An event that originated in the UK, Lawn Mower racing is a very popular kind of diy motorsport that has events all over the US, the UK, and even in Australia. Lawn Mower races are exactly as they sound. Racers have to use mowers that are self propelling, and can make any modifications to the vehicle as long as the parts used were initially sold for the purpose of mowing lawns. That said, the mower must also remain able to mow lawns though they take the blades off during races for safety.
Where Did It Start?
Lawn mower racing was first recorded in the UK to raise money for Lancashire cricket member Ken Higgs’s benefit fund. After that, a group of guys were sitting at a bar complaining about how expensive it is to get into motorsports when one of them realized that everyone has a lawn mower. Why not just race those? Thus they formed the British Lawn Mower Racing Association and organized a race at a local venue. Around 80 people showed up to the first race so they continued setting up events. The types of events vary from speed to endurance to relays, but the biggest thing that stays constant across the board is that the goal behind racing is keeping costs to a minimum. Lawn mower racing isn’t about who has the most money, it’s about who does the best spending the least possible.
How Did It Get Here?
The makers of a company called Sta-bil went to one of the races in the UK and decided to bring it back to the United States with them as a means to promote their product. They created the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association and eventually as that grew, smaller organizations formed within it. The first official race here was an April Fools’ Day promotional campaign for their fuel stabilizer. A small town in Indiana holds Grand Prix style races to celebrate Independence Day dividing the race up into three smaller races. These include Briggs Lawn Mowers, Modified Lawn Mowers, and Super Stock Lawn Mowers. This was to make sure that the people racing were racing alongside mowers that were similarly built to their own. With Briggs mowers, you didn’t really need to adjust them, they were good as they came. In the modified bracket, you could really fine tune anything about your mower. What a lot of people did is they’d take the mower’s they had at home and swap out the engine for a better mower’s engine rather than buying a whole new lawn mower. Remember that the important thing about lawn mower racing is that it isn’t supposed to be expensive. Even the prizes aren’t for money, but for trophies. Any money is split between the racers for gas and other expenses.
Fifty years later and still going strong, lawn mower racing is a tradition that isn’t going anywhere any time soon. If you find yourself racing some mowers with your buddies, swing by the shop and we’ll help you get the perfect first place trophy made up for you!