In this video clip from Fox Sports Net “Race Freaks,” Ron Rollman of Tennessee becomes BP Class Champion at the 2011 STA-BIL Keeps Gas Fresh Finals.

2011 National BP Class Points – Top 10

1. Ronald Rolman, TN, 2950
2. Jason Brown, MD, 2850
3. Jayson Mikula, MI, 2700
4. James Mikula, MI, 2700
5. Chuck Miller, OH, 2600
6. Jamie Maurice, GA, 2450
7. Larry Benning, KS, 2300
8. David Martin, MI, 2150
9. Bob Cleveland, GA, 2100
10. George Herrin, TN, 2000

Heeding the call of Westward MOWmentum, the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association has appointed two new Western Regional Directors to work with long-time Western Regional Director “Bud”, as America’s Fastest Mowing’ Sport rapidly expands west of the Mississippi.

Joining Bud will be Bob Newman of Sacramento, California and Scott McFarlane of Canby, Oregon.  Newman is President of the Sac Valley Mower Racers and McFarlane leads the Mount Hood Lawn Mower Racers, both USLMRA Affiliated Clubs.  Bud is President of the Pacific Coast Lawn Mower Racing Association Local Chapter and the Mowtivated Hillbillys Affiliated Club.

“Bob and Scott are sewn from the same grass seed as me,” quipped Bud from his home turf in Anza, California.  “I’ve been working with Bob for a few years now and just met Scott in 2011 at the Estacada, Oregon race, and these guys are MOWtivated to expand USLMRA lawn mower racing throughout the West. Scott and Bob have shown exceptional leadership and the organizational skills needed to keep our sport growing safely. They are a key part of our expansion here on the West Coast and we are very pleased to have them part of the team that leads the West to mow fun and safe races.”

Newman and McFarlane will continue to work with Elmore in venue selection, Club expansion, racer development, technical consulting, presenting build and driving clinics and overall growth of USLMRA Lawn Mower Racing in California, Oregon, Idaho and other Western locations.

In this video clip from Fox Sports Net “Race Freaks,” Wally Bender and Matthew Moran of Maryland battle it out in the 2011 AP Class STA-BIL Finals resulting in a shared championship in the 2011 USLMRA National AP Class.

2011 National AP Class Points – Top 10

1. Matthew Moran & Wally Bender, MD, 2600 (CO-CHAMPIONS)
2. Pat Sullivan, FL, 2550
3. Pete Sullivan, NC, 2450
4. Tony Thompson, IL, 2450
5. Lee Grover, NJ, 2350
6. Tommy Hawley, MI, 2300
7. Mark Moran, Jr. MD, 2050
8. Freddy Burt, MI, 1950
9. Vickie Nahas, MD, 1700

The 2012 STA-BIL Lawn & Garden Mower Racing Series and U.S. Open Racing Series Schedules are now available!

With stops in Florida, Oregeon, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, MOWhio and many points in between, the STA-BIL Series features sod-slinging action on riding lawn mowers with all cutting blades removed in ten 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. Click here to view the 2012 STA-BIL Lawn & Garden Mower Racing Series dates and locations!

As the USLMRA celebrates our 20th Year in 2012, we are proud to announce the formation of the U.S. Open Points Series. The goal is to continue to expand our appeal to more racers outside of the USLMRA and to continue to host U.S. Open events for USLMRA members and non-members to compete where they otherwise could not. Click here to view the 2012 U.S. Open Series dates and locations!

View USLMRA Local Chapters & Affiliated Clubs in a larger map

As many of you know, independent filmmaker Mike Ratel has been filming us for five years – 5 YEARS! – for his film project “On Your Mark, Get Set, Mow: A Tale of Hope, Redemption and Lawn Mower Racing.” As many of you also know, there is ongoing chatter questioning if Mike will ever finish his film! Mike is going to finish his film, and we the racing community, are going to help him!

Mike is launching a fundraising campaign via “Kickstarter” to help him achieve his goal of $2,500 to get the film completed.

