Albert County racers rev their engines for annual lawn mower race

A group of Albert County boys who have never really grown up held their second annual “Greg Smith Invitational” lawn mover race on Saturday.

It is technically not an organized race — just a gathering at Luke Rowan’s camp near Elgin, but Rowan says the racers sure take the competition seriously.

“This is Albert Country at its best right here,” Rowan said Sunday.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is Albert Country at its best right here," Rowan said Sunday.

Rowan says the idea for the race was born around a campfire a few years ago in honour of Greg Smith, who raced an old rusty mower to the nearest warming hut in the backwoods three years ago.

The competitors paint their own machines to look like Nascars, bring personality to the race along with a little horsepower to get around the track.

Now, Smith brings his own machine to what’s become an annual tradition.

This year Rowan says about 10 racers mowed the race which consists of running two laps around the back roads near Elgin.

The machines arrive to Rowan’s camp by the truckloads. The grass cutters are all removed before the racing begins.

“We run these high performance machines,” jokes Rowan, whose own machine tops out at six kilometres per hour.

Ken Parsons says he even went out and bought a mower just to use in the race. He calls the mower “Outlaw.”

The winner of the race gets a free oil change, but Rowan says it’s really about good old fashioned bragging rights.