I have said it before I love racing. Sometimes that racing can start as something just for fun and then it turns into something more serious. Lawn Mower racing is one of those things that started just for fun and became a regular form of racing. Others forms of racing are just crazy ideas that people love to make a competition out of. I know from spending many years at racetracks most competitors take whatever form of racing serious, even when the fans think it's for fun. In this blog I thought I would introduce a few types of racing that I think are different and interesting.
LAWN MOWER RACING
Since I already talked about it I will start with lawn mower racing. You heard it right, soup up your ride on lawn mower and lets go racing. Some of these machines really move as you can see from the rooster tails from the back tires in the picture below. The mowers are capable of 40 mph and usually race on small dirt oval tracks. I have seen a dirt road course race before as well but mainly they race on ovals. There are many Lawn Mower racing association you can find while doing an internet search. I included a link to a video if you would like to see them.
FIGURE 8 RACING
Alright now lets move on to school bus racing. Did you ever wonder where your old school bus went when the school district bought a new bus. It may have gone school bus racing. Now I have seen school bus, motorhome, and cars with trailer racing which all seem to fit into the same category. They usually race on figure 8 race tracks and the fans root on the driver's for a collision. I have seen these races on oval tracks as well. This type of racing is the cross between racing and demolition derby. I have seen these races held on dirt ovals or figure 8's and asphalt ovals or figure 8 tracks. These races are exciting for the fans. Below are few pictures to show some of the different vehicles used. Yes in the figure 8 racing they do smash each other. There usually is a large prize purse for the winner so the races start with races trying to avoid each other but as the race goes on slower vehicles will crash into faster vehicles to move themselves up. I also included a video as well but it is long.
SWAMP BUGGY RACING
This type of racing happens in Naples, Florida and some of these machines are extremely fast. They are two types of race vehicles, one being a Jeep style and the other being a buggy. The machines were originally designed to get people through the swamp. They race on a track that is covered in water that ranges in depth from about 2 feet to 4 feet of water. The pictures below show the different vehicles as well as the depth of the water on the track. I also included a link for a video
JETSPRINTING
This is a type of racing I first saw on TV from Australia and it is called Jetsprinting. Unlike the other racing I have talked about in this post this one is a form of boat racing against a clock. These boats have huge engines for the size of the boats. They have a passenger that can instruct the driver which turn the driver is to make. The speed of these boats seems unreal. The races are held in tracks dug into fields most of the time but I have watched these boats in person racing up a river. In the photo you can see how small these boats are. I also have a link to a video that you have to check out.
Hopefully I have introduced you to something you had not seen before and maybe inspired you to think up the next form of racing such as barstool racing, Sorry barstool racing is already a thing.