'More fun than grown men should have'
Clara Dawe catches some air at the finish line. Dawe won the ages 11-14 division in her "silver bullet."
Logan Smith of Mica hits the gas on the start line of the Mowin' Down Main Street lawnmower drag races Sunday afternoon.
Finley Cronk, 5, of Valleyford, dons ear protection as racing begins.
Garbriel Howard, 6, of Rockford, enjoys corn from the Southeast Spokane County Fair as he watches lawnmower dragracing.
Cash Miner, 10, of Valleyford nears the finish line of the Soap Box Derby race Sunday morning. Minor would go on to win the ages 7-10 division.
Cart racers weave through the hay bale road course Sunday through downtown Rockford during the Southeast Spokane County Fair.
A cart racer accelerates through the race course Sunday afternoon in Rockford.
ROCKFORD - Sunday was race day in Rockford.
As part of the Southeast Spokane County Fair, dozens of racers and hundreds of their fans hit downtown streets for a day of cart and soap box derby racing, and lawnmower drags.
"I can't believe the turnout," Mowin' Down Main Street organizer Brandon Cronk said. "It was a whole dale of motorsports nonsense.
The day kicked off with soap box derby racing.
"The races are open to everyone," derby race official John Seehorn said, noting there were 14 entries this year.
"This is really fun," ages 7-10 division winner Cash Miner said of the races.
In second place in the division, Jess Evans said he was "just thrilled to drive a car."
In the 11-13 division, Stella Dawe posted the fastest time. Reid Jacot was second and Bridger Ramsey third.
Clara Dawe won the ages 14-17 division, followed by Eli Seehorn in second and Evan Seehorn in third.
But the racing wasn't just for kids.
Four adults jumped into a soap box derby car, with mixed results. At the end of the day, it was Michael Bushman in first and Ace McGuire in second.
During the presentation of awards, McGuire thanked "everyone who went slower than me."
Once soap box racing ended, 13 souped-up lawnmowers took over for the second Mowin' Down Main Street drag races.
"We had racers from Athol, Spokane Valley, Post falls, Kooskia ... they came from everywhere," Cronk said, noting racers ranged in age from 13-72.
The fastest average time was 5.05 seconds and the slowest as 11.0 flat, he said.
The fastest seven lawnmowers competed in the Modified class.
Kirsten Thompson of Post Falls took top honors, followed by Ennis Eaton of Athol, and Levi Miller of Kooskia.
The Stock Modified class was won by Mike Borges of Athol. Jay Cronk of Valley Ford and Tyler Clark of Spokane Valley finished second and third, respectively.
Marty Primmer of Fairfield took home the Hometown Hero Award for his snowmobile-engine powered lawnmower.
The crowd was thrilled when a thick cloud of smoke billowed form his machine as he hit the throttle.
The Hard Luck Award went to George "Hollywood" Zick of Spirit Lake, Idaho. The award recognizes racers who had the toughest day on the race course.
"This was an awesome successful," Mowin' Down Main Street organizer Brandon Cronk said of his event. "It was super fun; everybody had a smile on their face.
Up next was go-cart racing on Main Street.
At press time, the results of that event were not available.
All in all, organizers called the Southeast Spokane County Fair race day a success.
"It was way more fun than grown men should have on a Sunday," Brandon Cronk said.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, columnist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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