It’s not unusual to see people out riding their lawn mowers on a Sunday morning.

To observe mowers racing around a road course at 60 miles per hour – that’s different.

Many a weekend mower rider has had a NASCAR moment, wanting to shift up a couple of gears and blow out the carbon. Now he or she can, thanks to a lawn-mower racing series that’s happening in St. Albans.

Nate Anderson is the man behind the Maine chapter of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association. The owner of Thundering Valley Raceway in St. Albans, Anderson has set up a course for lawn mowers in the infield of the go-kart racing track. The next race, the Turf Titan Roundup, will be held Sunday. Practice starts at 10 a.m., with racing following.

“I thought it would be a natural for Maine,” Anderson said. “I have the place; I just need lawn mowers. It’s a lot of fun to watch, because they’re so unstable.”

Lawn mowers are the latest frontier of racing, with fewer restrictions concerning the vehicle than in other motor sports.

“That allows individuals who are creative mechanically to have more leeway to build one,” Anderson explained.

The premise behind a racing lawn mower is pretty simple: less weight, more torque. The mowing attachments come off, and the front and rear ends get reinforced for strength. Sometimes the frame gets lowered. The stripped-down machines weigh about 150 pounds, adding to the speed. Also, a racer needs an engine that takes it quickly from zero to 60.

Handling is less of a concern. In an earlier life as a leisurely lawn implement, the mower wasn’t meant to turn sharply. So these racers spin or slide around the corners.

The cost of preparing a racing mower could range from $200 to $2,000, depending on what class it’s in, Anderson said.

“A lot would hinge on how much you could do yourself,” he added. “If you’re mechanically inclined, you could scrounge up the parts and

build it for almost nothing. Most [of the local racers] spend more on paint [jobs] and decals than on the mowers.”

Anderson has been trying to get an official lawn-mower race in for the past two seasons, but on every monthly date he set, it rained. Finally, on a Sunday in early July, the historic race took place at Thundering Valley.

It was a family affair on this day, with brothers John and Kenny Rogerson lining up against brother-in-law Louis Cates. All of these racers were in the S/P class, the third highest of the six classes. Classes are based on the technical specifications of the mower, the track owner explained. The drivers eased their machines down off their trucks, started them up, and began to race them around the 390-foot course during practice. It was time to find the bugs and work them out, and soon they did. Cates’ engine began to smoke, while the belts on Kenny Rogerson’s mower kept slipping.

Anderson put the mowers through a safety check, looking for sharp edges and making sure that no fuel lines were up against mufflers and that all parts were securely fastened. Each driver wears a safety switch attached to his body, and also must wear an auto-racing helmet, gloves, boots, long pants and a jacket.

As they fine-tuned their racers, the drivers talked about how they got involved with this newest of motor sports.

John Rogerson of Old Town, a small-engine mechanic, had heard about lawn-mowing racing through trade magazines and decided, “With my connections, why not get into it?”

Rogerson, who previously had no racing experience, found a free Yard Man with no engine. He’s sunk about $650 and 16 months of labor into it, including adding a 12-horsepower engine and reworking the frame, hood and deck. He worked on it during lunch and at nights at his employer’s shop, Jim’s Small Engines in Orrington.

“There hasn’t been much of an area to test it,” he said. “I need to get more speed out of the engine, and make some belt changes and get different front tires. But it’s better than I expected at this point. I’ll be pretty good.”

Racing is nothing new to Kenny Rogerson of Bangor. In the past, he raced dragsters, stock cars and motorcycles and has taken part in mud runs, “anything you can put a motor in,” he said. “So I decided to slow down a bit.”

He had seen lawn-mower racing on TV, and decided to try it himself. A mechanic and machinist for John Deere, Rogerson started with a Craftsman lawn tractor, then added “parts and pieces from different tractors, to help it out as much as possible.”

He estimated that he’s spent only $100 on his racer, doing all the work himself except for the welding, which was done by his wife. He tested it by running it up and down his road, its noisy engine roaring. “The neighbors just love me,” he said with a smile.Cates got involved after watching a demonstration by his brothers-in-law last winter at the Bangor Mall.

He got a later start than the Rogersons, beginning this spring. He traded for a Simplicity garden tractor. An auto mechanic, he’s been tinkering with it during breaks at work, and estimated that he’s put about $200 into it. His is closer to being stock class than the other machines, and as such, sits higher off the ground and weighs more. He blew a 10-horsepower engine practicing last month, then John Rogerson helped him find a 12-horsepower replacement.

Now, after his racer smoked in practice, Cates was experimenting to find the right weight oil for his engine to keep him competitive.

When the drivers were ready, it was race time. At the drivers’ meeting, Anderson went over the various flags he would be using.

Then the drivers went across the track from their machines. This 10-lap feature (OK, only) race employed a Le Mans start, which meant that the drivers had to run to their machines and start them and pull out. Anderson gave the signal and the drivers lumbered across. Kenny Rogerson hit the course last, because his mower had a pull start.

As in most motor sports, this was a race for survival – the mower’s survival. First Cates’ racer began to smoke. About halfway through, Kenny Rogerson made a strong inside move to pass his brother. Then John Rogerson’s machine started smoking as well. Kenny Rogerson finished a clear winner, having lapped the field.

After backing (or pushing) their mowers into an appropriate spot based on their finish, the three drivers climbed onto the victory stand to accept their trophies.

Afterward, Kenny Rogerson was still glowing from his win (or maybe the 80-degree heat).

“It was a matter of getting into the line, and sticking with it,” he explained. “I wish I’d have done this a long time ago. It was a blast.”

For information on lawn-mower racing, contact Nate Anderson at 938-3007 or write svkk@tds.net.