Gentlemen, start your mowers: Lawn mower racing season begins Saturday in Patton

PATTON, Mo. --Vernon Yount got a late start, but he's making up for lost time.

The 72-year-old Patton man has been competing in lawn mower races for seven years. He said he likes the competition and the challenge.

"His biggest challenge is probably getting out of bed the next day after the races," James Moore of Jackson fired back at the septuagenarian.

Yount did admit he has flipped over lawn mowers, broken his collar bone and bruised his ribs.

Moore and Yount were among the hundreds who gathered March 23 at Patton Saddle Club for a preseason test-and-tune. Racers used the day to work the kinks out of their machines in preparation for the official start of lawn mower racing season, which starts this weekend. And plenty of spectators turned out to enjoy the social atmosphere and the food provided by Patton Lions Club, which sponsors the races.

Moore, the vice president of Patton Lions Club, had to hang up his racing career after a shoulder injury took him off the track, but he's still active in what he described as the Lions Club's biggest annual fundraiser.

"We get 600 to 800 people here. The stands are full," Moore said. "You don't draw that many spectators and fans without a lot of community backing."

Races run every other Saturday through Oct. 19. The nearest site for lawn mower races is Ste. Genevieve, Moore said. The races there run on Patton's off-weekends.

On a regular race night, 60 to 70 mowers come from five states -- Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, according to John Preston of Patton, past district governor of Missouri Lions and race coordinator.

"Some of them drive over eight hours to race. Spectators come as far as Kansas City, Missouri," Preston said.

Vince O'Brien of Fredericktown, a retired business owner, has been waiting impatiently to hit the track.

"You can't get any more excitement than getting out there and getting on one of those things. Once you do it, you get hooked," O'Brien said. "You're doing 40 to 50 miles per hour, side by side, no roll bars, no seat belts, open tire. If someone runs into you, it either flips you or lands on top of you."

Camaraderie between racers and spectators is evident at the track.

While Preston isn't a racer himself, he's still in the inner circle, and the excitement is just as intense.

"The motto for racers is 'Race it, break it, fix it, do it again,'" Preston said.

Racers compete in 11 classes and range in age from 4 to 70-plus. Prizes, plaques and trophies are awarded to the winners. And refreshments are plentiful at every race. Patton Lions Club members sell everything from soda and nachos to burgers and chili.

For more information about the lawn mower races, call Patton Lions Club member Larry Bollinger at (573) 866-3858.