Tuesday, April 30
Akin crashed
last Thursday
ESPN.com news services
ATLANTA -- Bob Akin
died late Monday night of complications from injuries suffered last
Thursday during a testing accident for a historic sports car race at Road
Atlanta.
Akin crashed in a 1988
Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo during testing for the Walter Mitty Challenge. He was
airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital after the accident.
Akin, 66, broke his
neck in the accident and had third-degree burns to 15 percent of his body,
a broken left leg, right arm and left shoulder and multiple cuts.
Akin had retired from
professional racing in 1991, but has remained active in vintage and
historic car racing and ran a racing company in Ossining, N.Y.
Akin, who won the
prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring in 1979 and 1986, was a standout in sports
car racing in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) during his
professional driving career. He also made six starts in the 24 Hours of Le
Mans with a best finish of fourth in 1984. He won the IMSA World Endurance
Championship in 1986
He started racing in
1957 in dragsters, then switched to road racing in 1959. He retired from
driving in 1961 to concentrate on his business, but returned to racing in
1973. He won the IMSA World Endurance Championship in 1986. Mr. Akin was
also a member and former president of the Road Racers Drivers Club.
He is survived by his
wife, three children, a brother and three grandchildren.
Bob Akin was born on
March 6, 1936, in North Tarrytown, N.Y., and was raised in Sleepy Hollow
Manor. He was educated at Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY, and received a
BS and MBA from Columbia University.
Information from the
Associated Press was used in this report.
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