Lee Acree at speed on the KWS/Millennium Suzuki at Road America in 2005. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Lee Acree came to professional motorcycle racing later in life than most. The rider from Jamestown, N.C., didn’t even race in his first AMA Pro event until he was 27. He proved that you didn’t need to start racing minibikes at six years old to become a success in road racing.

Acree grew up around motor racing. His father was a sports car racer and that was the path Lee was taking until a friend invited him to participate in a motorcycle race in 1992.

“We both entered the riding school and raced that weekend,” said Acree in a 2000 interview at Daytona. “I just kept racing motorcycles and never switched back to cars. It’s been so much fun that I’m just going to see how far I can go on the bikes.”

Acree’s racing stayed pretty low key his first few years. He did well on the regional club racing level and never thought much of pursuing racing as a profession. He rode a variety of racing machinery in his early years including everything from big 900cc street bikes to diminutive 250cc Grand Prix machines.

By 1998 Acree was notice by Chuck Warren, owner of Arclight Suzuki. Warren picked up Acree to race with the Arclight’s endurance racing team.

In 2001 Acree’s win in the AMA 750 Supersport race at Virginia International Raceway was one of the biggest upset wins in the history of the series.

Lee Acree in 2005. (Larry Lawrence photo)

By the time Acree broke through to national recognition he was realistic about his chances of gaining a full factory ride, but he said he’d gone a lot further in the sport than he ever imagined he would. Going with the flow is a good way to describe his attitude on his future in racing.

“I’m happy with the level I’ve attained. Just to get out there and be able to compete head-to-head with some of the best riders in the country is something that so few riders ever get to experience.”

In 2008 Acree’s ugly crash at Infineon was caught in vivid detail by SPEED cameras. Today he’s one of the instructors at the Kevin Schwantz school and plans to continue racing even though he went through a long recovery after the Infineon crash and is approaching 40.

You can follow him on Twitter here.