Bruce Kaufman did not set out to become Mr. Mow It All, but he now finds himself saddled with that title, and loving it.
As Founder and President of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association (USLMRA) Kaufman is on the “cutting edge” of American motorsports, and while his tongue remains firmly planted in cheek, he can’t help thinking that his unlikely motorsports journalism career was tailor made for him.”
The USLMRA hosts the 17-event STA-BIL National Lawn Mower Racing US Points Series featuring riding lawn mowers with cutting blades removed at speeds from 5-60 mph, and a network of 32 Local Chapters and Affiliated Clubs hosting more than 130 sanctioned races nationwide.
The USLMRA is the nation’s oldest and largest National Lawn Mower Racing Sanctioning Body. There are more than 500 USLMRA members nationwide including Turfinator, Sodzilla, Mowdacious and Prograsstinator. Lawn mowers race in four road course classes with all cutting blades removed: Stock (10 mph), IMOW (20 mph), Prepared (50 mph) and Factory Experimental (60 mph). USLMRA racing is televised on Speed and Outdoor Channel and Speed TV.
“I’ve got the greatest gig in the country,” said the 48 year-old Northbrook, Illinois resident said from “Mow Central” his office in Glenview, Illinois. “I’ve always been a casual motorsports fan, but for the past 16 years I’ve become highly ‘mowtivated’ to immerse myself in all types of motorpsorts and motorsports marketing and journalism.”
Kaufman by trade is a public relations and event marketing professional with solid writing chops dating back to his childhood. For Kaufman, writing and journalism are as easy as playing the blues piano, wailing on his harmonic or putting the puck in the lower corner of the net. “I’ve always loved to write, I’ve always loved a sense of adventure and I’ve always had a sense of humor,” said the 1982 Journalism graduate of Northern Illinois University (NIU) who some folks also call “The Sodfather.” “I’m also pretty good at recognizing good opportunities and the possibilities they bring and surrounding myself with talented people.”
Kaufman knew in high school that he wanted to pursue journalism in college and as a profession. He also loves music and planning events. While at NIU, Kaufman landed gigs on the University Concert and Special Event Planning Boards and he was off and running. Planning concerts, comedy shows, festivals and special events became a passion for Kaufman. He was then able to parlay this experience into a staff position at the Eastern Illinois University Programming Board while he completed his masters degree in Educational Psychology-Guidance and Counseling.
“My career path is basically a story of following my interests, pursuing my passions, working hard, being lucky and being open to the muse sprinkled with a dash of Grateful Dead philosophy, a sense of adventure and a killer t-shirt collection.”
The U.S. Mower Racing Association is managed by Glenview, IL-based Merton G. Silbar Public Relations, where Kaufman has been hunkered down for 20 years. “Look in the dictionary under ‘First Class’ and there is a picture of my boss, Mert Silbar. We are full scope public relations, event marketing and promotion agency, where we do three things every day: write, write, write. In my book, any decent PR pro is first a strong writer, and that is emphasized at our firm.”
Silbar, Kaufman and his colleagues knew the owners of Chicago-based Gold Eagle Co before they came to them with a novel idea in the summer of 1991: organized lawn mower racing as a motorsports sponsorship program for STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer. After a quick trip to England that summer, the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association was launched in the spring of 1992 – on April Fools’ Day no less.
“I knew we had a winner within the first week of announcing USLMRA to the world,” added Kaufman. “Our press releases basically wrote itself, which was proven by coverage in the New York Times, Los Angles Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Southern Lawn Mower Dealers Newsletter. Writing about lawn mower racing is like eating Chicago pizza: easy to do and fun.”
The USLMRA is a motorsports sanctioning body, so Kaufman is responsible for more than just writing and journalism-releated functions. He manages and serves as ultimate authority for race day operations, staffing, venue relations, media relations, membership, contracts, marketing, sponsorship, board of directors reporting, finance, administration, insurance, human resources and television production.
Kaufman has received awards including Gold Pinnacle, Media Relations, International Festivals & Events Association; Silver Pinnacle, Best Sponsor Follow Up Report International Festivals & Events Association; Golden Trumpet, Marketing, Publicity Club of Chicago; Golden Trumpet, Special Event Marketing, Publicity Club of Chicago; Golden Trumpet, Web site, Publicity Club of Chicago; Outstanding Public Relations Tactics – Video News Release, Public Relations Society of America, Chicago Chapter; Gold Award: Sports and Event Marketing, Brandweek magazine; and Outstanding Creativity Award, Inside PR magazine.
During the past four years, Mr. Mow It All has expanded his print journalism experience into the broadcast side, becoming the TV color commentator and track host for the USLMRA TV shows airing on Outdoor Channel as part of the 13 week Motor Mania Series. “Broadcast journalism is a lot of fun too,” said Kaufman. “Knowing the sport and our racers so well and having the gift of gab it makes sense to put my skills to use on the broadcast arena. Plus, my kids think it’s cool to see daddy on TV.”
“I feel so lucky every day, to be doing this,” said Kaufman. “To combine my talents and skills and to promote a good family-owned company like Gold Eagle and a great product like STA-BIL Fuel Stabilizer, I just have to keep pinching myself.
When pressed to give a favorite career story, Kaufman thinks long and hard. “I guess my favorite story that AARWBA members can relate to is the day in June, 2000 when lawn mower racing was featured on the front page of the New York Times. As a writer and PR guy, your story on the front page of the New York Times is a Sprint Cup, Borg Warner Trophy, Stanley Cup and Vince Lombardi Trophy all rolled into one. But to borrow from the famous philosopher Bart Simpson: this is my favorite so far.”
Kaufman married his wife Debbie on Halloween 1987, after a chance meeting on a Friday the 13th at the bar across the street from his office. Mr. and Mrs. Mow it All have three kids, Zoe, age 13, Ari age 11 and Lee, age 7 and a fire belly toad named Sodzilla. Zoe and Ari race in the Junior Prepared Class. Lee is a bit too young to mow. Kaufman used to cut his own grass, but was fired after the crab grass got out of hand. He still owns a push mower, but like his racing lawn mowers, it has no blades.
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