--- id: b0481247-c2b4-489a-80ab-d303a8b724a3 title: 'Bob Akin: American Journalist and Racing Driver' abstract: "Bob Akin (1936\u20132002) was an American journalist, television commentator,\ \ and sports car racing driver. He is known for his contributions to motorsports\ \ broadcasting and his participation in major endurance races such as the 24 Hours\ \ of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. A memorial award was established in his\ \ honor to recognize achievements in motorsports." classification: primary: 07:796.33 secondary: - '07' - '796.33' - '796.332' udc_main_class: '0' tags: - Bob Akin - Motorsports - Journalism - Racing Driver - Le Mans - Sports Broadcasting topics: - Journalism - Motorsports - Biography author: '' created_at: '2026-06-01T00:10:30.479062' updated_at: '2026-06-01T02:12:51.172456' sources: - type: url uri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Akin format: url_fetch udc_label: Journalism, publishing in connection with Basketball version: '1' --- ## Card: Bob Akin: American Journalist and Racing Driver Bob Akin (1936–2002) was an American journalist, television commentator, and sports car racing driver. He is known for his contributions to motorsports broadcasting and his participation in major endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. A memorial award was established in his honor to recognize achievements in motorsports. ## Classification Primary: 07:796.33 | Secondary: 07, 796.33, 796.332 | Tags: Bob Akin, Motorsports, Journalism, Racing Driver, Le Mans, Sports Broadcasting | Topics: Journalism, Motorsports, Biography ## Content Bob Akin - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 Biography 2 The Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award Toggle The Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award subsection 2.1 Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award Recipients 3 Racing record Toggle Racing record subsection 3.1 24 Hours of Le Mans results 3.2 12 Hours of Sebring results 4 Primary Information Sources Toggle the table of contents Bob Akin 6 languages العربية مصرى Deutsch Français Bahasa Indonesia Polski Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American journalist, TV commentator & sports car racing driver (1936-2002) This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:   "Bob Akin"  –  news   · newspapers   · books   · scholar   · JSTOR ( April 2026 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Bob Akin Born Robert Macomber Akin, III ( 1936-03-06 ) March 6, 1936 North Tarrytown, New York Died April 29, 2002 (2002-04-29) (aged 66) Atlanta, Georgia Robert Macomber Akin, III (March 6, 1936 – April 29, 2002) was an American business executive, journalist, television commentator and champion sports car racing driver. Biography [ edit ] Bob Akin was born March 6, 1936, in North Tarrytown , N.Y., and was raised in Sleepy Hollow Manor. He was educated at Hackley School in Tarrytown and later served on its board for 30 years and as president from 1980 to 1990. At Columbia University , he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's degree in business administration. He spent 40 years with the Hudson Wire Company in Ossining, N.Y., which was founded by his grandfather in 1901, and was president from 1974 until he retired in 1995. In 1989, the company was dominating the worldwide aircraft and aerospace wiring market when it was sold to the Phelps Dodge Corporation. Akin began his racing career in 1957, competing in outboard boat racing and in drag racing in 1957 and 1958. He switched to road racing , acquiring his amateur SCCA national racing license in 1959 and hired legendary sports car racer John Fitch as his driving coach. Proving a quick study, he piloted an Alfa Veloce Spider to his first win in only his third race at Bridgehampton. He drove a front engine Volpini Formula Junior in 1960, then switched to a 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC for several races during the early part of the 1961 season, before retiring in July of that year, to concentrate on the family business. Almost by accident, Akin returned to racing in 1973, after accepting an invitation from his friend, Sam Posey , to drive