Biography
Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Championship Series in 1954 and won it again in 1956 and 1957. His record totals 27 wins, including the 1957 and 1958 Daytona 200. He retired from motorcycle racing at the completion of the 1961 season and turned his attention to auto racing.
Leonard raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1964–1974 seasons, with 98 career starts, including the 1965–1973 Indianapolis 500, sitting on the pole in 1968 in the Lotus 56 turbine car. He finished in the top ten 60 times, including 6 wins: 3 times at Milwaukee (1965, 1970, 1972), and once each at Ontario (1971), Brooklyn (1972), and Pocono (1972). His victories propelled him to the 1971 and 1972 USAC Championship Car Season Championship.
Joe Leonard has won multiple National Championships in both automobile and motorcycle racing back-to-back. In 1991, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in the Motorcycles category. In 1998 he was inducted into the A.M.A. Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
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