Success on a racetrack can result in immortality. Even the casual sports fan can recite the names of Foyt, Andretti, Unser, Mears, Franchitti, and Owens.

Yes, all have been driven or in this case have driven in their chase for glory. The former at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while the latter at a dirt course set up around a ball diamond at Plank Hill Park in a pit stop along Indiana 16 called Twelve Mile.

The 50th edition of the Twelve Mile 500 Lawnmower Race, which makes it the oldest of its kind anywhere in the nation, will kick off the first of three races at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Dean Owens wasnt born into the sport of racing; he just stumbled upon it when a neighbor told the 13-year-old about a group of guys that gathered each Fourth of July in a park nearby to race lawnmowers. The year was 1969 and they had been doing it for six years prior. The moment that Owens laid eyes on the competition he knew that he wanted to immerse himself in the sweat, oil, dirt and yes, fear of speeding through trees in a cluster of mayhem.

I got pretty excited about it, Owens recalled.

The excitement spread throughout the mechanically-inclined Owens family and eventually Deans two brothers, his father, his son, and even his sister tested their skill and guile.

It was quite a family affair, Owens said.

Owens will be competing in his 38th race on Wednesday, which is a new track record of the sorts.

I consider myself very competitive, Owens said. But I have a ball doing it.

The race is broken into three categories: Briggs and Super Stock (both of which are four-cylinder races) and a two-cylinder Modified race in which Owens said anything goes.

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Legendary driver may call it a career at infamous race