The Following is from Lee Vine, Co-Founder, along with Jere Heinemann, of the Minnesota Lawn Mower Racing Association

History: In the Summer of 2008 and again in 2009 the racers of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Lawn Mower Racing Associations clashed on the turf in a multiple race series to determine who would hold dominion in the Northern Midwest.

Current: During the long cold winter months of 2016-17, an idea to revive the competition and camaraderie once had between the two groups was born. Always striving to go bigger and better, the creators of the original Boarder Wars decided to include racers in Iowa and Illinois ratcheting up the competition several levels. With the Regional Championships announcement of the USLMRA, the stars began to fall into place. The president of the USLMRA, Bruce Kaufman, blessed the effort and the Upper Midwest Regional Lawn Mower Racing Series was born.

The Series: The Upper Midwest Regional Lawn Mower Racing Series (Boarder Wars) consists of 4 regional races on hosted in each of the 4 states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. At the time of this publication negotiations for dates and venues are still ongoing but rest assured they will be published and promoted as soon as we can.

Points: In addition to the normal points drivers accumulate during an event, as an extra added twist, the original Boarder Wars used team “rosters” of lists of drivers that pledged allegiance to one side or the other. Based on these rosters, the points drivers earned would be awarded to the association they were loyal to as well.

FAQ: To answer the question “Who can race in Boarder Wars?….Well anyone ! You must comply with all safety and class rules of course but as with any other USLMRA Sanctioned event as long as you are in good standing you can race.

WHO you race for is another story all together….

Free Agency/Declaration of Loyalty:

It has been proposed that drivers be allowed to race for their preferred organization much like athletes that participate in the Olympics. Now, while we would never want to cause any ill will or bad feelings between racers, I would like to allow racers the freedom/flexibility to have their points count towards the organization of their choice.

Declaration of Association: All Drivers must declare which association they are loyal to at registration. That declaration will be binding for the remainder of that event and for all classes therein.

 

Example: if currently retired racer, Shannon Kayhart comes out of retirement to race Boarder Wars but no longer has a racer to compete with he could race for any of the 4 associations he wishes.

Now since he does not have a race mower at his disposal, he could negotiate with any of the associations, or drivers there in to provide him a steed in lieu of any points he earns be awarded in favor.

Note: Since he is the purveyor of some of, Wisconsin’s best Apple Pie, negations to host Shannon, should include considerable amounts if the aforementioned delicacy, to be shared after the event…

For mow information, please contact the following:

Minnesota: Lee Vine, lvine2001@yahoo.com

Illinois: Todd Tornow, tofasttodd@gmail.com

Iowa: Marty Murphy, yamaha_man_1970@yahoo.com

Wisconsin: John Schug, demoschug@gmail.com