Feel free to copy and paste these to any of your local newspapers. All you need to do is add your hometown, and it's good to go. Or should be.
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ Billed by many to be the best mower racing contest
ever, the third annual All-American Mower Championship provided just that
with two solid days of racing.
The horsepower thundered through the straight pipes and echoed off the
autumn-shaded hills, breathing unadulterated power to the sleepy valley
setting.
George Herrin, founder of the event and promoter, had mixed feelings
following the race weekend.
³It¹s nice to have the biggest show in the United States,² Herrin said.
³But it¹s a lot of work, and by all the talk, it¹s only going to get
bigger.²
Hosted by the Scenic City Lawn Mower Racing Association at Barry
Goodner¹s Goodner Power Equipment, haulers, trailers, trucks and cars filled
the two-acre pasture, loaded with mowers and looking for competitive racing
at the Savannah Valley Speedway.
That¹s exactly what was delivered.
So many mowers RSVPed, and consequently arrived, that Herrin himself
didn¹t even race in the features on Sunday.
³That¹s just way too many mowers for me to actually race,² Herrin, of
Hohenwald, Tenn., said. ³I would have like too, but we needed help flagging
and making sure things ran smooth, so I just sat back and watched on
Sunday.²
Scored by Kerry Evans, of EOP Timing, helped quite a bit in the surety
of the weekend. Even still, a few instances arose which had to be settled.
³That¹s just part of the deal,² Herrin said. ³That¹s the competition of
it. Guys think they finished a little better than they did, or had questions
with different things, so I just didn¹t race.
³I turned some laps on Friday and raced in the heat races on Saturday ‹
I even changed the venting on the carburetor of my Super Modified Twin
Saturday night, but the bottom line is I just didn¹t have enough in me to
run on Sunday.²
That didn¹t stop the other 154 from putting on a good show that the
spectators enjoyed.
The event, in past always sponsored by the local club, may undergo a
little facelift for future shows.
³It¹s getting to where it¹s almost too big,² Herrin said. ³Barry¹s got a
great track, but we can barely fit everyone in there, and if it gets much
bigger, we may have to move it to Stephensville, Georgia.²
The event drew racers from as far away as Western Kansas and from
Canada.
³This has grown more than I would have imagined,² Herrin said. ³There¹s
no governing sanction, just a bunch of guys with mowers built for similar
classes, running just to run.
³That¹s what makes it so fun.²
There is even talk about opening up another stock class for the 2010
show.
Canadians enjoy All-American
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ Even though they didn't win the long-haul award, they
were the only group to require a travel Visa to race in the All-American
Mower Championship.
While three racers made the trek to the hills of Southern Tennessee, all
three took away several lessons from the trip.
Gary Anger, pilot of the No.99 Outlaw Twin, said it was the first time
he'd experienced "that much of the USA.
"The hospitality, on and off the track, as well as the locals, was
great," Anger said. "Great racers, great crews. I felt right at home. And,
the dinner Saturday was some darn-good eatin'!"
The Western Ontario Outlaws, several dozen in strength, put on a good
show racing against several like-powered American machines, proving that
there is no exchange rate for speed.
"My mower stacked up well ... until it broke in the feature," Rob Arnel,
driver and builder of the No. 29 said. "Our trip was still awesome. It was
just like a big, extended racing family."
Shane Ross, driver of the No. 17, said, "The hospitality we received was
awesome! We met a lot of cool people at the track and continued to talk
trash and mowers back at the hotel with other racers.
"The highlight for me was the entire trip. Getting away and having a
great time with friends is always best spent in a dust cloud with exhaust
fumes and your ears pounding from the camshafts in all the mowers."
All three said they're coming back for the fifth annual All-American,
and all are going to try to recruit fellow Canadians for a better showing.
"It's like they say, the 'mower' the merrier!" Anger said. "I'm telling
people alla bout it to get as many racers out there as we can to make the
show bigger and better."
Ross, likewise, plans on returning, but, "I plan on returning to the All
American, but with an outlaw engine to make myself more comparable in the
horsepower department and hopefully returning to Canada with a big stack of
trophies!"
Pure stocks
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ Four-of-five Kids Stock Mowers took the green for the
All American Mower Championship.
The abbreviated pure-stock feature found Hunter Cannon, pilot of the H60
machine, walking away from the field on his ride.
Cannon beat Kalya Sanders, driver of the No. 11, Bobby Pruit, driver of
the No.40 and Robbie Murphy, driver of the No. 20, for the feature win.
Jimmy Massingale did not start the feature, but did record heat-race
laps.
Just two adults took to the class in the Adult Stock class.
