Race Weekend Recap – 2015 STA-BIL Series Lawn Mower Racing at The Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Alabama

My, oh my what a wonderful weekend it was for lawn mower racing! The United States Lawn Mower Racing Association descended upon Foley, Alabama and their brand new Foley Sports Tourism Complex – it’s great!

 
It’s in a fantastic location right along the Foley Beach Expressway, just a few blocks from town, and a few miles from the beach. The people are wonderful there, the 4,000 plus fans in attendance were awesome, the track staff was very accommodating to all! The complex had massive amounts of parking, shuttles to and from the track, a huge area with lots of vendors, and an antique tractor display.

This weekend was sure to be a great weekend. I drove all night Friday to get there while my family slept in the vehicle around me. After all, my husband did need to rest before he raced all afternoon.

 
When I arrived in Foley around 6:00 AM headed towards the condo that I had rented, I was greeted with a huge flashing construction sign reading: “Lawn Mower Races This Way!” It seemed as though this one sign had made driving all night completely worthwhile, it put the biggest smile on my face! I thought to myself in that moment, “I get to see my friends and family today!” I knew then that it was going to be a wonderful weekend!

We went to unload the car, put on our racetrack attire, and then headed back to the track. We had our typical “It’s so good to see you again” hugs, and then there were many “It’s great to FINALLY meet you” handshakes when we arrived at the track. It was great!

Then from almost out of nowhere, the sky clouds up and here came the rain. Due to the rain they had in the area prior to us arriving, these showers did some damage to the racetrack. But they produced a beautiful rainbow though. I was able to snag a picture of Bruce and Mr. Don Staley under it during our drivers meeting. Don and his crew worked hard on getting us a surface to race on. They did their very best, they even brought in more equipment and some racers even took part in helping. Before long, it was race time.

 
The track was rough from the resurfacing, which made for interesting racing. In Saturday’s races, there were many tough breaks throughout just about every class. The CP class had to be the hardest to just a few laps left to go when her mower broke. It was a heartbreaking thing to watch. But Jessica Brazell and her crew got her and the mower back out there Sunday and drove it straight to victory! Way to MOW Jessica!

Sunday’s racing was great to watch! It was the day of great passes. In the I-MOW class, Eric Corner battled back and forth throughout the race with the Louisiana boys, Kevin Wagster and Marcel Dupepe, they put on a fantastic race! Shelton Wheeler was able to overtake Derrick Robinson in the BP class when Robinson popped a massive wheelie coming by the flag stand. Shelton went on to take the win!

 
A definite highlight of the weekend was having the legendary Jim Witt with us all weekend as he prepared to enter the National Lawn Mower Racing Hall of Fame, along with his late wife Janet, “The Lawn Blonde” at Charlotte Mower Speedway on Nationals Weekend. Great to meet you, Jim!

Our thoughts and prayers are with Earl Bosley who is recovering form home injuries back home in Florida. We’ll see Earl again racing soon enough.

Until next time…MOW ON!

Click here for Race Results, and here for 2015 Season Points to date.