The Lawnmower Men

MOSES LAKE - People call him Groundhog because he was born on Groundhog Day - February 2.

You might also call him a "Lawnmower Man" because he races lawnmowers. And he doesn't just race them himself - he helps other people race them, too.

Groundhog was born Lloyd Crouse and he's president of the Super Stock Lawn Mower Racing Association (SSLMRA) of Port Hadlock, which held races Saturday at the Grant County Spring Fair and Home Show.

It's SSLMRA's fifth season, Crouse said. They're a chapter of the national Alleghany Mower Racing Association. The SSLMRA chapter covers Washington, Idaho and British Columbia, Crouse said, while an associate chapter covers Oregon.

Crouse estimates the mowers at the fairgrounds Saturday were traveling around 35 miles per hour, although he said some may have broken 40 mph.

He was first introduced to lawnmower racing when he saw a race at a logging show in Sequim. Intrigued by what he saw, he bought two mowers and tried his hand at racing for the first time in Omak, where he flipped his mower.

"I've flipped twice," said Crouse. "I had another mower. I flipped it the first race I raced it, too. Knocked my helmet completely off."

"I came around him and his helmet was rolling in front of me," said SSLMRA Vice President Chuck Cofer. "And I'm going, 'I hope his head's not in it!'"

"A guy pulled right in front of me and I went right up over him ... mower went end over end and I went rolling across the track like a watermelon," said Crouse.

Despite his introduction, Crouse says racing mowers is relatively safe.

"I've been (knocked) off of mine twice in six years," he said.

Lawnmower racing is the fastest growing motorsport in the United States, said Crouse.

Racer Rodney Lepoidevin from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, agreed. He got involved with lawnmower racing when it was introduced to the fair in Bonners Ferry as a fundraiser. He said he's been racing for five or six years since then.

"It's an adrenaline rush," he said. "Once you get on one, you can't help but smile."