Brad Lackey (born July 8, 1953) is an American former professional motocross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1970 to 1972 and, in the Motocross World Championships from 1973 to 1982. Lackey was notable for becoming the first and only American to win the 500cc motocross world championship in 1982. Nicknamed "Bad Brad", Lackey was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, in 2013 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Early career
Born in Berkeley, California, Lackey grew up in Pinole, California as the son of an avid motorcyclist. He grew up riding off-road motorcycles in the mountains around the San Francisco Bay area. He began racing motocross at the age of 13 and progressed to become an expert-ranked rider. By the age of 16, his racing success earned him sponsorship from Sprite Motorcycles, sold in America under the American Eagle brand. In his early racing career, Lackey made a political statement during the Vietnam War by mounting a white plastic peace dove onto his motorcycle's handlebar.
Lackey's first racing success came when he rode a Sachs motorcycle to win the support class at a 1969 Inter-Am event near his home in northern California. The 1969 Inter-Am series featured visiting European professional racers such as Joël Robert and Torsten Hallman, who made an impression on Lackey with how much faster they were than their American counterparts. At that time, the sport of motocross was beginning to grow in popularity in the United States and, American motocross racers were not as advanced as the racers from Europe where the sport had originated. Despite his hippie style, Lackey was one of the first American motocross racers to learn about the importance of intense physical training necessary to compete at a world championship level.
In 1970, Lackey received sponsorship from a local ČZ dealer and in 1971, ČZ sent him to Czechoslovakia to enter a training camp to develop his physical fitness and riding abilities. While training in Czechoslovakia, he lived in a room with no heating or running water but, he was driven on by his determination to compete against the best motocross racers in the world. While he was in Czechoslovakia, Lackey gained his first experience on the world championship motocross Grand Prix circuit when ČZ entered him into a few 250cc Grand Prix races.
He returned to the United States and competed for ČZ in the 1971 AMA 500cc motocross national championship, finishing in second place just one point behind champion Mark Blackwell. While racing for ČZ, Lackey employed the tuning abilities of fellow racer and future AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame member, Carl Cranke who was known for his ability to extract horsepower from two stroke engines.
Lackey began the 1972 AMA Motocross National Championship season winning 4 of the first 7 races on a ČZ, at which point the Kawasaki factory offered Lackey a contract to race for them. He won his fifth race of the season on a Kawasaki and clinched the 1972 AMA 500cc 1972 AMA Motocross National Championship in dominating fashion.
Lackey also finished as the highest ranked American rider in the 1972 Trans-AMA motocross series. When the AMA showed no interest in sending an American team to the 1972 Motocross des Nations in Belgium, Lackey stepped in and persuaded Jim Pomeroy, Jimmy Weinert and Gary Jones to join him in the first-ever team to represent the United States at the event, where the team posted a seventh place result.
World championship career
Kawasaki wanted Lackey to stay in America and defend his national championship however, after winning the national championship, he was determined to go to Europe to race against the best riders in the world in the world championship Grand Prix events. He became the first American competitor to make a long-term commitment by moving to Europe in pursuit of a motocross world championship. Few other American motocross racers were willing to negotiate the foreign languages and border crossings in Europe when they could make a comfortable living at home.
In the 1973 500cc motocross world championships, Lackey scored numerous top ten results and finished the season ranked 13th in the world but, he grew frustrated by his motorcycle's mechanical problems and Kawasaki's lack of support.