This shot is of Greg Honchell (#52) screaming down the track during the 1997 Nationals at Rockford, Illinois. Greg was ranked 5th Nationally at this race.

This shot is of Greg (#52) preparing for his next race during the festivities at the 1997 Nationals. This mower, the "GATES BELTS SPECIAL" was also saved from the scrap heap, is a Springfield lawnmower from 1958, and is a 11-horsepower Briggs & Stratton. Greg named his lawnmower after his sponsor, GATES BELTS. He also has been racing lawnmowers for over 10 years!

On May 2nd, 1998, Greg traveled to St. Joseph, Michigan, to compete with the US Lawnmower Racing Association's Great Lakes Regional. Greg hosed some parts on this race day, but managed to pull off a First Place victory in the Factory Experimental Class, and another First Place victory in the B Prepared class. Greg was smoking that day!!! This is the second consecutive year that Greg won the regional championship in the BP class.

On June 7th, 1998, Greg traveled to Mendota, Illinois for USLMRA regionals. In the Central Illinois Regional, Greg won First Place in the B Prepared class, in the Land of Lincoln Regional, Greg placed Fourth in B Prepared and Fourth in the Factory Experimental Class. Greg had transmission trouble during this race. First place trophies were 5 FEET TALL!!

Greg also competed at the Columbus Motor Speedway with the Ohio Mower Racers and finished second in the heat race and won Second Place in the trophy dash. As usual, Greg was pulling out all the stops and screaming around the track, giving leader Chuck Miller a run for his money!

Here's a shot of Greg at the Pickaway County Fair where he won 3rd Place in Class 3. Greg also raced a different tractor in Class 2.

Greg competed on July 5th, 1998, at the STA-BIL Firecracker Regional in Lisle, IL. Greg won the heat races in B Prepared Class, but lost the first place trophy in the trophy dash because he went to wide in a corner and got ducked on the inside. He finished 2nd in this race.

Here's a shot of Greg taking a victory lap at the Gahanna Grand Prix on July 18th, 1998. Greg ended up taking two trophies home on that day -- 1st Place in Class 1 and 1st Place in Class 3.

Here's a shot of Greg at the STA-BIL Motor City Regional in Belleville, Michigan. Greg ended up taking home a 3rd Place trophy in the Factory Experimental Class and a trophy in BP Class. He did have 2nd Place but he let Al Bitterman from Illinois take it since he is collecting BP Points (Greg collects FX points with the USLMRA).

Greg competed at the STA-BIL Buckeye Regional on August 22nd, 1998, at the All Ohio Balloon Festival in Marysville, Ohio. Greg ended up taking home a couple of trophies on this day -- 2nd Place in AP Class and 3rd Place in the Factory Experimental Class. He did have 1st Place in the FX class most of the race until fellow OMR member, Chuck Miller, took away his lead! Pictures will be here soon!

Here's a shot of Greg with his son, Wade, Tandem Mudbogging at our first mudbog for the 1998 season on May 9th. Must say that is the first for us. We believe that Wade is about 7- or 8-years-old.

This picture shows how Greg and Wade almost tipped over when the mower did a wheelie while exiting the pit area. Wished we could have gotten a front view of this because we were told that little Wade's eyes were as big as saucers when it popped the wheelie!

Greg has been traveling all over the place racing with the STA-BIL racing series. On June 6, 1999 Greg participated in three regionals in Mendota, Illinois. He placed in fourth for all three races (consistent little bugger!). Greg was on his way to the Firecracker Regional in Lisle, Illinois on the 4th of July and their truck had transmission problems and had to head back home! Greg did participate in the Motor City Regional on July 22, 1999, and had a great start in the trophy dash (was running in 2nd place) when he experienced mechanical problems. He was still able to finish the race -- after having to pull off the track to make some quick repairs!

Greg attended the River City Regional in Decatur, Alabama, on May 7, 2000, and brought home some hardware. Greg was battling it out in the FX class and during the final lap he pushed wide and ended up finishing in 3rd.

