TWELVE MILE — Plank Hill Park in Twelve Mile was the place to be Saturday afternoon to catch the 47th running of the Twelve Mile 500 Riding Lawnmower Race. The weather was cool and wet, the engines were hot, and the mud was flying when the green flags waved for each race.

When it was over it was repeat winners from a year ago in each race.

In the Briggs Division it was Todd Martin, who came from the 27th starting position to take the top spot. When the checkered flag flew to end the Modified race it was Randy Troyer claiming his fourth straight win and ninth overall. Troyer started from the sixth position.

Mark Rudicel was the polesitter for the Briggs race and got a good jump on the field. He led after the first lap but Neil Schroder made a nice pass on the leader in turn two of the second lap. At the end of 20 laps, Kevin Graf was the leader followed by Mark Graf and Pascal Moon.

Considering the amount of mud around the track, there were very few on-track incidents. One took place on lap 22 when Tyler Graf went hard into the wall of hay in the first turn. After restarting his mower he jumped back into the hunt. Two laps later in nearly the same spot, Jim Hoover also went hard into the hay. He too was able to get under way again and rejoined the field. On lap 29 Rudicel was near the top when the gremlins hit his mower. Just before going into the final turn his mower jerked and he pulled into the infield area with a busted rear end and was unable to continue.

After taking the lead shortly before the halfway point of the race, Martin was still in control after 40 laps. He was followed by Moon and Mark Graf. The rain continued to fall making it difficult for the racers to see. At this point, Martin was in control of the race and was not going to be denied his second 500 victory in as many years. When the checkered flag fell, Martin had held on the win with Moon taking second, Cole Allen third, Mark Graf fourth, and Quinn Cox rounding out the top five.

“I just kept pace with the guys that were bunched up in front of me and then I took my chances when I could. When the white flag came out I was pretty confident and knew I had a lead but wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to catch me or not,” said Martin.

In the modified race, polesitter Greg Zimpleman had plans to keep the Troyers behind him. He was able to keep three of them behind him, but unfortunately for him there were five of them in the race.

“I’m going to try to stay out of the penalty box even though I haven’t figured out how to do that yet,” said Zimpleman. “Seriously, the Troyers are going to pass me so I’m just going to follow them and hopefully make a pass on the last lap for the win.”

Twenty laps into the race Zimpleman was still toward the front of the field but his friend Chris Ulerick had taken the lead with John Troyer hot on his heels and Chuck Warpenburg rounding out the top three.

Midway through the race, the rain began coming down harder, forming pools of water on various parts of the track. With the mowers kicking up mud behind them clear visibility became a thing of the past. Participants along with their rides became caked in mud with much of it covering their helmets and visors.

By the 40-lap mark Ulerick was still in the lead with Randy Troyer and Joey Troyer in second and third.

During the final third of the race, the top three jockeyed for position with each leading briefly before Randy Troyer took the lead for good with just over 10 laps to go. When it was over Troyer claimed his ninth victory with Ulerick coming in second and Randy’s nephew Joey Troyer taking third.

After the race the winner spoke about the track conditions.

“It was really a rough track today but for some reason my mower runs well in these conditions,” Randy Troyer said.

The winner was able to avoid the penalty box throughout the day with only one exception.

“I was fortunate to only have one but really with the conditions the way they were it was hard to get going fast enough for a penalty. The track was slick and you couldn’t hardly see with all the mud,” he said.

Ulerick was one who had difficulty with the conditions.

“I wanted to go out there and find someone to follow but with the mud it made it almost impossible to see anything in front of you,” said Ulerick.