Brian Smith, of Alabama, and Charles McCar, of Tennessee, put on a
couple laps of gamesmanship before Smith, driver of the No.11, pushed just
enough gas through the stock throttle for the feature win.
Herrin Kids Stock
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ Tennessee¹s Jacob Herrin took the championship on his
Kids Super Stock No. 6, and with the feature win, took home an extra prize.
Joe Whiteside donated a brand new Baja Minibike for the winner.
³It¹s pretty cool,² Herrin said. ³I haven¹t ridden it yet (said Sunday
after the race) because Dad¹s been driving it around the pits trying to
track people down.²
Herrin had the field covered for the 30-lap show, and turned in a
race-winning time of 13:22 and a quick lap of :19.004.
Herrin said he had a little left in the tank, but didn¹t want to cover
the field too thoroughly.
³I got the inside line early, and put some distance on everybody,² he
said. ³I let off the gas a couple times.²
Darrell Dean, driver of the No. 28, finished second, followed by Jacob
Carady on the 35T, Jimmy Massingale on the 19 and John Bell on the J02.
Kalye Sanders finished sixth on the No. 11 machine, followed by Ethan
Anderson on the No. 32.
Anderson turned in the fastest lap of the day with a blistering lap of
18.824.
Herrin, who was never really contested in the feature, finished second
in the heat race.
But the winning machine didn¹t have the proper gear ratio, and the
rev-limit was above the margin for error, sending it to the rear of the
field.
Super Stock feature
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ First-through-third positions were separated by just
one-half of a second, and the top eight broken apart by three seconds in the
always-entertaining Super Stock class.
When the dust ‹ and rubbing ‹ settled, Pennsylvania¹s Cory Helser found
victory lane with his No. 113. Charles McCar finished in second, followed by
Brian Smith, Ronnie Sowers and Brantley Bell, rounding out the top five.
McCar, Larry Hogan, Smith and Bell broke away from the field in the
early stages. Sowers, though, began reeling in the leaders, and bringing
Tony Hinson on the 16H and Kevin Pierachini along in the chase of the
leaders.
Halfway through the feature, McCar set the point, followed by Hogan,
Smith, Bell, Sowers, Pierachini, Helser and Tony Hinson.
On lap 23, McCar and the leaders hit lap traffic.
McCar stuck to the bottom, and the outside line took hold as Smith went
to the point with five laps to go, followed by Pierachini, Helser and McCar.
After a subtle use of the front fender, McCar muscled his way back to
the point with two laps to go.
More lap traffic greeted the lead machines, and in a jumbled mess,
the group of pace-setters crossed the finish line.
No checker flag was awarded for a victory lap, but the sure-thing
scoring of Kerry Evans and the EOP Timing System gave the win to Helser.
McCar finished second.
Ronnie Hendon, driver of the No.54, set the fast lap of the day with a
time of :18.738.
Race time was just under 10 minutes with Helser setting the standard
with 9:51.587. McCar finished with 9:51.969 and Smith with a time of
9:52.009.
Pierachini flies in
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ All-American Mower Championship promoter George
Herrin told California¹s Kevin Pierachini if ³Chini² made the trip to
Tennessee, Herrin would find a seat for him.
Little did Chini know it would be on Jake Herrin¹s Super Stock.
³There for a while, I was up toward the front, and thought I might have
even led once,² the Bakersfield, Cali. driver said. ³Man, that was worth the
trip just in itself.²
Herrin said, ³He did OK for his first time out. He struggled a little
bit figuring out the gears, but once he got that right, he drove it pretty
well.²
Watching anxiously along the sidelines was the Jake, the mower¹s owner
and who piloted the same machine to the Kids Super Stock win.
³He brought it back in one piece, so that¹s good,² Jake said.
Chini finished seventh in the feature, 1.328-seconds off the winning
time. He posted a fast lap of 18.959 on the No. 6 machine.
³I¹ll definitely be back,² Chini said. ³This was a great weekend.²
MiniSportsman feature
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ Pole-sitter for the Mini Sportsman feature Terry
Cawady had a fuel issue, handing the lead over to Tennessee¹s Amy Goodner at
the drop of the green flag.
Adam Rogers fell in line on the 072, followed by Cory Helser, Joshua
Myers and Cassy Beavers.
By lap five, Rogers was breathing down the neck of Goodner¹s No. 77, and
executed a pass on the sweeping-lefthander down the backstretch.
Rogers, from Virginia, opened up a sizeable lead over the next 20 laps,
but over the last five, Goodner began to close the gap on the leader.
By the checkers, she ran out of time, though, as Rogers claimed the
feature win with a time of 7:24.112.
Goodner finished 1.279 seconds off the pace with Myers, of Alabama,
finishing a lap down. Beavers rounded out the running finishers in fourth.
