This year, the National Championships of Lawn Mower Races will be broadcast on television. On Monday, Sept. 29 the national races will be aired by the Outdoor Channel available on Metrocast Cable and Direct TV.
The races will feature two local Lawn Mower Racers: Wally Bender from Bryantown and Jason Brown of Clements. The broadcasts will air each Monday at 4 pm, 7 pm and 1 am. Interested viewers should check local listings for dates and times in their area.
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| Lawnmower races are fun for drivers and spectators. |
Brown has only been racing for a few years, after a group of local business owners got the idea to set up a team while watching the races at Bowles Farm in Clements. “A couple local business people bought a lawn mower a couple of years ago and somehow it worked out that I ended up driving it,” said Brown.
There are several different classes in the races, determined by the modifications on the mowers. The S/P class is defined as mowers with valve-in block single cylinder four stroke engines with over 8.5hp. S/P class mowers must have 39 inch minimum unaltered wheelbase with a minimum of five inches for the front wheels and eight inches for the rear wheels.
Brown drives an MTD which is lowered, made a little wider and has had a lot of engine work done.
“It is exciting to race,” said Bender. Bender races 3 mowers; a late ‘80s model MTD in the S/P class, an ’81 Huffy in the A/P class and a mower in the IMOW class. The IMOW class is different from others because the mowers are all pretty much alike. “That’s kind of a driver’s race,” explained Bender.