[1] By the age of 16, his racing success earned him sponsorship from Sprite Motorcycles, sold in America under the American Eagle brand.
[4][5] Early in his racing career, Lackey made a political statement during the Vietnam War by mounting a white plastic peace dove onto his motorcycle's handlebar.
[6] 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.
[7] 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.
[9] 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.
[1][8] 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.
[7] 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.
[7][15] Lackey continued to make progress in the 1974 season, placing third behind Roger De Coster and Mikkola in the second moto at the Italian Grand Prix.
[19] As motocross surged in popularity in the 1970s, the Honda factory entered the world championships in 1977 and hired Lackey to compete in the 500cc class.
[24] In 1981, Suzuki returned to Grand Prix motocross after a three year hiatus and offered Lackey a contract to race for them however, this meant he would have to develop a new motorcycle.
[10][27][28][29][30][31] After his world championship victory, Suzuki made the decision to scale back their racing efforts due to a worldwide economic recession and Lackey was left without a sponsor.