The instant Mr. Bohlman crossed the line, his mower threw a rear wheel. He seemed to hover there spread-eagled, then landed on his side in the dirt. Ashen and aching, he walked away. Like stock car racing, a decades-old institution in many suburban and rural communities, lawn mower racing is becoming a regular sport. Local newspapers report the results.
Local businesses sponsor many of the racers.
Evidently starting in the late 1980's as a Fourth of July event on wide subdivision streets, contenders are now organizing circuits, scheduling weekend races town to town. Donald Gienger, a machinist at an Ingersoll-Rand factory in Bismarck, formed the North Dakota Lawn Mower Racing Association only last year. He drew six drivers to its first race, in Mandan. Thirty racers have signed up for one on July 4 in Wildrose, N.D., population 193. Other circuits have formed in Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington State and upstate New York.