{{short description|American motorcycle racer}} {{Infobox Motocross rider | name = Steve Stackable | image = | caption = | nationality = American | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|July 3, 1954}} | birth_place = Wiesbaden, Germany | death_date = | death_place = | years = 1974 - 1981 | teams = Maico, Suzuki, Kawasaki | races = | championships = AMA 500cc SX - 1975 | wins = 2 }}
'''Steve Stackable''' (born July 3, 1954) is an American former professional motocross racer and current hang glider instructor.<ref name="Steve Stackable AMA career statistics">{{cite web |url=https://vault.racerxonline.com/rider/steve-stackable/points |title=Steve Stackable AMA career statistics |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=29 December 2019 }}</ref><ref name="Where Are They Now?: Steve Stackable">{{cite web |url=https://racerxonline.com/2006/02/23/where-are-they-now-steve-stackable |title=Where Are They Now?: Steve Stackable |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=29 December 2019 }}</ref> He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1974 to 1981.<ref name="Steve Stackable AMA career statistics"/> Stackable is notable for winning the 1975 AMA 500cc Supercross national championship.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=z_gDAAAAMBAJ&dq=american+motorcyclist+steve+stackable&pg=PA47 AMA Supercross Series], ''American Motorcyclist'', January 1977, Vol. 31, No. 1, {{ISSN|0277-9358}}</ref>
==Motocross career== Stackable was born in Wiesbaden, Germany where his father served in the U.S. Military.<ref name="MXA Interview: Steve Stackable">{{cite web |url=https://motocrossactionmag.com/mxa-interview-steve-stackable/ |title=MXA Interview: Steve Stackable |date=18 February 2022 |publisher=motocrossactionmag.com |accessdate=4 March 2023}}</ref> He was raised in Wyoming and briefly in Japan before his family settled in Austin, Texas when he was 16-years-old.<ref name="MXA Interview: Steve Stackable"/> Stackable purchased a 175cc Yamaha motorcycle and began racing motocross in the early 1970s, easily winning his first races as a novice class racer.<ref name="MXA Interview: Steve Stackable"/> He began his professional racing career in 1972 and began competing in the AMA motocross national championships on a privateer CZ. In 1974 season, Stackable contested the 500cc motocross national championship riding a privateer Maico and ended the season ranked third behind Jimmy Weinert and Tony DiStefano.<ref name="Where Are They Now?: Steve Stackable"/>
His performance earned him a place on the Maico factory team for the 1975 season.<ref name="Legends and Heroes to Honor 1975 Supercross Champ Stackable">{{cite web |url=https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2013/04/04/legends-and-heroes-to-honor-1975-supercross-champ-stackable/ |title=Legends and Heroes to Honor 1975 Supercross Champ Stackable |date=4 April 2013 |publisher=ultimatemotorcycling.com |accessdate=4 March 2023}}</ref> 1975 would mark the peak of Stackable's career. He began the season by winning the Daytona 500cc Supercross race and followed with another victory at the Dallas 500cc supercross race to win the AMA 500cc Supercross national championship ahead of DiStefano and Weinert.<ref name="Legends and Heroes to Honor 1975 Supercross Champ Stackable"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_gDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1975+ama+500cc+supercross+championship&pg=PA47 |title=AMA Supercross Series |access-date=4 March 2023 |last1=Assoc |first1=American Motorcyclist |date=January 1977}}</ref>
Stackable's good results continued in the 1975 500cc AMA outdoor Motocross National Championship. As the national championship reached the climactic final race of the season in New Orleans, Stackable was one of five competitors with a mathematical chance to win the title including; Suzuki’s Billy Grossi, Honda’s Pierre Karsmakers, Husqvarna’s Kent Howerton, and Yamaha’s Jimmy Weinert.<ref name="24 Memorable Motos New Orleans 1975">{{cite web|url=https://racerxonline.com/2017/05/16/24-memorable-motos-new-orleans-1975 |title=24 Memorable Motos New Orleans 1975 |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=28 February 2023}}</ref> In the first of two motos, he was in second place with only a few laps left in the race when his spokes started coming out of his motorcycle's front wheel. He struggled to finish the race but dropped down in the field of competitors to finish in 11th place.<ref name="MXA Interview: Steve Stackable"/> He easily won the second moto however, his poor result in the first moto relegated him to second place in the season final standings behind the defending champion Jimmy Weinert.<ref name="24 Memorable Motos New Orleans 1975"/>
