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RECEIVING THE CHECKERED FLAG AT
FARMER CITY RACEWAY ON AUGUST 4,
2000

Photos by Dan Stewart.

"THE LAWNMOWER GUY"

AN INTERVIEW WITH LARRY LIMBAUGH
AT FARMER CITY RACEWAY ON AUG. 4, 2000.

THIS PAGE, EVEN THOUGH SOME READERS MAY THINK IT DOESN'T PERTAIN TO DIRT TRACK RACING, WILL CONTINUE TO BE UPDATED AS LONG AS GARY HATTER STAYS OUT ON THE HIGHWAYS OF AMERICA WITH HIS LAWNMOWER.

Gary is a 46 year old Central Illinois and Champaign, IL native who set out on Memorial Day this summer in pursuit of a Guinness Book of Records on miles, days, and states covered by a person on a riding lawn mower. This alone would not have merited space on this racing website, but the background of the man on this mission in the racing community speaks for itself as he has a lifetime of involvement in dirt track racing.

Gary grew up around the race tracks in Champaign and Danville, Illinois and as a young man began to dedicate his time to photography and racing reports to such publications as Marc Times, Hawkeye Racing News, Mid American Racing News, National Speed Sport News, Checkered Flag, and others with race reports and pictures from the Midwest scene.

He has been the official track photographer for Farmer City Raceway, Vermilion County Speedway, and was the present track photographer at Fairbury American Legion Speedway before his journey began. Many Midwest tracks were visited by the camera man and his collection of photos over a twenty plus year span is huge. Many drivers from the past are in his collection of racing memories from the early Eldora years, along with Brownstown, Florence, and other popular tracks.

Last winter as most of us interested in racing were waiting for the 2000 season to start, Gary was sitting at his kitchen table studying maps and planning out this lawn mower routine with as much enthusiasm as he had for planning out his weekend racing trips for each year. Most of us who knew him listened as he told of his plans, and quietly thought that it would never take place. Even his son, Gary, Jr. just listened and waited.

You see, Gary has a back problem which has required two surgeries in the past and another is forthcoming. He has also had two knee surgeries in the past five years. Of course my question to him ( and what most people would wonder) was how he could stand the pain of the lawn mower ride for hours at a time. His answer was "that the pain in his back has always been there and the problem is degeneration of the bone. I've learned to deal with it."

A year ago, at a Hav-A-Tampa race at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN, some of the HAT drivers went into the stands with their helmets collecting donations from fans for Gary's preparation for this adventure and with the help of a lot of friends and strangers, it all started on May 31st, 2000.

With maps in hand, along with clothing for all occasions and a lot of determination, Gary and Gary, Jr. left home for Gorham, Maine in Gary's very old, high mileage car. There, in Gorham, was the start of his long trip. It was there that Gary purchased a very good-sized Kubota riding lawn mower from Wescott and Sons and with Gary, Jr. driving their car as a support vehicle, it all began.

As this is written on August 5, the Lawn Mower Guy has broken the three Guinness records that confronted him. My wife and I were completely shocked and amazed when Gary pulled onto our front lawn on Thursday evening, August 3rd, announcing he was back in his home territory and would break the third record of miles traveled (3, 950) at Champaign, IL( his hometown) when he arrived for a welcome home party at Hessell Park on Friday morning, with 4,039 miles on the mower's odometer. The other two records of most states (19) and consecutive days (51) had already been surpassed.

Following the stop in Champaign, Gary proceeded to Farmer City Speedway on Friday evening where he was interviewed and applauded for his accomplishments. We spoke with Gary that night and he will keep us informed of his continued journey. And he talked of the trip thus far, pointing out a few highlights of his voyage.

Thus far, he has looked down from the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, driven past the White House in Washington, D.C., visited 16 state capital cities, driven go-karts with John Andretti and Kyle Petty at Indy, met David Letterman and all of his staff and had front row seats for the show on the night the dog bit Dave.

While in New York City, he was in a segment for NBC Xtra which was aired three weeks ago and filmed in Central Park and on Broadway. He arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the night of the Hav-A-Tampa race and was allowed to drive into the pits and visit with some of the HAT drivers who had helped him with his mission. A speedway in Kentucky allowed him to carry the flag around the track prior to a race for the National Anthem. And the most touching point for the cameraman, turned traveler, was a stop at the gravesite of Jack Boggs, a driver Gary knew for many years at the racetracks.

