Ride On Mowers

The Ride On

Although made to make mowing lawns of larger sizes easier some bright spark decided that the Ride On Lawn Mower would make an excellent machine for Motorsport.

Started in the UK, with followings in USA and Aussie this is how Wikipedia says it all started.

Just a note before we insert this , Pop doesn't condone the unauthorised use of Ride On's by Kiwis's there serious machines for serious blokes and shelia's!

In the United KingdomThe sport was independently invented in 1973 in The Cricketers Arms pub in Wisborough Green – not far from the town of Horsham) in West Sussex, England, UK – by a group of young men bemoaning the prohibitive costs of getting involved in any kind of motorsport. They formed the British Lawn Mower Racing Association[1] and shortly afterwards, the North West Lawn Mower Racing Association was formed [2]

[edit]In the United StatesThe Twelve Mile 500 is a lawn mower race held in the small town of Twelve Mile, Indiana, organized by the Twelve Mile Lions Club and occurring annually on Independence Day. The tradition began in 1963 as a race for factory-built mowers with their mowing decks removed but in 1996 split into a two-race event with one for four-cycle Briggs lawn mowers and another for modified mowers. The race adopted the "Grand Prix" style in 1970 and has been held in Plank Hill Park ever since. The race structure has once again changed with the addition of another race. The 2010 race included a superstock race inadditon to the briggs ad modified races. The Twelve Mile 500 consists of a 15-mile, 60-lap course run on a quarter-mile track in the park, with a maximum of 33 entrants per race. Each participating team consists of a driver, a two-person pit crew and a lap judge, and must meet a speed of approximately 30 mph to qualify.

[edit]In the United StatesThe sport was taken to the United States by the makers of a petrol stabiliser called Sta-bil, who had visited the UK and witnessed a race meeting. It has since grown to have multiple national organizations, including the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association and the American Racing Mower Association.

Lawnmower racing should not be confused with go-karting, wherein lawn mower engines have often been used, especially amongst the amateur participants in go-karting. Lawn mower racing is based firmly around the use of both engines and chassis from regular model mowers. Also, where go-karts are exclusively raced on relatively flat surfaces, lawn mowers can be raced off-road.

[edit]In North CarolinaSince the summer of 1984, the North Wilkesboro Rotary Club has played host to lawnmower racing at its Wilkes County Agricultural Fairground facility. Sanctioned by the Allegheny Mower Racing Association,[3] oval track racing on the dirt is reminiscent of the beginnings of stock car racing at the North Wilkesboro Speedway and the birth of NASCAR. Crowds have grown from a few hundred to gatherings of thousands on several Saturday nights from June through September. The Wilkes County fairground site is said by many participants to be the premier facility within the AMRA circuit.

Proceeds from the club's lawnmower racing events are distributed throughout the year to the many activities supported by the North Wilkesboro Rotary Club. The club contributes to most local United Way agencies, provides annual scholarships to local high school students, holds a Christmas Party for the county's foster children, while also supporting worldwide relief efforts of Rotary International.

[edit]In AustraliaAustralia's first mower race was dreamt up in a small, country pub in Harrietville, Victoria in 1978. Five men challenged each other to a race around the local hills of the area after an alcohol-related argument. They chugged up the steep slopes belching smoke from their unmodified Briggs & Strattons (popular lawnmower brands), rounded a nominated gum tree, then flew down in "Angel Gear" – Australian outback slang for neutral – to the finish line. "Half the town's 100 people, 300 sheep and 150 dogs were there," according to Brian Ross, six-time president of the Australian Ride-On Lawn Mower Racing Association (AROLMRA),[4] the biggest lawn mower racing club in Australia. AROLMRA has over 100 members and a large following in Victoria, and all over Australia. It holds between eight and ten races a year. The majority of races are held to raise money for the local Country Fire Authority, which is a volunteer fire service.

There are also lawn mower racing clubs in the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Nowra. The first ever national race between all the clubs was held in Dubbo NSW on May 16, 2009.