As many of us also know, Mike has demonstrated his love for what we do by taking some really great photos of the racers and always offering them to the racers for free. Let him take you on a journey of the past five years of filming:

I really thought it was going to be a lot easier than this…

Several years ago a friend and I were returning from a Richmond Braves baseball game in Richmond, VA. My friend Will Clark, who I like to say lives in the “real Virginia”, told me that people raced lawn mowers. I immediately insisted that no one would do such a foolish thing and accused him of making up stories. I do not know if it was a year or two later but at some point I was at my desk while working for Verizon Business and that conversation popped into my head. I Googled “lawn mower racing” and mow and behold I saw that people did in fact race lawn mowers and it appeared to be quite organized. Having dreamt of making a film most of the my entire I thought here was my chance to join the ranks of the maverick indie filmmakers I had long admired. By that time I had had some of my photography published and had experience with super 8 and 16mm movies cameras both on my own and in a classroom setting. Additionally, starring as MC Mick Rat in Pat DiNizio’s King Leisure S.O.B. I gained valuable experience working on the set of a low budget independent feature film.

As soon as I discovered that lawn mower racing did indeed exist I made it my passion to learn all I could about the sport. I watched YouTube videos, I read the web sites, I joined the forums. The mow I learned about the sport the mow interested I became.

In the beginning I figured that I would hit a number of races, shoot some footage, put it together so that it made sense and in less than a year I am tossing back Bombay Sapphire martinis with Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival. Or so I thought.

A friend convinced me to upgrade my camera gear and by the time the 2008 season started I had bought a pro camera, pro mics, a tripod, and anything else I thought I needed for the film. I was at the height of my IT career. Life was good and so were the prospects for shooting my first film. I decided to follow a racer who was smart, funny, and well respected by his peers. At the end of the season I confirmed with the racer that he was going to be at a race 48 hours prior to making a 9-hour drive to the race. When I got there nothing could prepare me for the shock and disappointment when he told me that he was no longer interested in telling his story (to me anyway) and that he would have no time for me over the course of the weekend. Standing along and dejected in the pit area I saw that the Mikula family was there and realized that it was their story I should tell. I pitched the idea to them and they were on board instantly.

2009 was awesome in that I not only had a story but a very important one. The research and extra equipment I bought helped a great deal with the sound I was capturing. I interviewed Congressmen Bob Filner and started making connections with the Huntington’s disease professional community. I got a fair amount of media attention and I was using it to spread the word about HD and the wonderful community of lawn mower racers who do their part to raise research funds for it. This was getting far bigger than I had ever imagined. My parents expressed pride and told me that I was doing important work.

The season ended and I stepped up my efforts to return to the Information Technology world. I had a few interviews here and there but it seemed like they had a big pool of candidates to choose from. I had a steady photography client; I waited tables, and collected partial unemployment. 2010 saw hundreds of resumes sent that never got a response. I continued to live frugally, wait tables a few days a week, and shoot photos Saturday nights at a nightclub. I focused my attention on interviewing HD medical professionals and by the end of the year I had bugged Congressmen Peter Hoekstra’s office enough so that he visited the Mikulas at their shop, Four Seasons Yard & Sport, in Michigan to discuss HD. One of the family members called me and told me that I had 24 hours to get there if I wanted to film it. With barely any money I loaded my camera gear in the car and headed to Western Michigan. I drove straight through the night because I did not have enough money for even a room at the Motel 6. When I arrived at Four Seasons, Donna eagerly proclaimed, “My, you’re up early….” Instantly the look of concern came over her face when she concluded that I had not been to bed yet.

By the time 2011 arrived I had lots of great interview footage explaining what HD was and more lawn mower racing footage than I knew what to do with. I had cleaned out what was left of my 401K, gotten a Mac, and took a short class in Final Cut Pro. I had begun the time consuming process of looking through 100 hours of footage and saving anything that I could use to tell the story I wanted to tell. The going was very slow as my lack of success and lack of money was doing its part to rob me of enthusiasm for anything. The University of Maryland’s baseball stadium is 20 minutes away and even the underemployed can afford a $5 ticket every now and then. At that point I could really care less.

Late last summer I had a Mr. Mom/Michael Keaton moment and I was then determined to control the situation instead of allowing it to control me. I amped my efforts to find a job, started to get some exercise, and started moving all the footage I captured into a crude timeline in preparation for final editing. This past October I got back into the IT world (albeit at compensation far less than I was making before I was laid off) and started talking to my editor about finishing the film. He was booked for all of October but in November we started working my crude timeline into something that looked like a movie. The film has now been submitted to the 2012 DC Independent Film Festival and now we are scrambling to have it finished by late February.

