A historic event occurred March 27, 2004, at the Equine Center north of Arkansas State University at Jonesboro. Nine helmeted racers sporting gloves and foam neck braces roared at speeds topping 40 mph around a dusty, lumpy dirt track, on riding lawn mowers.
It was the inaugural race of the Arkansas chapter of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association.
The Democrat-Gazette's Kenneth Heard wrote, "Pamplona, Spain, has the running of the bulls. Jonesboro has the running of the Toros and the Snappers and the Murrays and the Craftsmans."
These riding lawn mowers had cutting decks but no blades. Jonesboro firefighter Brett Winstead said he spent $250 to put a larger carburetor and a steering wheel clutch on the Rally mower he named Sodbuster. "Last spring, this was mowing the grass," he said, adding, "I bought a push mower for the yard. You've got to make sacrifices."