a few laps in his Mercedes-Benz 300SL , at the July 4th, 1973 Vintage Sports Car Club of America event at Lime Rock Park . Within a month, he was back at it in earnest, driving a Lotus 11 in vintage racing events until switching to the 1959 Cooper-Monaco that would prove to be his favorite racer, in 1975. In 1978, Akin purchased a Porsche RSR Carrera thinking it would be fun to run in the 1978 12 Hours of Sebring . They ran what was considered to be a test run at Daytona, before the Sebring event, then continued on racing a full season that would include racing at Le Mans with a Porsche 935 Turbo. Now solidly back in the drivers seat, compiled an impressive list of achievements, highlighted by a 6-Hour win at Watkins Glen , '79 and '86 12 Hours of Sebring victories, two second-place finishes in the '81 and '82 24 Hours of Daytona , six appearances, including a fourth overall in '84, at Le Mans . He won the IMSA Camel GT series in 1986 and had four top-10 finishes in IMSA Endurance Championship points standings. He was also a member and former president of the prestigious Road Racing Drivers Club . Akin retired from professional racing in 1991 but stayed quite active in the sport. He returned to racing his beloved vintage and historic cars, competed in the Fastmasters racing series, wrote articles for Road & Track magazine, and did on-air commentary for Speedvision , TBS and ESPN television. Following his retirement from Hudson Wire Company, in 1995, Akin also devoted his time to the management of Bob Akin Motorsports (Now Hudson Historics Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine ), which specializes in the restoration and race preparation of historic race cars. On April 25, 2002, Akin was gravely injured in a violent crash while testing a powerful (900-plus horsepower, twin-turbocharged V-6) 1988 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo for the Walter Mitty Challenge for historic cars at Road Atlanta . His injuries included a broken neck, left leg, left shoulder and right arm, along with third-degree burns over 15 percent of his body. He was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital after the accident. After briefly rallying, the 66-year-old succumbed due to complications from his injuries on April 29, 2002. The Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award [ edit ] In memory of Akin, the Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC) established the Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award, in 2003. The selection committee consists of Brian Redman , Judy Stropus and Bob's son, Bobby Akin. The permanent trophy, designed by Steuben Glass, in Corning, New York, is inscribed with the name and year of award of each annual recipient, and displayed at the International Motor Racing Research Center at Watkins Glen, New York. Individual replica trophies are given to each honoree. "The Akin award is for 'speed with style' which aptly describes Bob Akin" said RRDC President Bobby Rahal . "Not every member of the RRDC is a professional driver, but every one loves racing and is a good guy, and that perfectly describes Bob." The Road Racing Drivers Club presents the Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award annually to the race driver who exemplifies the characteristics for which Bob was known and respected: A passion for motorsports and automobiles A history of successful amateur and/or vintage racing A high level of sportsmanship and fair play An articulate and courteous presence A sharp wit and mischievous sense of humor A broad range of interests and meticulous attention to detail A record of contribution to motorsports and the community A devotion to family and friends Bob Akin Memorial Motorsports Award Recipients [ edit ] 2003 – Sam Posey 2004 – Charlie Gibson 2005 – John Fitch 2006 – Jim Haynes 2007 – Cameron Argetsinger 2008 – Jim Downing 2009 – Steven J. Earle 2010 – Augie Pabst 2011 – Don Knowles 2012 – Miles Collier 2013 – Peter Sachs 2014 – Bill Warner 2015 – Judy Stropus 2016 – Murray Smith 2017 – Archie Urciuoli 2018 – Jeff Zwart 2019 – Rob Dyson 2020 – No Award Given 2021 – Jeremy Shaw 2022 – John Fergus 2023 – Tom Davey 2024 – Patrick Long Racing record [ edit ] 24 Hours