Mowing down the competition

Brian Gilpin of Scott City led the pack and won the heat in the modified class at the lawn mower races in Commerce, Mo., on Saturday. (Fred Lynch) [Click to enlarge]

COMMERCE, Mo. -- It was all about speed and power at the lawn mower races held at the river's edge at Commerce on Saturday.

About 100 spectators and racers showed up for the race, rescheduled after being rained out at the town's annual Floodfest.

Some of the 15 entrants in Saturday's race belong to the SEMOW Lawnracers Inc. club while others are just starting out.

Chad Stull, 17, of Scott City, debuted with his 10-horsepower Craftsman, painted green for the John Deere appeal, just for fun. His mower, named "Been There Cut That," lost a little power in the preliminary race, but Stull was not concerned with figuring out why right away. He was too excited watching the other racers going up on two wheels as they sped around the corners of the 200-yard banked track.

Participants kept safety in mind. The mowers have front bumpers and roll bars covered with Styrofoam. Riders wear helmets, and the maximum speed on the track is about 35 mph.

Mark Kelsay of Jackson has been racing for two years. He checked out his racers just before the event, tinkering with the brakes. He came equipped with two mowers, Lefty 1 and Lefty 2. The carbeuretor starting spitting out on Lefty 2 during the heats. Lefty 1, a combination of four or five mowers, is also known as Frankenstein. It began as a Murray, but Kelsay did some internal engine modification and timing advancement.

Kelsay said he finds the sport exciting. "In the springtime I put in maybe 20 hours a week getting them ready," he said.

"Some of these guys race stock cars, but for a lot of them it's a pretty inexpensive hobby," said Conley Laster, an organizer of the event who lives just outside of Commerce. "We'd like to have more races, maybe one a month."

There were three races for each class of horsepower -- 12.5 horsepower and less, 13 horsepower and up. All were single-cylinder machines with stock engines and stock transmissions.