September 22, 8:30 PM E/P
• Thursday, September 22, 11:30 PM E/P

Photos From the Truck Stop Missouri Filming

USLMRA President Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All,” along with racers and members Ken and Katie Jones, Jon “Rooster” Lewman, Cody, Tony and Gary Loveless, Cody and Mary Callentine, Marty Kunkel, Sid Woody and Adam Dinkins were on site at Midway Truck Plaza in Columbia, Missouri to tape a lawn mower racing segment and will be featured during the 13 week series. We got some behind-the-scenes photos from the taping:

See you on Truck Stop Missouri!

Riders dressed as the film’s iconic red & blue feuding gnome families and raced for the right to present The Berrien County Michigan Farm Bureau Young Farmers with a $5000 dollar donation earmarked for agricultural education in Berrien County schools.

Stay tuned for MOW from Michigan!!!

“No foolin’! Racing lawn mowers and garden gnomes is a perfect partnership,” said Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All,” U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association President. “Lawn mower racers have always competed for trophies, glory and bragging rights. Now they will also compete for garden gnomes.”

Established on April 1, 1992, the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association is the nations’ oldest and largest national lawn mower racing sanctioning body gaining mowmentum each year for its’ 21-race STA-BIL Lawn & Garden Mower Racing Series and network of 50 Local Clubs hosting more than 140 sanctioned races in 37 states.

GnomeFrenzy.com makes it their business to provide the perfect lawn gnome for home or garden, whether it is a traditional garden gnome, or an NCAA, NFL or MLB-themed lawn statue. They also offer custom garden gnomes for Breast Cancer Awareness.

To mark its’ April 1 birthday, Potomac Speedway will host two days of STA-BIL Series races, Saturday-Sunday, April 2-3, and will celebrate April Fools’ Day with free surprise foolishness at 7:00 PM, Friday April 1 at the track, 27963 Budds Creek Road, Budds Creek, MD 20659. Race 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.

“What better way to celebrate April Fool’s Day than at the racetrack with some  racing mowers and lawn gnomes?” added Kaufman. “It’s Opening Weekend so bring it – the mow the merrier!”

Dave travels to Ohio for the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Championships, proving that all you need for a race is a couple of guys and any kind of engine. Then he enrolls in alligator wrestling school, despite his mortal fear of alligators.

Click here to watch Discovery Channel’s Wreckreation Nation Season One Episode One

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!

You can learn more about the documentary film, about lawn mower racing and Huntington’s disease, at mowermovie.com.

Well, Bobby has made some modifications to the 104+ brand mower, and will be heading back to the Bonneville Salt Flats the weekend of September 24-26 to reclaim what’s his. His goal is to go 100 mph (or maybe 104?). Check out the video:

Head over to WillBobbyGo100.com to learn much MOW about this exciting project!

“We often say ‘anything mows,’ but not steroids,” said Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All” USLMRA Founder & President. “The USLMRA will measure the forearms and head of each driver and benchmark results for indication of steroid use. Our sport brings out the racing spirit in the common man, so we’re taking a stance for fair play and a level racing field. I can also deny that Mark McGwire will be a pit crew member of any STA-BIL Series race team.”

The U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association sanctions and presents organized lawn mower racing across America including the 18-race STA-BIL National Lawn Mower Racing Series and a network of 45 Local Chapters and Affiliated Clubs hosting more than 140 sanctioned races nationwide.

Races feature riding lawn mowers with cutting blades removed at speeds up to 60 mph. Lawn mowers race in four road course classes with all cutting blades removed: Juniors (15 mph), IMOW (20 mph), Prepared (50 mph) and Factory Experimental (60 mph).

The 2010 STA-BIL National Lawn Mower Racing Series schedule can be found here.

USLMRA sponsors include STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer, HEET GasLine Antifreeze, Diesel Power!,104+ Octane Boost, No Leak, Alumaseal, Start Your Engines!, and K&N Filters.

Check back each week as we release a new video in this series, and as always, head over to USLMRA TV or our YouTube pages for more great video clippings!

Check out this review of the new Wreckreation Nation DVD on DVDTalk.com:

A salute to the “ingenious, dangerous, and dubious ways Americans kill time,” Wreckreation Nation with Dave Mordal manages not only to showcase the innumerable ways Americans build and compete (and destroy) in their spare time, but it also honors the achievements of average Americans who make “excellence” a goal even in their pastimes…and even if those pastimes seem, to the non-believer, stupid as hell.

Wreckreation Nation Season 1 is available on Amazon.

And Part 2:

On the cutting edge of alternative sports for motor enthusiasts, the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association offers competitions across the country in five classes: stock, international mowers of weeds, prepared (modified), FX (major modified) and JP (juniors/kids). No, the blades aren’t spinning during a race — they’ve been removed.

Other featured sports include Pig Racing, Pig Diving, Toilet Seat Toss, Extreme Ironing, Wife Carrying, Ostrich Racing, Cheese Rolling, Elephant Polo, Tough Guy Racing, Beer Pong, Bog Snorkeling, Mud Volleyball, Chess Boxing, Competitive Eating, Cup Stacking, Punkin Chunkin, Pumpkin Sailing, Sculpture Racing and the annual World Series of Birding. To read more about all of these amazing competitions, head on over to SI.com!

The bullet point episode descriptions also show us as the 1st segment of the 1st episode of the 1st season! According to my mathematical calculations 1st = coolest segment!

This show will air in July or August 2009. Watch for the LSMRA members both in the display area with everything from IMOW to FX including the only 5
engine 10 cylinder John Deere 210 14 foot long lawnmower “The Mow Longer”.

Not only did we display to the 15,000 racing fans but we ran six mowers head to head on the track.

Results were:

AP Class John Nelson VS Mike Cupps. John beat Mike who claimed the green light on his side never came on. I think he was right but don’t tell him.

SP/CP Match with Eddy Akin and Scott Bittle. Eddy edged Scott out at the 330 mark. Both had great starts but Scotts reaction time was a bit slow. I
think the crown noise got to him.

BP Class with David Hill and Caroll Campbell looked good at the start but that 700 on Carroll’s machine just was not ready for the drag strip. Got a
little hole in it. No problem just a bottom case exchange and it will be ready to run.

Those that took time to come out and display their mowers were:

• Scott and Mitchell Bittle from Hope, Arkansas
• Eddy and Patti Akin from Prescott, Arkansas
• John Nelson from Richardson, Texas
• Mike and Vicki Cupps from Corsicana, Texas
• John and Rebecca Merritt from Texarkana, Texas
• David and Julie Hill from Keller, Texas
• Caroll Campbell from McKinney, Texas

Watch for Photos on the USLMRA/LSMRA site shortly.