of Le Mans results [ edit ] Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class pos. 1978 Dick Barbour Racing Steve Earle Bob Garretson Porsche 935-77 IMSA GTX 159 DNF DNF 1979 Dick Barbour Racing Rob McFarlin Roy Woods Porsche 935/77A IMSA GTX 78 DNF DNF 1980 Racing Associates Inc. Ralph Kent-Cooke Paul Miller  [ de ] Porsche 935 K3/79 IMSA 237 DNF DNF 1981 Bob Akin Motor Racing Paul Miller  [ de ] Craig Siebert Porsche 935-K3/80 IMSA GTX 320 DNF DNF 1982 Bob Akin Motor Racing David Cowart Kenper Miller Porsche 935-L1 IMSA GTX 15 DNF DNF 1984 Brun Motorsport Prince Leopold von Bayern Walter Brun Porsche 956B C1 340 4th 4th 12 Hours of Sebring results [ edit ] Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class pos. 1978 Earle & Akin Racing Steve Earle Rick Knoop Porsche 911 Carrera RSR GTX 225 5th 4th 1979 Dick Barbour Racing Rob McFarlin Roy Woods Porsche 935 GTX 239 1st 1st 1980 Mendez/Woods/Akin Skeeter McKitterick Roy Woods Porsche 935 K3 GTX 232 5th 5th 1981 Bob Akin Motor Racing Derek Bell Craig Siebert Porsche 935 K3 GTX 62 DNF DNF 1982 Bob Akin Motor Racing Derek Bell Craig Siebert Porsche 935-K3/80 GTP 212 12th 6th 1983 Bob Akin Motor Racing John O'Steen Dale Whittington Porsche 935-K3/80 GTP 231 2nd 1st 1984 Bob Akin Motor Racing John O'Steen Hans-Joachim Stuck Porsche 935 -84 GTP 256 5th 5th 1985 Bob Akin Motor Racing Jim Mullen Hans-Joachim Stuck Porsche 962 GTP 66 DNF DNF 1986 Bob Akin Motor Racing Jo Gartner Hans-Joachim Stuck Porsche 962 GTP 287 1st 1st 1987 Bob Akin Motor Racing Steve Shelton James Weaver Porsche 962 GTP 280 6th 5th Primary Information Sources [ edit ] NY Times Obituary, dated May 3, 2002, Bob Akin, 66, Auto Racer Who Won at Sebring Twice Internet Source: Dark Horse Racing Internet Source: Hudson Historics About Us Internet Source: Historic Racing Internet Source: Road Racing Drivers Club v t e Winners of the 12 Hours of Sebring Six-time Tom Kristensen Five-time Rinaldo Capello Four-time Frank Biela Pipo Derani Allan McNish Three-time Mario Andretti Felipe Nasr Hans-Joachim Stuck Marco Werner Two-time Bob Akin Sébastien Bourdais Geoff Brabham Derek Daly Loïc Duval Andy Evans Juan Manuel Fangio Juan Manuel Fangio II Olivier Gendebien Hurley Haywood Hans Herrmann Phil Hill Al Holbert Jacky Ickx Stefan Johansson Nicolas Lapierre JJ Lehto Alex Lynn Emanuele Pirro Brian Redman Jordan Taylor Eric van de Poele Johannes van Overbeek Fermín Vélez Andy Wallace Phil Walters One-time Aïello Aitken Alboreto Andlauer Baker Baldi Bamber Barbosa Barbour Behra Bernhard Bianchi Bomarito Bonnier Gary Brabham Brown Castellotti Collard Collins Curran Daigh Dalmas Davidson de Narváez Delétraz Dumas Dyer Earl Elford Fässler Fitch Fittipaldi Fitzpatrick Foyt Franchitti Frisselle Garretson Gartner Gené Giunti Gray Gregg Gurney Hall Hawthorn Heinrich Helmick Herbert Herta Heyer Hunter-Reay Jani Jarvis Kaffer Keyser Kulok Larrousse Leven Lloyd Ludwig Luyendyk Maglioli Mass McFarlin McLaren Mendez Miles Millen Moffat Moretti Morton Moss Mullen Müller Nierop O'Connell Oliver Pace Panis Parkes Paul Jr. Paul Sr. Pescatori Peter Pruett Rahal Robinson Rojas Ruby Scarfiotti H. Sharp S. Sharp Siffert Sims Surtees Tandy R. Taylor W. Taylor Theys Tincknell Tréluyer Vaccarella Vanthoor Vautier Wollek Woods Wurz Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Akin&oldid=1350282019 " Categories : 1936 births 2002 deaths Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni People from Sleepy Hollow, New York 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Columbia Business School alumni World Sportscar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers IMSA GT Championship drivers Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from April 2026 All articles needing additional references Articles with hCards Webarchive template wayback links This page was last edited on 21 April 2026, at 02:31  (UTC) . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. , a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Legal & safety contacts Code of Conduct Developers Statistics Cookie statement Mobile view Search Search Toggle the table of contents Bob Akin 6 languages Add topic ## Source - url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Akin