Cutting edge

One day, somebody somewhere suggested he and a few buddies could take the blades off their riding lawn mowers and have a race. Thus, the All-American Mower Championships were born.

OK, it wasn’t exactly like that.

But in all seriousness, the third annual All-American Mower Championships — think a stop on the NASCAR circuit for lawn mowers — will be held this weekend at the Savannah Valley Mower Speedway in Ooltewah.

Competitions will be held in 11 open invitational classes. As of a week ago, 117 competitors had registered to take part.

“The more mowers, the bigger and better the show,” said Bryan Malone, treasurer of the local Scenic City Lawn Mower Racing Association.

Saturday’s events, beginning at 11 a.m., will include a formal, five-lap practice round and a formal, 10-lap qualifying event for Sunday’s 20-lap features, which begin at noon. Classes will be run from slowest to fastest.

Some mowers have been known to get up to 50 mph, Malone said. When the mowers come around the final turn, he said, the front tires on the mowers in the fastest race often are off the ground.

“If you see (a race), you’re going to want to build (a competition mower),” he said.

However, Malone said, although there is an adult stock category, he wouldn’t advise just anyone to take the blade off his mower and show up to race. Most of the mowers, he said, have engines that are stroked and bored and have special carburetors and exhausts.

In building the engines, he said, different classes have different restrictions. It also is required the seat kill function (in case of a rollover) is functional.

Proceeds from the event, which is expected to last six hours in Saturday and four hours on Sunday, will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“It’s action-packed,” Malone said. “It’s pretty intense. But it’s all entertainment.”

IF YOU GO