Ride-on lawnmowers and ‘outlaw’ racers make cut at Inverell Speedway’s inaugural ‘Ivy 500’

Fuel, dust and friendship took over Inverell on the June long weekend for the Northwest Mower Racing Associations first ever endurance race spanning 3 days and 50 kilometres. Gordon Jones is the club president and the race winner of the Outlaws division. He's been racing mowers for more than 10 years. I saw a demonstration at an agricultural show. Which just I thought the guys were having too much fun for them to have it all by themselves. A lot of it's been the fun of racing because it's all about fun here. There's no big prize money, usually it's bragging rights and the camaraderie and friendship is second enough. Craig Wilkins is the man behind the Envy 500 race, organising every detail from the 14 laps across three days, equalling 50 kilometres down to the track corners themselves. 2023, January. I thought of this and said this is what I want to try and do. I approach as many clubs and industry members as possible, write the rules and regulations and it's just built from there. The town has now got behind us. It's great to see. It's an absolutely magnificent event. This track is designed for the entertainment, not so much the speed and power of a mower, the trackers. Got tight turns, long straights where if you make a mistake, you will not win the race. It's it's more of a competitive atmosphere. For the local mayor, Paul Harmon, the race represents more than just weekend fun, but good community spirit. It is absolutely sensational and I'm just blown away by the fact of, you know, who would have thought changing a lawn mower and then turning into a race? That's got to be the aussiest thing to do that you can imagine. Absolutely sensational. It's been a great weekend, so good for our community here. Great organization. Supported really well in V500, an orgal event. Want to see it back here bigger and better next year. For the organizers and the races, the weekend is about more than just trophies and winning. It's an irreplaceable connection. The racing on the track is about 5% of the atmosphere of mower racing. It's all in the camping and the in the pit areas. It's the commodity of everything.