The Glen .500Mike Lindsey is the first in a long line of winners (we think)
(Glen City, Indiana, AP) On a beautiful day in Glen City Indiana, residents witnessed the first annual Glen .500 Mile Lawnmower Race. The day started out with the annual driver dinner, featuring Barbeque pork from Squeals-On-Wheels along with many other delicious dishes prepared by the residents of Glen City.
After the feast, drivers received their final briefing before assembling at the start line. The pole went to Andy, but that would be the only time he got a sniff of the lead. The pace golf cart lead the drivers around the track at a blistering pace. As they approached the rolling start line, the lawnmower drivers geared it up a notch, well actually they just kept going at about the same pace, and the race was on. Andy quickly gave up the lead as drivers jockeyed and bumped trying to get in the best position. Some drivers could be seen drafting off of other drivers.
Joel, Hank, Russ, Mark and others fought hard for the lead coming into turn 2. Debris in the road slowed some drivers down but it wasn't enough to bring out the yellow flag. Shortly after turn 3 Rich and Roger took a low line, drafting off of each other, and somehow passed the field. As they headed toward the finish line however, the field had caught back up to them. It came down to blocking out the other drivers but Mike Lindsey put a slick move on the leaders and slipped in between Rich and Roger to pull off the victory. Later it was learned that Rich, Roger, and Andy were DQ'd for dipping ever so slightly below the yellow line. Roger and Andy refused to comment about the DQ, but Rich claimed to have never seen the yellow line. Roger's leading sponsor, Tidy Cat, said they would file an official protest on behalf of their driver.
After the race, several drivers commented on the tough track conditions and how they had to fight their mowers to keep them from getting loose in the turns. Russ said he was expecting sunny conditions and used the wrong tires. Hank said his setup was wrong for track conditions too and he should have gone with the mulching setup.
In the winners circle, the .500 Queen, Cathy Stagge, presented Mike with the traditional quart of 2% Low Fat Milk and the checkered ribbon. Mike was exhausted but still able to crack a smile. "I gave it all I had and just kept the pedal to the medal" Mike said. "In the end, things just broke open at the right time; I got a good push around turn 4, and somehow edged out the field, not to mention that I had at least 10 more Horsepower than the next guy in the race."
Drivers have another year now to prepare for the race. Expect things to heat up next year now that the drivers understand and have a feel for the difficult track conditions of the Glen .500.