Stackable was hired by the Suzuki factory motocross team in 1976 on the recommendation of Roger De Coster who was impressed by Stackable's riding after he placed third behind De Coster and Harry Everts at the Lake Whitney round of the 1974 Trans-AMA motocross series.<ref name="MXA Interview: Steve Stackable"/> He won the first national championship race of his career on August 1, 1976 at the Unadilla motocross circuit in New Berlin, New York.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vault.racerxonline.com/1976-08-01/500mx/unadilla |title=1976 Unadilla 500cc MX |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=4 March 2023 }}</ref> Despite finishing third in both the 250cc and 500cc Outdoor National classes, Suzuki released him at the end of the season because he didn't provide the desired results.<ref name="MXA Interview: Steve Stackable"/>
Stackable rejoined the Maico team for the 1977 season and he would claim the second national event of his career when he won the 500cc class at the Lake Whitney, Texas national.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclenews.com/2024/02/article/archives-column-a-day-of-firsts-and-lasts/ |title=A Day of Firsts and Lasts |publisher=cyclenews.com |accessdate=7 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://vault.racerxonline.com/1977-07-17/500mx/lake-whitney-cycle-ranch |title=1977 Lake Whitney 500cc MX |publisher=racerxonline.com |accessdate=4 March 2023}}</ref> He once again placed third in the AMA 500cc motocross national championship, this time behind Bob Hannah and Marty Smith.<ref name="Steve Stackable AMA career statistics"/>
Stackable along with DiStefano, Kent Howerton and Gary Semics, represented the United States at the 1977 Motocross des Nations and Trophy des Nations events where they scored impressive second-place finishes in France and Holland, at a time when American motocross racers were still seen as less experienced than their European rivals.<ref name="Steve Stackable Honored In Texas">{{cite web |url=https://www.cyclenews.com/2013/04/article/steve-stackable-honored-in-texas/ |title=Steve Stackable Honored In Texas |publisher=cyclenews.com |accessdate=29 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mxofnations.blogspot.com/2011/09/1977.html |title=1977 Motocross des Nations |publisher=mxofnations.blogspot.com |accessdate=29 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://motocrossactionmag.com/can-you-name-every-every-american-mxdn-team-since-1972-you-can-once-you-read-this-story/ |title=Can You Name Every American MXDN Team Since 1972 |date=26 September 2012 |publisher=motocrossactionmag.com |accessdate=29 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPgDAAAAMBAJ&dq=steve+baker+yamaha&pg=PA38 |title=Consistent Yanks Fare Well |author=Amick, Bill |year=1977 |magazine=American Motorcyclist |access-date=16 September 2023 }}</ref> He continued to race until 1981, but without the same level of success and retired from motocross racing at the age of 27.
After his motocross racing career, Stackable became a tandem hang gliding and paragliding instructor.<ref name="Steve Stackable Honored In Texas"/> He operated the Torrey Pines Gliderport service department until his retirement.<ref name="Steve Stackable Honored In Texas"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hillcountrymotorheads.com/texas-m-c-revival/steve-stackable-bio/ |title=Steve Stackable Bio |publisher=hillcountrymotorheads.com |accessdate=19 May 2026}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stackable, Steve}} Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Category:Sportspeople from Wiesbaden Category:American motocross riders Category:AMA Motocross Championship National Champions Category:Hang gliding Category:Paraglider pilots