Helser and Cawady did not finish the race.
Rogers posted the fast lap time at Savannah Valley Speedway¹s .111-mile
clay oval with a speedy time of 12.856.
Brown covers field
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ USLMRA champion Jason Brown, from Maryland, had the
dominant mower most of the day in the Sportsman feature, and fended off a
hard-charging James Thomas for the checkers at the All-American Mower
Championship
The road to the checkers wasn¹t smooth-shifting, though ... literally.
At the drop of the green, and with 16 other eager machines hot in his
tire tracks, according to Brown, ³goofed up.
³I missed a shift right at the start, and man, it seemed like everybody
passed me,² Brown said.
The slight goof gave the lead to Thomas, but by lap five, Brown was
following in the tire tracks of Thomas.
Brown made a bold move heading into turn one, arguable the choppiest
part of the track.
Brown two-wheeled it, leaned briefly on the machine of Todd Mobley,
before correcting and setting sail for the point.
³I got a little excited and drove it in a little deep,² Brown said. ³I
was able to utilize the inside line for most of the race, and that seemed to
be where my motor was hooking up the best.²
Brown wrestled the lead away on lap six, and checked out, lapping the
majority of the field.
A caution slowed the field late in the race, but Brown got a solid
restart this time, hitting the right gear and holding off Thomas for the All
American win.
³These are the best drivers, there¹s no doubt about that,² Brown said.
³This is the best of the best.
³But everybody raced clean even though there were so many of us out
there.²
Brown¹s machine is sponsored by STA-BIL, ShopCove Ice, Gibson
Construction, Accofree Development and S&J Heating and Air.
Ronnie Smith finished third, followed by Ronnie Sowers in fourth and
Brantley Bell in fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 were: David Balderson, Derrek palmer, Mobey,
Erick Babcock and Benare Davie.
Wrapping up the field: Danny Dupepe, Jon Lewman, Jake Blackburn, Bill
Bets, Cotton Harris, Nic Murphy and Scott Hawkins.
VanCannon's dominance
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ A pair of red flags, including one that sent the
Michael Formentini¹s Deep South Racing machine through the spectator fence,
cast just a little bit of a shadow on a dominant run by Jake VanCannon on
his Crouch-built machine out of North Carolina.
An early-race red found three mowers tangled when Tim Jerby (11x) and
Adam Miller tangled in turns one and two.
³I looked up, and there was just nowhere to go,² Jerby said during a
Facebook interview. ³I¹m surprised I didn¹t break the steering wheel I was
hanging on so tight.²
But other than a busted light housing, the Jerby machine continued.
By that time, the Rusty Moosbrugger machine and Formentini got out
front.
But a spirited drive by VanCannon found the No. 10 machine quickly at
the front.
A caution slowed the race on lap 10, and on the ensuing restart,
Formentini¹s machine broke free, sailing off the straight-away at Savannah
Valley Speedway and through the vinyl fence at the end of it.
No spectators were injured. Neither was Formentini.
A restart with nine to go found VanCannon in control, holding off
Charles Ford (3.134-seconds back), Adam Rogers (6.848-seconds back), Todd
Mobley (-1 lap)and Jim Klauss (-1 lap).
Zach Dean finished sixth. Jerby rebounded from the early-race eviction
from his mower to finish seventh. Derrek Palmer finished eighth, followed by
Will Dean and Adam Miller rounding out the top 10.
Other finishers: Kevin Furguson, Ralph Trent, Jim Klauss, Jr.,
Formentini, Larry Benning, Eddie Elliott, Rusty Moosbrugger, Mike Gentry,
Robert Shov and Ed Gallant.
Poole makes splash
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ North Carolina drivers ruled the roost at the All
American Mower Championships at Savannah Valley Speedway with a savvy Ohio
pilot in the mix.
The Super Sportsman class thundered onto the track in the fullest field
of the day.
The 20-machine feature ‹ with 16 taking the green, found Rockingham,
North Carolina¹s Chris Poole taking the point, followed by Russel Crouch,
Chuck Miller and Rex Crouch, Jr.
Poole¹s Mike¹ Dyno Tuned machine set the pace early and often, backing
up his heat-race win with a strong showing in the feature.
Attrition, though, slowly became a factor as motors began to expire.
Poole¹s motor held serve, though. A late-race caution bunched the pack,
and on the green, Chuck Miller, a USLMRA Hall of Fame member, timed the
green perfectly and hung his 104-Octane machine on the outside, getting
enough of a run to slingshot past the Russel Crouch machine.
Miller, though, couldn¹t reel in Poole, who set the pace for the rest of
the race, posting a winning time of 11:31.954. Miller finished second,
1.159-seconds off the pace, followed by Russell Crouch, Rex Crouch, Jake
VanCannon and Jason Brown all on the lead lap.