USA Today and the United Press have dubbed him as "The Lawnmower Guy" and Gary says his travels through large or small cities and towns has generated an enormous amount of interest. As he travels to Fairbury Speedway on Saturday night, where he is still regarded as the track photographer, and then towards Chicago on Sunday, Gary will be leaving familiar surroundings behind as he moves into the last two-thirds of a trip he is determined to finish. The only record left is to continue on until he has traveled through all 48 contiguous states. That accomplishment would put "The Lawnmower Guy" in Florida in November.

He has his records and promised he would check in with us once in a while with updates. If you wish to contact Gary, he can be reached by writing to: GARY HATTER-P.O. BOX 1033-MAHOMET, IL-61853.

Or if you see him on the back roads, say hello. He'll even sell you a checkered flag with his autograph, which is helping him cover expenses. At a speedy 9 miles per hour, he's covering America.
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August 24, 00
Just a note to those of you who have been watching the site for updates on Gary. When Gary left his home race track of Fairbury Speedway in Central Illinois, he was headed for Chicago and then on to Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri in that order. At nine miles an hour, it's hard to judge his distance traveled in two weeks. He hasn't reported in and we will be on vacation for the next week.

If anyone out in the Midwest has come into contact with him, E-mail us as to his location. It doesn't make sense that he has called it quits, but he does own all of Guiness records he was going for. Hope he is fine and we'll let you know when we hear anything.

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Hello from Montana. I am an avid Internet fan and I enjoy unusual things and Sunday, September 17. 2000 my family and I happened to see an unusual sight, a man riding a lawnmower down the highway. My children and I stopped for a few moments and talked to the man and then we calculated when the lawnmower man would be driving by our small community of Volborg, Montana and decided we would go meet him there later and visit some more with him.

Mr. Gary Hatter pulled into Volborg right on time and we had a lovely visit with him. I was very interested if he had a web page tracking his progress and he assured me he had friends who were doing that for him. So he gave me your e-mail address and the web address. I also happened to have my digital camera with me and I told him I would send you the photos of him we took at Volborg, so poof you now have a contact with Gary in Montana.

I hope he succeeds he has set some high goals. Enjoy the photos and I will keep checking back on his progress.

I spoke with Gary's daughter, and she reported that Gary is going through the Rocky Mountains in the State of Colorado....so there is the update for now..

Following is a status update from Kari Hatter (daughter) concerning the 'Lawnmower Guy"

I talked to him the other day and he is in Washington, he is close to the
west coast, been in 39 states and went over 9000 miles.....he's not right! but
hey, if he's having fun, whatever, I guess! talk to you later........Kari

Kari tells us that Gary was in Palm Springs, California heading for the last leg of his journey across the bottom
of the United States taking him to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and finally
into Florida where he plans to pull into Jacksonville in mid-February.

Sounds like he might be able to get a ride back to Illinois with some of the drivers that will be in
Florida for Speedweek. If anyone out there spots him, E-mail us and let us know where he is. Well, at least he
figured the weather right.

While watching MSNBC Sunday morning, suddenly a report came on from Phoenix, Arizona that there was a fellow named Gary Hatter riding the streets of Phoenix on a lawnmower. The report went on to briefly summarize his journey and what he was attempting to do.

Only a few more states remain and it looks as if he is determined to finish his mission. I hope when he arrives in Florida, they will not demand a recount. Right now, it looks as if he will win all the states except Alaska and Hawaii.

Received this E-Mail from Darin Stewart recently and it looks as if Gary completed his journey
through the states and arrived in Florida. We'll do a final wrap-up as soon as he contacts me.

I spoke to a friend who was at Speedweeks and the Lawnmower Man was in attendance as well, so I guess that means his trip is complete...

Just as my wife and I were shocked last August to see a large riding lawnmower pull into our yard, the Lawnmower Guy drove his car into our driveway today to announce that his journey was officially over.
He didn't stay long, but is planning to return for a final interview recapping his eight and one half month
pleasure ride through the United States.

"I drove into the Atlantic Ocean at Daytona Beach on Valentine's Day," he related. The Kubota Mower people then loaded the mower onto a truck, shipped it to Gainsville, where Gary was honored by the President of Kubota at the company's headquarters the next day. Then the mower was shipped to Covington, Indiana, where Gary owns a home, and is on display at the local dealer.

14,594 miles, 48 states, May 31, 2000 to February 14, 2001, 1,880 riding hours, his name in every record book,
and enough stories to write a book. That's what he plans to do as soon as he settles his nerves a little. And we
will leave the website up until he gives us a final story.

He drove a lap around Volusia Speedway on February 13th with the American flag during the UMP Races at the speedway. It seems only fitting for the track photographer of Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Illinois.