National Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame

We’ve updated our popular USLMRA TV feature with racing mower action from the 2009 STA-BIL Keeps Gas Fresh Finals in Delaware, Ohio. See videos from across the FX, BP, SP, CP, AP, JP and IMOW classes, as well as clippings from the United States Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame and Museum, Mowments with some of our favorite racers and sponsors, and more!

To view the entire series, in order, head on over to USLMRA TV now!

As Americans celebrate the 4th of July, the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association has announced the inaugural U.S. Open and inductees into the USLMRA National Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame & Museum of America.

The U.S. Open and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies will take place Sunday, September 5th in Delaware, Ohio during the 18th annual STA-BIL Nationals Labor Day Weekend Lawn Mower Racing Championships.

The U.S. Open will bring together hundreds of racing mowers from across America and Canada for mower-take-all showdowns in 11 classes and will showcase the 2010 USLMRA national champions crowned Saturday, Sept. 4 at the STA-BIL Keeps Gas Fresh Finals.

Founded in 2009, the USLMRA National Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame is a place of honor for Turf Titans who have turned a weekend chore into a competitive sport since organized lawn mower racing was created in 1963. The 2010 inductees are:

• Ken “Turfinator” Smolecki of West Chicago, Illinois whose mower, The Turfinator was featured on the hit TV sitcom Home Improvement for the famous jet-powered lawn mower race pitting Tim Allen vs. Bob Vila. Smolecki joined the USLMRA in 1992, raced until 2000, served on the Rules Committee and as Technical Director and raced in the legendary British Lawn Mower Racing Association 12-Hour Race where he was honored as the first American to wave the checkered flag (1999).
• Bill Simpson of Trevor, Wisconsin, who served as the first USLMRA Race Director, adding consistency to race officiating by directing a staff of race stewards, technical directors and flaggers. Simpson created a Race Operations Manual, served as racer liaison, handled venue negotiations, implemented insurance programs and organized an annual Rules Committee Meeting.

“Just like golf, tennis, beer drinking and fishing, lawn mower racing now has a U.S. Open and a Hall of Fame, said Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All” USLMRA Founder and President. “The U.S. Open is where backyard meets brickyard and where Lawn Rangers will seek the ultimate weekend challenge. Our 2nd annual Hall of Fame ceremonies will also exalt two more bladeless runners to a place of high honor in the annals of sod slinging. Labor Day Weekend will kick grass!”

Smolecki and Simpson will join the inaugural Hall of Fame class of 2009 which includes the Organizing Committee of the Twelve Mile 500 America’s oldest lawn mower race, founded in 1963; Jim Gavin of Wisborough Green, England, Founder and General Secretary of the British Lawn Mower Racing Association, founded in 1973; “Racing Ray” Mrocks of Lake Zurich, Illinois, the first USLMRA member, who heeded the call to sod slinging glory on April 1, 1992, the birthday of national lawn mower race sanctioning in the United States; and Chuck Miller, of Marion, Ohio, the only USLMRA member to compete in every STA-BIL Nationals since 1992. The USLMRA National Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame & Museum of America is located at Miller Lawn and Power, 1299 Harding Highway East State Road 309, Marion, Ohio.

Check out this video of 2009 National Hall of Fame and Museum of America Honoree Chuck Miller’s Acceptance Speech in Delaware, Ohio!

From The Marion Star:

As he reflected upon his recent election to the new lawn mower racing Hall of Fame, which will be housed in the near future in his own business, Marion’s Chuck Miller was as calm and collected as he is on the track.

“To be in the hall is cool and to have it at my shop is cooler yet,” Miller quietly said prior to last weekend’s STA-BIL Keeps Gas Fresh Finals on the Delaware County fairgrounds.

It was announced last week that the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association Hall of Fame would be located at Miller Lawn and Power Equipment at 1299 Harding Highway E., a facility Miller owns.

“We were looking for a location where there was a retail business that is open all of the time,” said Bruce Kaufman, president and founder of the USLMRA. “Chuck volunteered his building and we agreed.”

The article ran September 13, 2009, and you can read it in its entirety here.