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WENDOVER - Maybe Bob Cleveland, a national lawn mower racing king, should have tried setting a world record with his lucky pair of "tennie Lamas"?
At the Bonneville Salt Flats on Tuesday, Cleveland attempted to set a record for riding the world's fastest lawn mower that would travel more than 100 miles per hour, but by late afternoon his best time was 81 mph.
He started his Fourth of July holiday morning by driving on the Bonneville Speedway - an area of the salt flats marked out for motor sports and the site of numerous land speed records - at 68 mph and later at 72 mph, but he was a "little disappointed."
"I was bothered because I wasn't going fast enough," said Cleveland, who won the national lawn mower race for eight consecutive years. "It would have been a rush to go faster."
So Cleveland changed a few things on his black, six-foot rider lawn mower with a 23-horsepower engine that he built in six months.
He went to smaller tires, from 18 inches in diameter to 16.
He took off the windshield that could fit in his hand.
And, if just briefly, he contemplated taking off his black safety boots and putting on his "tennie Lamas," a pair of Tony Lama boots with tennis-shoe soles.
By 3:30 p.m., after a handful of attempts, Cleveland increased his time to 80.75 mph and was feeling "great." Still, he hadn't decided on whether he was satisfied or would try to break his record today or later.
"It just gives us something to shoot for next time," he said. "If I don't hit 100, I'll have to come back."
Diletta Wiggins, Cleveland's girlfriend of three years, said she was worried that the wind would flip him over. But, she thought the day went smoothly and plans to return to cheer him on until he reaches his goal. The couple live in Locust Grove, Ga., about a 40 miles south of Atlanta.
"I have no idea what it feels like and I don't want to know," she said of lawn-mower racing.
Nine-year-old Blake Fesko, who was at the speedway watching stock car racer Russ Wicks break a world speed record, was fascinated with the lawn mower. He said he'd never seen a racing lawn mower, but he's going to check it out.
"It seems smaller and more like my size," said Fesko, who was visiting with his father from California.
Cleveland said he's certain there are lawn mower racers thinking that they might be able to go faster. He welcomes the challenge.
Much like the winners of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association's competitions, Cleveland's record-setting grants him the trash-talking rights for now. Lawn mower races don't provide prize money, so "it's all about the trophies and braggin' rights," Cleveland said.
Cleveland, 48, got his first ride on a lawn mower when he was nine, but ran to his bedroom crying when his father wouldn't allow him to drive it. A few years later, it was his job to mow the grass.
"I wanted to cut it so fast, so I could go play or go hunting," he said.
In college, Cleveland worked as a test technician and later as a design engineer at Snapper, a lawn mower manufacturing company. He quit after 27 years on the job. In 2004, he started touring the country in a 77-foot blue truck and trailer and showing off his lawn mowers as the spokesman for Gold Eagle engine-performance products.
Now, after 11 years of racing lawn mowers, Cleveland rarely uses them for the yard. At his house, that's Wiggins' job.
"I don't cut grass, I just go fast," he jokes.
"I was bothered because I wasn't going fast enough." - BOB CLEVELAND