...at least former Alleghany #57 does. Several years ago Advantage Trailers Inc decided to start racing lawn mowers and needed a vehicle to haul the mower. They quickly decided a school bus would be ideal.

They checked the ncbussafety.org website for used vehicles and found one close to home at the Alleghany bus garage.  Jeff Johnson, the director showed his available E4 inventory to Steven Cassell & Daryl Reeves from Advantage and made a quick sale for $2500.00 for the 1988 Chevy bus with 171,000 miles

At that point the school bus was driven to their main truck shop for an extensive overhaul by some of the company’s skilled employees. Upgrades included; shiny new paint, chrome everything, tinted windows, 6500 watt generator, two A/C units, enlarged rear door, larger rear tires, manual transmission with 2 speed rear axle, turbo installed on the 8.2, interior refrigerator, LED lighting, wall-to-wall carpet, freight train air horns, and chrome side pipes! 

Steven is not sure how much money and man hours were spent on the transformation but the end result was what they wanted.  Steven says everywhere they take the bus, it always draws a crowd of curious onlookers.

They have been racing lawn mowers for over 5 years.

 

 

Jeff Johnson, Alleghany Co. Transportation director checks out the customized stop sign

 

The custom side pipes sound good and always draw a comment from onlookers.

 

 

 

 

The extra large rear door makes for easy loading of the cargo.

 

 

 

 

Locomotive homs ensure that everyone within a one mile radius will know this bus is comin.

 

 

 

view from the rear. The large black object on the left is a refrigerator mounted over the tire well.

 

 

 

6500 watt generator provides ample power.

 

 

 

 

Four on the floor, two speed axle, turbo charged... This bus is ready for the speedway if the lawn mower hauling gig does not work out!

 

 

 

The souped up lawnmowers can reach speeds up to 60 mph using modified Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engines.

The racers receive trophies for a victory and all money raised by the circuit is donated to charity.
Click on this link for more information about Lawnmower racing.