| Many years ago, a small framed, petite young lady named Lisa
Akin. from Niles, Michigan, made a great accomplishment at the
Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur Nationals, she won the very first
women's class title in 1982 and then she returned to win that
same title for the next three consecutive years, 1983, 1984,
and 1985. Lisa had determination and guts during those times.
Especially in 1984, when she rode the third moto in severe pain
due to a leg injury with one idea in mind, taking home the overall
win. Akin's strongest asset was her determination. She didn't
give up very easily. " On Easter Sunday in 1984, I had
broken my leg and I was only able to start racing again about
qualifier time. I pushed myself and I trained twice as
hard as the guys. I bicycled everyday and worked out on lift
machines. I spent as much time as possible riding." said
the talented champion. |
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At age seven, she started
drag racing her motorcycle in Plymouth, Indiana. Her first
motocross was also in Indiana. "My cousins, Mark
and Scott Hinkle used to race. Mark raced first and said
it was really fun. So then the rest of us started racing.
My mom, Jane, used to race motocross until she hurt her
wrist. She used to ride with me to make me rider harder
and she would tell me to go faster.
" Lisa rode mini "B" on a Yamaha JT 60
when she initially began her motocross career. He has
a multitude of sponsors with Yamaha always being at the
top of her list followed by Hi-Point, Scott Goggles, Lancer
and Dynamic Racing. "I started riding for Team Dynamic
and the guy that owned the shop told Yamaha about me and
then they picked me 7up. I held second in the Women's
invitational that year:. Lisa's finishes range from her
1979 second place finish in the 125 class and her fourth
on a 250 at the Women's Nationals in California to her
1988 Women's Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur Championship.
Of course, her favorite female competitor was Mercedes
Gonzales who she had lots of heated competition with throughout
their racing careers. In 1988, at Loretta's Mercedes and
I were tied going into the 3rd moto. I gave it my all
for the moto win and the championship to defeat Mercedes." |
| Lisa
Akin & Larry Maiers at Loretta's and 5 Time Women's
AMA Amateur National Champion » |
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Akin enjoyed racing her male
counterparts but racing with females there was a higher
chance of being successful. The hardest thing for me racing
against guys was if I passed a guy all of a sudden he
goes faster. I think they just know I was a girl and they
don't want to get beat by a girl. I didn't really get
pushed around out there. Sometimes they bump me but they
would bump anybody else, I think. Generally everybody
was really nice to me.
Lisa admitted there have been many great times in the
Akin family with their racing but there also has been
some embarrassing moments too. "My dad, Drex, twice
forgot to fill the bikes up with gas. I was winning the
hare scrambles at the Mini-Olympics in Florida one year
and was in sight of the checkered flag and ran out of
gas."
She continued by saying the promoters are such an important
aspect of racing. "Some promoters don't care about
the riders. Sometimes they charge alot and then won't
pay anything back to the riders." But she now knows
first hand all about promoting as she married another
motocross competitor Bobby Wagner. Bobby and Lisa are
the track promoters for Dutch Sport Park in Michigan.
She and Bobby wanted to have a place that was fun and
where people could see improvement and know where their
money was going. |
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« Lisa and her YZ
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