http://www.highlandstoday.com/hi/news/lawn-mower-racing-season-starts-saturday-20160909/ NASGRASS: Lawn mower-racing season starts Saturday
BY TONY JUDNICH
Highlands Today
Published: September 9, 2016
AVON PARK — An improved race track and children’s playground, a display of an historic, racing riding mower and a dedicated track for kids driving toy vehicles are some of the new additions at the Avon Park Mower-Plex, where the 2016-17 racing season roars to life on Saturday.
The facility is operated by the North American Society of Grass Racers and Sod Slingers (NASGRASS), which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The nonprofit organization began conducting races in 2002 at the Mower-Plex, which is at 2155 W. Herrick Road, on the west end of Avon Park Municipal Airport.
The racing season features competitions for trophies on the second Saturday of each month from September through May. About 100-150 people usually attend each event at the Mower-Plex, NASGRASS President and Lakeland businessman Wes Pyburn said Thursday.
“It’s all volunteers,” he said of NASGRASS. “We all do this for fun and try to make a nice, swift, smooth show. It’s a good time.”
On opening night this Saturday, the gates to the grandstands will open at 5 p.m. Fans can also bring their own chairs. Admission is $7 per adult, while children ages 10 and younger get in free. A pit pass costs $10.
A parking area for disabled people is situated immediately adjacent to the racetrack, allowing them to watch the action from their vehicles.
For the new season, new clay has been placed on the oval-shaped racetrack, where some of the open-wheeled mowers have reached speeds of up to 65 mph.
“We have better clay this year; it’s stickier and harder, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them get up to 70 mph,” said Pyburn, who has been racing riding mowers for about a decade.
In celebration of NASGRASS’s 30th anniversary, officials plan to sell commemorative T-shirts, and an original racing riding mower will be on display at the track on Saturday.
“It was one of the original machines. It was built more than 25 years ago,” Pyburn said. “We’ll also have our show mower that we use for displays. It shows how the sport has evolved over the years.”
About 40 drivers compete in the races at the Mower-Plex. Each racer pays a $45 annual membership fee, as well as a $20 entry fee for each race.
“We’re a nonprofit club, so the members own the club,” Pyburn said.
Like Pyburn, most of the members are from the Lakeland area.
“They’re mostly old-timers who have been around awhile and helped grow the races,” he said. “We haven’t had anyone on the inside to grow it locally, and it’s just taken time for Highlands County to learn about us and get the word out. We attend events like (Avon Park’s) Christmas on the Mall, and I hear so many people say, ‘I’ve been here all my life and I didn’t know (the Mower-Plex) existed.’ But that’s changing now.
“For this season, we have a lot more local sponsors and a lot more local interest, which has been really good,” Pyburn said.
He’s also happy to announce that, starting Saturday, children will be able to race their Power Wheels, or battery operated vehicles, on a special track at the Mower-Plex. They’ll be required to wear helmets and shoes.
“We’ll let the kids race during intermission,” Pyburn said. “They’ll have their own permanent track, right off of turn four” of the main track.
The lawn mower races on the main track will feature eight classes of mowers, including a kids class with drivers who are ages 8-16.
“We start out with slower classes,” Pyburn said. “Everyone runs a 10-lap heat race, then we build up to the 20-lap feature event.”
During the races, fans will be able to visit a food vendor who sells items such as chicken fingers, french fries, hamburgers and hot dogs. The vendor sometimes adds specialty items like barbecue nachos and Philly cheese steak sandwiches to the menu, and during the colder months he offers homemade chili, Pyburn said.
“It’s a family outing,” he said about each race night. “We gear it a lot to the kids, and we have giveaways of T-shirts, hats and stickers.”
Anna Marie Feeney, who spearheads Christmas on the Mall and other major local events, sings the national anthem at the start of each race night. She is entering her fourth season at the Mower-Plex.
“I’ve been dubbed ‘the Voice of NASGRASS’ because I sing the anthem at all the races,” she said. “They bring all the drivers out, do the invocation, and right after that I sing the national anthem.”
Feeney encourages anyone who has children to attend the races and enjoy the family atmosphere at the racetrack, where the souped-up mowers are like “a bunch of small cars making a lot of noise. Kids love it.”
This past July, the Avon Park City Council approved a new five-year lease agreement with NASGRASS for the Mower-Plex site. In the agreement, which took effect Aug. 1 and expires July 31, 2021, NASGRASS will pay the city $1,200 annually.
tjudnich@highlandstoday.com
(863) 386-5855
NASGRASS Contact Info
Wes Pyburn
863-581-6381
pyburn1212@gmail.com
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