Brown earned the feature run by winning the B Main.
VanCannon set the quick time of the race, turning a :13.039 around the
.111-oval.
³Man, I¹m exhausted,² Poole said. ³That¹s a race of endurance of both
machine and driver.
³I went out there and thought if I could hold the bottom, I¹d be OK.
³I went out on that first lap and about got bucked off, but everybody
was racing on the same course.
³What a good weekend though. To win here is just awesome,² Poole said.
Finishing seventh was Jeff Crouch, followed by Josh Raines, Daniel
Crouch and Rusty Moosbrugger.
Rounding out the field: Jesse Suddard, Darrell Sullivan, Rex Crouch, Lee
Poole, David Balderson, David Poole, George Herrin, Adam Rogers, Michael
Formentini and Johnny Brewer. The last four on the list did not start the
feature.
B Main finishers were: Brown, Josh Raines, Jim Sparshoh, Carla Lawrence,
Brian Smith, Mike Gentry, Tyler Cromwell, Larry Benning, Marc Baker and
Larry Hogan.
Ruehmkorf delivers
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
OOLTEWAH, TENN. ‹ As soon as the 007, Bill McCammon-built machine rolled
off the trailer, driver Delaney Ruehmkorf, of Mobile, Ala., began the
cat-and-mouse games.
Sporting a ³Superman² stocking cap, Ruehmkorf frequently visited the
east end of the parking facility at Savannah Valley Speedway, letting his
presence be known to race director George Herrin, who normally pilots a
Hitch-built Snapper in that class.
The two jawed at intervals throughout the weekend until Herrin pulled
out of the feature competitions due to his responsibilities are race
director.
With nobody to jostle, Ruehmkorf set the standard in the Pro-X feature.
Ruehmkorf lapped the field once, and dang-near twice had it not been for
a broken kill-switch cap that was fixed under a late-race caution en route
to the feature win and the ³fastest flathead single here,² he said.
Ruehmkorf beat Jim Klauss (03) by .221, who finished second, and Jason
Bennett (98) by .865 and Wyatt Sowers (112) by 1.300.
Junior White, Tony Hinson, Ronnie Blurkison and Carey Hulett rounded out
the finishers.
³When my kill switch broke, I had to pass them all again,² Ruehmkorf
said. ³It was a rough track, but that ole¹ 11-horse Briggs did OK, today.²
Ruehmkorf did set the fast time for the race with a time pf 12.965,
setting the standard at 30.752 miles-per-hour.
The 007, with parts coming from E.C. Distributing and MAC Racing, is a
member of the Dixie Outlaws, and, as Ruehmkorf said, ³Alabama now holds the
fastest single-cylinder flathead. Make sure that gets in the story.²
Crouch takes outlaw
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
Russell Crouch¹s tricked out Single Outlaw found its way to the front
early and fought of a run by Charles Ford to win the All American title.
Crouch¹s No. 98 rocket had the second-quickest time behind Ford, but was
still able to cling to a .166-margin of victory.
David Balderson finished third, followed by Jim Klauss, Jr., Zach Dean,
Ed Galant and Adam Miller.
Mike Klauss, Will Dean and Robert Ginn took the green but didn¹t finish.
George herrin, Ronnie Sowers, Wyatt Sowers, Clay Dean, J. Mccammon and
Chris Norman did not start the race.
Crouch dominates twin
By Michael Turner
Mowmentum Editor
Rex Crouch Jr.¹s No. 10 twin lived up to its billing, besting the field
in the Outlaw Twins and the Super Modified classes.
Crouch won by 2.31 seconds over Drew Terry and Canadians Gary Anger and
Shane Ross to post the win.
Mike Bell finished fifth, followed by Warran Thing, Matt Hewett, J.
McCammon, Chris Norman, Rob Arnel and John Smith.
In the Super Mod class, mechanical failures eliminated half the field,
but Crouch still had the machine to beat.
After building a sizeable lead, Crouch fought off an advance from Matt
Hewett to win by .940.
Crouch set the hottest lap in both races.
Jeanie Riley finished third, followed by Carey Hulett on a
George-Herrin-built mower and Tyler Cromwell.
Hulett ‹ aka Hitch ‹ subbed for Herrin who opted out to fulfill his
duties as Race Director.
³I drove the wheels off that modified,² Hitch said.
And that he did.
Exiting turn one, the No. 6 machine sheared it¹s wheel hub, sending the
tire bounding into the spectators at the end of the track.
Nobody was hurt during the incident.
And you can take my byline off of them.
I'm notorious enough without being published in other papers. Although if you want to send me a copy of it, it is neat to see other publications!
Aaron
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