The LSMRA started in 1998, but the sport goes back to at least 1968, when a British cricket club held a charity event called the Lawn Mower Grand Prix. In 1973, an Irishman named Jim Gavin, who was fed up with the hefty price tag that came with most motor sports, had a few pints at a pub and decided to form the British Lawn Mower Racing Association. Gavin’s dream is alive and well on dirt tracks from Boerne to Gun Barrel City and beyond, and instead of millions of dollars, Neel says you can get into mower racing for about $1,500 to $2,500. During its past season, the Texas club had 72 paid members, with 46 active racers ranging in age from 6 to 72. Neel estimates that only 6 or so of the 46 racers are women, but she says the number of female racers is growing each year.
“This is a sport for everybody,” says cattle rancher and racer Kevin Counsil of Madisonville. Participants come from all walks of life. “It’s a cornucopia of what people do for a living. We don’t have any preachers, though, probably because there’s too much swearing.”
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