Home >

Father, Son Connect with Racing


Latest News

View all latest news

Father, Son Connect with Racing - August 13, 2012

Jon Lewman, left, gives his trophy from the lawn mower races to his father, Greg. Jon won the Mod-X division at the first ever lawn mower races at the Inter-State Fair in Coffeyville.

Jon Lewman, left, gives his trophy from the lawn mower races to his father, Greg. Jon won the Mod-X division at the first ever lawn mower races at the Inter-State Fair in Coffeyville.

Mowers get put to unconventional use

When Jon Lewman got in trouble for driving a souped-up lawn mower down the streets of Coffeyville in 1986, he had no idea what it would lead to.

The then-14 year old Coffeyville youth loved motors and engines and built a pumped up lawn mower. Then he drove it on the city streets and got stopped by the police. He didn’t get a ticket; he got something worse. “The police knew who my father was and they knew the best punishment was to call dad.” Greg Lewman “was not happy” with his son, Jon remembers, and “dad took the ride away from me.”

But his love affair with anything mechanical continued, and on Sunday night at the Inter-State Fair, Greg was able to watch Jon race for the first time, and was there to see his son win first place in the Mod-X division.

Jon partners with Larry Benning, another Coffeyville resident who raced on Sunday night. Together they are the Cut Loose Racing team and travel to as many as 30 lawn mower races a year.

Jon had his best year ever in 2011, when he finished seventh in the nation in the American Racing Mower Association.

But even that won’t top his win in Coffeyville. “Tonight was the first time my dad’s ever seen me race, the first time ever to race in my hometown, to get my first win, is just awesome. It just couldn’t get any better.”

He gave his trophy to his dad. “Everybody, when they grow up, has certain things they connect with, with their father. There’s been things me and my father didn’t connect with, but racing has always been a connection. He got me started in it, and built it into my blood.”

Races new to the Coffeyville event

For the first time ever, lawn mower races took place at the Inter-State Fair.

The race, sanctioned by the American Racing Mower Association, involved twenty-five machines in six classes.

Wade Chamblee, who competed in the sportsmans class, drove ten hours from Hodges, Ala. to race. He had competed in a race at home on Saturday night and hurried to Coffeyville for his second race of the weekend.

Lawn mower races appeal to people because they are less expensive, and that’s one reason Chamblee got into racing four years ago. He had wanted to get into motor sports, and mower racing “was a cheaper alternative to cars and motorcycles and ATV” racing. He bought a racing mower for $1500, and over time, has modified it, changed classifications, and spent another $4000 with the upgrades.

The president of the ARMA was on hand for the race. The Coffeyville race is one of 32 points events held across the nation, and president Aaron Crowl and his wife Stacey attend each one. Stacey serves as the executive director (“queen of the paperwork,” she likes to say), and Crowl is also race director. They formed the association six years ago at their kitchen table, and Crowl’s favorite part of lawn mower racing is that it’s a family affair. The copule’s twin daughters, who are 18, have been racing since they were seven, and one of them was on hand to race in Coffeyville.

For Chamblee, it’s the people and the camaraderie that keep him coming back. “There’s a bunch of great people doing this.” The adrenaline rush helps, too. “You get out there on the track and you’re doing 35 (mph) on a lawn mower and it feels like 100. We’re taking something that’s made to go seven miles an hour and make it go 70.”

The Inter-State Fair and Rodeo continues on Monday night with a ranch rodeo. For a full schedule of events, click here or call the Coffeyville Chamber Office at 620.251.2550.

Results:

Mini Sportsman

  1. Alicia Crowl, Bel Air, Md.
  2. Stacey Crowl, Bel Air, Md.

Super Stock

  1. Debbie Flynn, Sandston, Va.
  2. Alicia Crowl, Bel Air, Md.

Sportsman

  1. Debbie Flynn, Sandston, Va.
  2. Larry Benning, Coffeyville, Kan.
  3. Wade Chamblee, Hodges, Ala.

Mod-X-R

  1. Harold McDonald, Claremore, Okla.
  2. Cody Rink, Humboldt, Kan.

Mod-X

  1. Jon Lewman, Coffeyville, Kan.
  2. Jim Burk, Chanute, Kan.
  3. Ron Edwards, Joplin, Mo.

Super Sportsman

  1. Larry Benning, Coffeyville, Kan.
  2. Aaron Crowl, Bel Air, Md.
  3. Marc Baker, Gatesville, Texas