It has not been easy but I am well aware of the fact that there are a lot of people who had it much worse.

I am glad that I did not keep track of what I spent on this project because I am sure that the numbers would scare me to death. For the money my parents have lent me I will be paying them back for the next couple of years. I am now asking your help to finish the film. Although there has been great progress there is still a lot of work be done. Please visit www.mowermovie.com and consider a donation to the postproduction fund. You can either enjoy a tax deduction or wonderful gifts.

Thanks for listening.

I support Mike’s effort and wish to see this film become reality. If we all “kick in” via Kickstarter, we can make it happen. $5.00, $10.00 would be awesome. Please consider supporting this project.

The first two races of the 2012 STA-BIL Lawn and Garden Mower Racing Series will take place at the Florida State Fair on Saturday and Sunday, February 18-19, 2012. Race time is 2:00-5:00 pm on Saturday and 11:00am-2:00pm on Sunday.

Fluid-Film will be Presenting Sponsor and will have giveaways for racers.

Race Location & Schedule

View USLMRA Local Chapters & Affiliated Clubs in a larger map

Saturday, February 18th

• Registration & Tech: 9:00-11:30
• Driver’s Meeting: 11:45
• Hot Laps (Mandatory): 12:15
• Heat Grid Racing: 1:00-2:00
• Finals / Trophy Racing Begins: 2:00

Sunday, February 19th

• Registration & Tech: 8:00-9:30
• Driver’s Meeting: 9:30
• Hot Laps (Mandatory): 9:45
• Heat / Grid Racing: 10:00-11:00
• Finals / Trophy Racing Begins: 11:00am

Click Here for Hotel Information &  More From Mr. MowItAll

STA-BIL Sunshine State Winter Nationals
By United States Lawn Mower Racing Association  |  View on Facebook

When: Feb 18 2:00pm - Feb 19 2:00pm

Where: Florida State Fairgrounds
4800 U.S. Highway 301 N, Tampa, Florida, United States

» View map

The STA-BIL Sunshine State Winter Nationals will feature sod-slinging action on riding lawn mowers with all cutting blades removed in ten 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 across the southeast will compete as will snow birds from Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio who need an excuse to take their racing mowers out of the shop before Spring.

Read mow: ... See full description

“Hedgehog Day”, Wednesday, February 1 broke cloudy, still and a warm 37 degrees in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, as the “Hedgehog,” lawn mower racer Mike Miller emerged from his burrow, the world waiting to see if he would see his shadow and to hear his prediction for the start of his first race of the 20th Anniversary STA-BIL® Lawn and Garden Mower Racing Series.

Miller then returned to his burrow, which also functions as his garage, and brought his souped up, 80-mph Factory Experimental racing mower, also named “Hedgehog” out for a few hot laps on the winter morning grass.

After slinging some sod, he turned to Bruce Kaufman, “Mr. Mow It All” U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association President to translate his prediction for when “The Hedgehog” will start his first race of the 20th Anniversary STA-BIL® Lawn and Garden Mower Racing Series. Spoken in “Mowerese” a language understood only by Mr. Mow It All, the news was shared with the world:

HERE YE, HERE YE!

On this winter morning I see,
No shadow lies near me.
So I shall bring out my mower to race,
On April Fool’s Day, to set the pace.
My bladeless wonder “HEDGEHOG” will soar,
To speeds of 60 mph – or more.
20 years of kickin’ grass,
Now, out of my way and let me pass!

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,” added Kaufman. “It is only fitting that we present our first Hedgehog Day as part of our 20th Anniversary. Since the “Hedgehog” did not see shadow, he will leave his burrow on April Fool’s Day, the 20th birthday of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association to begin his racing season. If the “Hedgehog” saw his shadow, he would have returned 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.”

Also like the famous mowtivated mammal that emerges in February, Hedgehog has its own “elixir of life,” HEET Gas-Line Antifreeze 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 removes water from the fuel system to prevent gas-line freeze-up and harmful rust and corrosion. Miller also uses Iso-HEET 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.