On July 1-2, 2000, the USLMRA hosted three different regionals in Lisle, Illinois. In the Show Down Regional, Greg finished in 8th place out of 14. The top three were Mike Miller (WI), Kurt Schwengle (WI), and Darryl Bratton (IN). In the Prolong Regional, Greg finished 5th (out of 14). The top three were Kevin Penne (IL), Mike Miller (WI), and Brian Waldron (MI). In the No Leak Challenge Regional, Greg Finished in 6th (out of 11) with Kevin Penne (IL), Chuck Miller (OH), and Brian Waldron (MI) bring home 1-2-3.

On July 30, 2000, Greg participated at the USLMRA Celina Lake Festival Ohio Regional in Celina, Ohio. Greg finished in 3rd Place in the FX Class (out of 7). The top two were Brian Waldron (MI) and Darryl Bratton (IN).

On August 6, 2000, Greg participated in the OMR Sanctioned race at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds in Wapakoneta, Ohio and was cleaning house! In Class 1, Greg finished in 1st Place with Kary Koelliker (IN) and Trish Potenza (OH) bring home 2nd and 3rd, respectively. In Class 2, Greg finished in 3rd Place with Chuck Miller (OH) and Steve Barber (IN) being the top two finishers. In Class 3, Greg finished in 3rd once again (and it should be noted that Greg loaned his modified mower for the modified class to fellow teammate Nate Hendricks and Nate finished in 2nd Place ahead of Greg with Greg's mower). In 1st place for Class 3 was Chuck Miller (OH).

Greg attended the STA-BIL Wolverine Regional in Adrian, Michigan on August 13, 2000. In the FX Class, Greg finished in 6th (out of 7). In 1-2-3 positions were Chuck Miller (OH), Brian Waldron (MI), and Jeff Simkiss (MI).

Here's a shot of Greg at the STA-BIL Buckeye Regional in Marysville, Ohio. There were three regionals held on August 19, 2000 and Greg participated in all three. In the first FX Race, Greg finished in 9th (out of 12 racers). The top three were Kevin Penne (IL), Chuck Miller (OH), and Bob Cleveland (GA). In the 2nd FX regional, Greg finished in 5th (out of 10). The 1-2-3 finishers were Chuck Miller (OH), Mike Miller (WI), and Kevin Penne (IL). In the final FX Class regional, Greg finished again in 5th (out of 12 racers). The top 3 were Kevin Penne (IL), Darryl Bratton (IN), and Mike Miller (WI).

On September 1, 2000, the USLMRA hosted the Prolong Regional and the Nationals events in Greenfield (Indianapolis), Indiana. This was a really tight track with many mowers, so passing was almost impossible. In the Prolong Regional, Greg finished in 5th (out of 17 competitors) with the top three being Chuck Miller (OH), Kevin Penne (IL), and Brian Waldron (MI). In the Nationals event, Greg finished again in 5th (out of 15 mowers). The top three Nationals finishers were Chuck Miller (OH), Kevin Penne (IL), and Mike Miller (WI).

Greg finished in 5th place overall for the 2000 Season USLMRA Points Standings.

Greg attended the Funder Alley Car Show held at ARC Industries in March, 2001. The kids always flock to Greg's mower because it is a true, low rider. Also being a FX mower, a lot of modifications are allowed which makes it look less than a traditional garden tractor and more like a racer in appearance! Greg is faithful in attending this fund raiser for persons with mental retardation and we thank him for his continued support!

Greg "Gates Belt Special" Honchell attended the STA-BIL Race for Literacy in Mansfield, Ohio on May 12th, 2001. Greg finished with a respectible 3rd place in the FX Class behind Kevin Penne (IL), and fellow OMR Teammate Chuck Miller (Marion, OH) in 2nd.

Greg was hauling grass to Mendota, Illinois on June 3rd, 2001 at the Jones Small Engine and Central Illinois Regionals! In the Jones Small Engine Regional Greg finished in 3rd place in the FX Class behind Kevin Penne (IL), and fellow OMR Teammate Chuck Miller (Marion, OH) in 2nd. In the Central Illinois Regional, Greg finished in a very respectible 4th place in the FX Class behind fellow Teammate Chuck Miller (OH), Kevin Penne (IL), and Mike Miller (WI).

On July 4th, 2001 was the Eyes to the Skies Balloon Festival in Lisle, Illinois, where the 5th Annual STA-BIL Firecracker Regional is held. Greg finished with a fantastic 2nd place victory in the FX Class! In top position was Kevin Penne (Illinois) and in 3rd place was Kevin Kiper (also of Illinois).

