When Eddy Akin of Prescott heard that there were tractor races going on at Hope, he had an image in mind.
“I expected to see a bunch of country boys who had pulled off blades and were running around a track,” he said. “It wasn’t like that but I was intrigued.”
Scott Bittle of Hope, who is also fairly new to the sport of lawn mower racing, said he wasn’t exactly certain what to expect either. Bittle goes a little farther and admits that he was immediately addicted.
“I went home and got my camera,” he said.
He took photos of every aspect of the mowers, gathered up what information he could and went home to build his own. With a mower completed and the race waiting, Bittle faced a problem.
His first mower wouldn’t start.
Not willing to give up, he took the mower to Jonesboro where he said he was complimented on the effort. When Bittle told the other racers it wouldn’t start, they immediately pitched in and helped him find the problem.
“I raced that day,” Bittle recalled during a recent interview. “I lost, but I raced.”
Both Akin and Bittle say that this attitude among the racers is a major part of their choice to remain involved.
“Those people didn’t know me,” Bittle said, referring to that first race.
Akin said that the same is true anyting someone has problems on the track.
“Everybody pitches in when one of us breaks down on the track,” Akin said. “We love racing but we love to see everybody else race.”
Bittle won Rookie of the Year from the Lone Star Lawn Mower Racing Association in 2007, a title that Akin took the following year when Bittle moved on to take some additional titles.
The two now travel together, mainly in Texas, where they participate in races on a regular basis. The difference is that these days, both Akin and Bittle are typically in the running for the top slots.
Lawn mower racing has gained in popularity over recent years. There are two accepted national organizations for those involved in the business. Both Bittle and Akin are members of the United States Lawn Mower Racing Association. The second is the American Law Mower Racing Association.
Like stock car, motorcross and even Nascar, there are rules dictating all aspects of the machine and the racing, including engine size and modifications, safety equipment and operation. Mowers are inspected prior to each race to ensure compliance. The mowers have no decks or blades.
“They’re not really lawn mowers,” Akin said, though there’s a joke about tying piano strings to the underside of the mower so that they could cut the grass while trying out the mowers.
“There are a lot of jokes,” Bittle said.
Among those jokes is that “It’s not Nascar, it’s Grasscar.” Many of the racers use a play on words for their racing nicknames. For example, one of the members is known as “Sir Lawns A Lot.”
Bittle has a Murray widebody mower with a 14.5 horsepower overhead valve engine. Akin is running “a little old flat head” 12 horsepower engine. Both Bittle and Akin use some go-cart parts including rims. Both mowers will travel at something near 65 miles per hour on an open track.
All racers are required to wear all the safety gear a stock car or motorcross racer would wear, including helmets, boots, gloves and neck braces. A collision or accident on a lawn mower traveling at 65 miles per hour can be serious.
Bittle’s wife, Michelle, said it can also be painful.
Scott Bittle is currently in a seven-way tie for the “topsy-turvy” award. That award, according to the Lone Star Lawn Mower Racing Association’s Web site, is given to the racer who puts their mower “dirty side up” most often.
Practice time is somewhat limited and can be an important education.
“You get five hot laps and you better know how to drive it by then,” Bittle said.
The secret to winning, according to Bittle, has a lot to do with strategy.
Both Bittle and Akin are listed at the top of their respective classes in the Lone Star Lawn Mower Racing Association’s 2009 season stats, earning them a spot on Pink’s All Out, a television show focusing on racing. The Pinks film crew tagged Akin and Bittle as part of the “dream team” of lawn mower racing. The filmed segment is due to air later this summer. This, according to the Lone Star LMRA site, was history because it was the first time mowers had been on the track at Ennis, Texas, and the first time the machines had been featured by Pinks.
The next race will be on April 11 in Longview, Texas, with the next slated for April 25 in Graham, Texas.
Bittle said the racers travel almost anywhere in the region in order to race and enjoy the time with other racers. Both said they want to see increases in membership and some additional cities willing to host races. Races are typically held on oval dirt tracks. For more information, visit the Lone Star site at www.lsmra.com or call Akin at 887-2414.
Prescott, Ark. —
