WORDS Tara Crutchfield
Give it Some Gas, Grandma Start your engines and glue down those dentures, Polk County. It’s time for the 2022 NAMSER Races. The Polk Elderly Alliance and Polk County Tourism, in partnership with NASCAR, are bringing you the national phenomenon that is the National Association for Motor Scooter Elderly Racing (NAMSER). Instead of mullets and mustaches, the stands will be filled with Life Alert necklaces and arthritis. The 2022 NAMSER Cup, to be held at the Auburndale Speedway next month, will host two pedal-to-the-metal categories – Jazzy and Little Rascal races.
working man’s motorized scooter – there’s a reason they call the Little Rascal a ‘power’ chair. As many of you may know, the NAMSER Cup is a pretty big deal in the world of American auto racing. A true national pastime, these blue hair badass races have been broadcast everywhere from Austin, TX to Philadelphia, PA. Polk County Tourism was overjoyed when they won the bid to host the 2022 NAMSER Cup. With the distinction of hosting the races comes millions in tourism dollars. Expect even more seniors on Polk County roads as the NAMSER caravan of groupies make their way to the races (some of which are traveling from The Villages – so protection is strongly advised).
A Jazzy, for those who don’t love their grandmas (or else you would have already gotten her one), is an electric wheelchair lauded as the height of mobile luxury. Little Rascals are a brand of 4-wheeled motorized scooters. Jazzys clear 4.25 mph of ground speed with the capability to cover even the roughest terrain due to its advanced suspension. Little Rascals are a more adrenaline-inducing vehicle maxing out ground speeds at 6 miles per hour. Try walking that fast – not going to happen. Left Pa-paw out in the rain? No worries, he can kick that Rascal into 4WD, and he’ll be just fine. In fact, he might even tow you out of the mud with his 10,000-pound towing capacity. Known as the
Every year at the Daytona 500, thousands of screaming fans watch cars blur around a 2.5-mile track, 200 times, traveling a distance of 500 miles. The ‘Auburndale 2,’ as officials are calling the 2022 NAMSER Cup, will consist of speedy seniors going a heart-pounding 4-6 miles per hour for eight laps, totaling 2 miles around the quarter-mile-long Auburndale Speedway. - CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 -
Aerial view of racetrack havenmagazines.com
Mimi + Jim 20
