Joe Leonard: Three-Time AMA Champion Who Became a USAC Title Winner

Joe Leonard was an American motorcycle racer who went on to win the USAC National Championship in cars. He took the AMA Grand National Championship in 1954, 1956 and 1957 before switching to four wheels after the 1961 season. He won the USAC title in 1971 and 1972, and a serious crash in 1974 ended his competitive career.

Born on August 4, 1932, Leonard died on April 27, 2017. His career spanned an era when two-wheeled and four-wheeled racing were both popular in America, and he moved between them with a rare degree of success. His record includes Indianapolis 500 results, two Daytona 200 wins and a 1968 pole set at a new track record speed.

How successful was Joe Leonard on motorcycles?

Leonard won the first AMA Grand National Championship in 1954 and retained it in 1956 and 1957. He recorded 27 motorcycle race wins, including the 1957 and 1958 Daytona 200 races. He finished second in the national standings in 1958, 1960 and 1961, retiring after the 1961 season.

He was third in the standings in 1955 and fifth in 1959. Leonard was also a member of The Dons, a San Jose motorcycle club that belonged to AMA District 36.

Three motorcycle titles, then a USAC crown on four wheels, with a career cut short by a tyre failure in 1974.

How did Leonard make the switch to USAC?

Before reaching the USAC National Championship, Leonard raced on the NASCAR super modified circuit at Fresno and San Jose. He made his USAC debut in 1964 with a light schedule of five races for different teams. His best finish that season was fifth at the Bobby Ball Memorial at Phoenix International Raceway, and he finished 24th in the standings.

In 1965 he became a teammate of Dan Gurney at All American Racers. That year he took his first USAC win, the Milwaukee 150 at Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway, and finished sixth in the final standings. In 1966 he raced for AAR on paved ovals and road courses, recorded three third-place finishes and ended fourth in points. At the Indianapolis 500 that year he earned his first top ten in the race, finishing ninth.

In 1967 Leonard began the season with Sheraton-Thompson Racing, finishing fourth at the season-opening Jimmy Bryan Memorial at Phoenix. At Indianapolis he qualified fifth in a Sheraton-Thompson Coyote and finished third. Later in the year he joined Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, and he finished ninth in the points standings.

What was Leonard's Indianapolis 500 record?

Leonard's best Indianapolis result came in 1967, when he started fifth and finished third. In 1968 he took the pole at 171.599 mph, a new track record speed, but a fuel shaft broke with fewer than ten laps to go and he finished 12th.

The 1968 race had been a long one for him. He led for 31 laps and fought at the front with Bobby Unser before the restart on lap 191, when the fuel shaft failed and he coasted to a stop. Unser went on to win, and Leonard's best result for the rest of the season was sixth, leaving him 21st in points.

Earlier in 1968 Leonard had driven Vel's Ford Sales Morris-Ford, and his best result that season was third at the Stardust 150 at Stardust International Raceway.

Indianapolis results remained mixed in the following years. He was sixth in 1969 while driving for Smokey Yunick. In 1971 he led 21 laps before a broken turbocharger ended his race, and in 1973 he qualified 29th and finished 18th after a broken hub.

Leonard also spent part of 1969 without a regular ride. He drove for Gene White at the Trenton 200, finishing 19th after a broken oil line, then rejoined STP-Granatelli for Milwaukee and Dover, finishing 20th and 21st. Four races in a Vel's Parnelli Jones Lola produced a best finish of fifth at Phoenix.

Which USAC championships did Leonard win?

Leonard won the USAC National Championship in 1971 and 1972 with Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing. He clinched the 1971 title with a third place at the Trenton 300, the next-to-last race of the season. In 1972 he clinched his second straight championship at the California 500, after a three-race winning run at Michigan, Pocono and Milwaukee.

The 1971 season started without a sponsor on the No. 15 car for its opening pair of races, and the team later secured Samsonite as a backer from Trenton onward. Leonard finished second at the Rex Mays Classic 150 and at the Pocono 500, and he won the California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway later in the season.

In 1972 he joined a Super Team at Vel's Parnelli Jones alongside Al Unser and Mario Andretti. The team struggled against All American Racers and Team McLaren early on, but once it set the car up correctly Leonard qualified sixth at Indianapolis and finished third. That run of wins carried him to a second title.

What was Leonard's 1970 season like?

In 1970 Leonard returned to Vel's Parnelli Jones with chief mechanic George Bignotti. He qualified 18th at Indianapolis and ran second behind teammate Al Unser before his engine quit after 73 laps. He finished 24th, and later that year he won the Rex Mays Classic at Milwaukee, his first win since 1965.

Afterwards it emerged that the engine switch had been flipped, so nothing was wrong with the engine and he could have continued. He also started the California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway, qualifying sixth and finishing 13th after spinning out, and he ended the season 32nd in points.

What happened to Leonard after 1972?

The team's fortunes fell in 1973 and 1974. In 1974 Leonard drove the No. 16 Vel's Parnelli Ford Eagle-Offenhauser, and he finished fourth in the season-opening heat races for the California 500. Leonard finished 15th in points in 1973, with a best finish of fifth at the Texas 200. In 1974 Vel's Parnelli Jones lost its Samsonite sponsorship, and Firestone, its tyre supplier since 1967, was cutting back before pulling out at the end of the year.

At the 1974 California 500 a rear tire blew after 146 laps, and the car crossed the track into the pit wall and then hit the outside wall at turn one. The impact left a gash above his left eye and a compound fracture of his left ankle. The injuries came before the orthopaedic methods pioneered by motorsports physician Dr Terry Trammell, and the result left him debilitated. He finished 30th in points that year.

In 1975 Leonard tried a comeback at the California 500 for Gilmore Racing. He failed USAC's physical, and that ended his driving career.

How did Leonard's USAC results develop year by year?

Leonard's USAC career ran from 1964 to 1974, and he won two championships, in 1971 and 1972. His best points finish before those titles was ninth in 1967. Several seasons ended in the twenties or lower, including 1970, when he finished 32nd. The table below sets out his best finish and points position for each season.

What did Leonard do in NASCAR?

His NASCAR start came at the 1969 Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway, where he drove Smokey Yunick's No. 13 Ford Torino Talladega. He started 12th, crashed out after 47 laps and finished 31st. Because he was racing under a USAC licence, he was unranked in the NASCAR Grand National points.

Yunick later wrote about Leonard in his autobiography, praising his speed and calling him a born racer. Yunick had also hired him for the 1969 Indianapolis 500, so the pairing covered both events.

Where is Leonard remembered today?

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America recognised him in 1991 for his motorcycle career. He followed with induction into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998, and the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame recognised him in 2001.

His career shows the crossover that was common in American racing in the 1960s and 1970s, with a rider who won on two wheels becoming a car champion. The 1968 Indianapolis pole, the 1971 and 1972 USAC titles and his three AMA championships remain the milestones that define it.