Mert Lawwill in 1970

The following is a press release from Hot Shoe Hall of Fame…

Las Vegas, NV (November 8, 2023) – Flat Track motorcycle champion Mert Lawwill, star of the famed On Any Sunday movie by Bruce Brown7, has been named the 2024 Maely Award recipient for his Lifetime Achievement to the motorcycle sport and will be awarded the honor on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at the fourth annual Hot Shoe Hall of Fame Museum and Motorcycle Industry Celebration at the Las Vegas’ Notoriety Theatre on the famed Las Vegas Fremont Street Experience (450 E. Fremont St., 3rd Floor).

Lawwill, 83, was not only champion racer in the tough AMA Grand National circuit, but the Boise, Idaho, native was renowned two-wheel innovator in motorcycles and mountain bikes. He captured the 1969 AMA national flat track championship as a factory Harley-Davidson rider and was then featured during his 1970 campaign carrying the No. 1 plate in the movie. That tough 1970 season was filmed and highlighted in the On Any Sunday documentary, which also featured Steve McQueen and Malcolm Smith.

In 1961, Lawwill moved to Los Angeles to compete at the famed Ascot Park dirt track, the epicenter of dirt track racing. He gained sponsorship from Dudley Perkins, a Harley-Davidson dealer in San Francisco learned about modifying motorcycle frames. By 1963, he had become a professional rider and, in 1964, he signed a contract with the Harley-Davidson factory racing team.

Mert Lawwill and Steve McQueen

Lawwill won his first AMA national race at the Sacramento Mile in 1965, and later won the AMA Grand National Championship and was voted AMA’s Most Popular Rider of the Year in 1969. Lawwill continued to compete for the AMA national tour until 1977 when he retired at the age of 37 due to an inner-ear disorder that affected his balance. Mert won 15 AMA Grand National races.

Mert Lawwill at Ascot in 1970

“I want to thank Gene Woods, Keith Mashburn and the entire Hot Shoe Hall of Fame group for this great honor,” said Lawwill, who is also in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. “I’m so fortunate to have been around the two-wheel sport for the majority of my life and proud to have so many friends in the motorcycle industry. The Hot Shoe Hall of Fame Celebration is a great night for racing memories and meeting up with old racers. The night is worth it for every motorcycle fan and enthusiast.”

In the late 1970s, Lawwill became involved in designing bicycle frames for mountain biking. He was one of the early pioneers in the off-road bicycling world, having introduced the first production mountain bike. He also developed the first commercially produced four-bar linkage suspension for mountain bikes and patented the design. During this period, he continued his involvement in motorcycle racing as a race team owner in the AMA Grand National Championship until 1990.

Mert Lawwill at Sacto Mile in 1970

Lawwill’s custom racing bicycles became highly prized by top racers around the world and his designs won numerous national and world titles. Lawwill is currently involved in constructing and marketing street-legal versions of the Harley-Davidson XR-750 bike. He also runs a non-profit company supplying prosthetic hands so that amputees can ride bicycles or motorcycles. Lawwill joins Judy Maely (2020), Kenny Roberts (2021), Larry Huffman (2022) and Brad Lackey (2023) as the fifth member of the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement to the motorcycle industry award. In addition to Lawwill’s Lifetime Award, over 50 new inductees will be a part of the 2024 class for the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame when this year’s event gets underway on Saturday, January 27, 2024, with the popular meet & greet celebration and presentations at 6 p.m.

Woods, the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame Museum founder and curator, is thrilled to add Lawwill to the list of Lifetime Achievement Award winners in this year’s celebration. “Mert became one of the greatest flat track racers of all time and was known worldwide through the On Any Sunday movie,” said Woods. “After his racing career, he continued to assist the motorcycle and bicycle industries with creative designs and helping the handicapped riders. We are so pleased to add Mert to our prestigious list of Lifetime Achievement Award winners.”

The Hot Shoe is the symbol that recognizes the cream of the crop of motorcycle racing stars who used a very specialized tool, the steel shoe, to assist them in navigating the dirt track corners. For those accepted into the Hall of Fame, the honorees’ Hot Shoe is mounted on a Hall of Fame plaque. Recipients also receive their own version 8×10 plaque. Potential Hot Shoe Hall of Fame candidates can apply on the www.hotshoehof.com website. For more information on the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame celebration and hotels, visit the website at www.hotshoehof.com