Greg has made another trip to Lowell (Rome), New York for the 5th Annual STA-BIL Central New York Regional on July 21, 2001. In the FX Class, Greg brought home the checkered flag! WAY TO MOW GREG!!! In 2nd place was Steve Barker (New York) and Lyle Wenham (also of New York).

On July 22, 2001, Greg stayed overnight to compete in another race in the Big Apple at the STA-BIL Hudson Valley Regional in Kiskatom (Catskill), New York. Greg was having a victorious weekend in the FX Class as he received another checkered flag! YEEHAW! Coming in 2nd place was Ben Riegelman from New Jersey and Lyle Wenham from New York.

On July 28, 2001, Greg competed in the FX Class at the STA-BIL Union County Regional in Marysville, Ohio. Greg finished in 2nd place behind Kevin Penne of Illinois. Greg beat out Fellow OMR Teammate Chuck Miller from Marion, Ohio, who finished in 3rd.

On July 29, 2001, Greg headed to Celina, Ohio, for the STA-BIL Ohio Regional to compete in the FX Class. Greg finished with a respectible 3rd place, with Teammate Chuck Miller (Marion, OH) taking home the checkered. Kevin Penne (Illinois) took home 2nd place.

August 18, 2001 is a day we'll all NEVER forget. Greg was competing in the Buckeye Regional at the All Ohio Balloon Festival in Marysville, Ohio. During the FX Class Heat Race, Greg Honchell and Teammate Chuck Miller were battling it out when they had a nasty accident. Greg was flipped from his mower and it narrowly missed hitting him. Greg received a bad cut on his ankle area which they thought was a cut main artery (they couldn't get the spurting of blood to stop). An ambulance was called and Greg was driven away in the ambulance. Chuck's mower was now out of commission for the Trophy Dash. Greg, however, made it back after the trophy dash had started. We were all just glad to see he was ok, but there's Greg on the sidelines pretty mad because they didn't stitch him up fast enough so that he could have made the Trophy Dash. You see, Greg was the top contender for points for the 2001 season and he needed to finish that race to stay in the top position! Greg's instructions from the hospital was to rest and keep his leg elevated, but he was going to compete anyways if he got back in time. We practically had to BEG him to go to the hospital in the first place, because knowing Greg, he would have put some duct tape on his wound and finished the day. Yes, duct tape is usually the cure all, but not for a flesh wound!! This goes to show you what competition can do to ya. Now, back to the results of the race. In the top three positions were: Kevin Penne (Illinois), Jeff Mellinger (Indiana), and Greg's fellow Teammate Richard Dunlavy (Cable, Ohio) bringing home 3rd place.

On September 1, 2001 was the 10th Annual STA-BIL Nationals and the Mid America Regional in Mendota, Illinois. In the FX Class of the Regional, Greg did not finish in the top 5. In the top 5 were Teammate Chuck Miller (Marion, Ohio), Kevin Penne (Illinois), Lee Frolich (parts unknown), Dink Strunk (Alabama), and John Troyer (parts unknown). In the Nationals for the whole ball of wax, Greg finished with a very respectible 4th place, with the top 3 going to Teammate Chuck Miller (Ohio), Kevin Penne (Illinois), and Mike Miller (Wisconsin).

For the 2001 Racing Season Point Standings, Greg finished in 2nd Place overall against 32 racers. In the SP Class, Greg finished in 51st out of 59 racers. That is a fantastic finish for the FX Season Greg and congratulations!

Greg has finally done it, he is the Factory Experimental 2002 National Champion! We couldn't have been more proud of Greg even if we had won the race ourselves. He had really hung in there over the years and never gave up and SUCCEEDED! FANTASTIC DRIVING GREG! Greg also won 2nd Place for Point Standings for the 2002 season in the FX Class. Congratulations! Greg had participated in many races throughout 2002, we will list them all in his statistics below.

Greg was the defending 2002 National FX Champion and did an excellent job of keeping his title until he was hit with only about a lap to go and the lead was taken away from him! Greg still finished with 2nd Place, however. Greg also finished in 2nd Place for the 2003 season in Point Standings for the FX Class. Greg traveled to quite a few places in the 2003 season, so check out his results below.

Lets see how Greg has done over the years.....