Bruce Kaufman had me at hello.
OK, he actually had me at his nickname - Mr. Mow It All - which is both pretty cool and very fitting given that Kaufman is the president of U.S. Lawn Mowers Association.
And you thought NASCAR had all the fun.
But Kaufman's email regarding this weekend's USLMA event at the Englewood (Tenn.) Lions Club Mowerplex at 1 p.m. Saturday didn't just provide facts.
It came with a request to write about his "grass kickers, turf titans and sod slingers."
He also penned, "Lawn mower racing puts East Tennessee on cutting edge."
How could you not self-propel yourself into a story such as that? Especially when the USLMA isn't even the only lawn mower racing organization in our well-manicured region of the country.
"We're racing this weekend, too," said Buster Hogan, president of the Scenic City Lawn Mower Racing Association. "We'll be at the Bug Blast on Sunday in Stevenson, Alabama. We're supposed to have as many as 150 racers there. It's sponsored by the American Racing Mower Association."
Like the Volunteer Spring Nationals at Englewood, Hogan's event doesn't offer prize money. But Rodney Peeler - president of the Athens-based East Tennessee Lawn Mowers Association - says that's never been the point of mower racing.
"It's about winning a big cup and braggin' rights for a whole year," he said.
Peeler is a diesel mechanic by day, which means he hadn't had a lot of experience with small engines before catching the mower racing bug four or five years ago.
"Some of these engines are highly modified," Peeler said. "They can get up to 60 mph on a straightaway. They've got four-wheel disc brakes, high-tech transmissions. These aren't your father's riding lawn mowers."
Added Hogan: "Some guys up in Canada go faster than that."
A few brief facts: None of the mowers has attached blades. All drivers wear helmets. All mowers have steering wheels rather than those cumbersome levers/handles that some working riding mowers have.
But however they're equipped, no one may soon be riding them faster than Peeler's 12-year-old daughter Mariah, who finished third in the Kids Stock division in last summer's U.S. Open at Delaware, Ohio.
Soon to become a seventh-grader at Athens City Middle School, she'll race this weekend in the junior prepared division for the 10-15-year-old crowd.
However, unlike her father - who'll race the modifieds - Mariah's lawn mower is engineered to go no faster than 25 mph for safety reasons.
"I just love the people," she said. "I've got friends who are coming to watch this weekend. I've gotten to travel to places like Ohio and Maryland, places I probably wouldn't have seen without racing."
How many spectators will typically see these races?
"We've had between 300 and 400 before," Peeler said. "The economy's hurt some. We used to have the national circuit events cover two days, but because of hotels and stuff, we now cram everything into a single day, if possible."
While Hogan's fairly sure no one's ever jumped from the lawn mowing circuit to NASCAR, young Peeler thinks it's possible.
"I want to move up to NHRA drag racing one day, maybe even NASCAR," said Mariah, who counts Mark Martin as her favorite NASCAR driver. "I really love racing."
And which brand of mower do the racers like best?
"The free ones," Peeler said with a chuckle. "We're always scanning the classifieds or stopping at yard sales to see if someone has an old riding mower in the garage they just want taken off their hands."
Come Saturday, Peeler and his daughter will climb into the seats of their sod slingers - Peeler's permanent number is 397, Mariah's is 97 - and attempt to win a big cup and braggin' rights.
Asked the significance of No. 97, Mariah said, "I wanted 397, just like my dad. But it covered up too much of my paint job."
Your paint job?
"Yes, it's pink and purple flames," she said. "I call it Grapey."
Her father hasn't named his mower, but that doesn't mean he doesn't value the sport's roots.
"Are we done?" he asked me during Thursday's phone interview before handing the receiver to his daughter.
Told yes, he said, "Great, because I need to go mow my yard now."
Mr. Mow It All himself couldn't have scripted a better exit line.