Lawnmower Racing Lights Up The Track In Vermilion

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It may have been lawnmowers on the track, but there certainly wasn’t much lawn mowing happening Saturday evening as the Vermilion River Lawnmower Racing September Showdown took over the Vermilion Ag Grounds on September 12.

After a cooler and much windier start to the day, Mother Nature seemed to cooperate just in time for the races. The wind settled down, the temperature became much more comfortable and the sun even managed to find its way out from behind the clouds, making for a great September evening to be outside.

Plenty of people had the same idea. The Ag Grounds were packed with spectators who came ready to watch, cheer and find out just how fast a lawnmower could actually go. People lined the track, lawn chairs filled up and it didn’t take long before the crowd was picking favourites and rooting for the drivers as they made their way around the dirt course.

Once the flag dropped, there was plenty of action. For anyone who has never experienced lawnmower racing before, it is definitely something worth seeing at least once. These machines are a long way from the lawn tractors most of us slowly putter around the yard on. Watching them pick up speed and race around the track was impressive and sometimes a little nerve-racking.

Drivers battled for position as they rounded the corners, kicking up dirt behind them while spectators followed the action from the sidelines. Some races were close, while in others a driver managed to pull ahead, but there always seemed to be something happening somewhere on the track.

Of course, not every trip around went exactly as planned. There were a few mishaps and more than a few wobbles along the way. Every now and then there was one of those moments when you found yourself holding your breath and wondering if a driver was going to stay upright and pointed in the right direction. Thankfully, they seemed to get themselves sorted out and back into the action, and those unexpected moments made the racing even more exciting to watch.

Part of what made the evening so enjoyable was the atmosphere around the track. It wasn’t only about who crossed the finish line first. People visited between races, checked out the different machines and cheered for the racers, whether they knew the person behind the wheel or had simply decided that was who they were rooting for.

There is also something entertaining about watching machines most of us associate with a quiet afternoon cutting grass suddenly flying around a dirt track. The sound of the engines, the dirt coming off the track and the reactions from the crowd made it easy to get caught up in the racing, even if you arrived knowing absolutely nothing about it.

As the evening carried on, daylight slowly started to disappear and then the lights came on.

That changed the whole feel of the evening.

The racers continued under the lights with the machines circling the track against the darkening sky. The crowd was still there and still cheering as the racing continued. There is something about watching a race under the lights that just feels different, and it was a great way to finish off an already entertaining evening.

From the first races while the sun was still shining to the final rounds under the lights, it was simply a really fun evening. Judging by the packed sidelines and the cheering that followed the racers around the track, the September Showdown gave Vermilion a pretty great night at the races.