Joseph Paul Leonard^[1] (August 4, 1932 – April 27, 2017) was an American professionalmotorcycle racer andracecar driver.^[2][3]

Leonard won the firstA.M.A. Grand National Championship Series in 1954 and won it again in 1956 and 1957.^[2] His record totals 27 wins, including the 1957 and 1958Daytona 200.^[2] He also resulted vice-champion in 1958, 1960 and 1961, third in 1955, and fifth in 1959. He retired from motorcycle racing at the completion of the 1961 season and turned his attention to auto racing. He was also a member of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association District 36) Sanctioned San Jose Motorcycle club (The Dons) which includes such famed alumni as Sam Arena, Tom Sifton, Kenny Eggers and Sam Arena Jr.

Leonard made hisUSAC National Championship debut during the1964 season when he competed in five races for various teams. Leonard earned a best finish of 5th at the season-endingBobby Ball Memorial atPhoenix International Raceway driving the #65Travelon TrailerChristensen-Offenhauser. Leonard finished in 24th place in the standings.

In1965, Leonard became teammates withDan Gurney at Gurney'sAll American Racers team, driving the #29All American RacersHailbrand-Ford. During the season Leonard got his first win in theMilwaukee 150 atWisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway. Leonard also drove one race for legendary car builder and chief mechanicA. J. Watson atLeader Card Racing in the #2Moog St. LouisWatson-Ford at theLanghorne 100 atLanghorne Speedway. At the end of the season Leonard finished 6th in the final point standings. In1966, Leonard continued to race for AAR on the paved ovals and road courses in the #6YamahaEagle-Ford (although he did drive the #29All American BardahlHailbrand-Ford at theJimmy Bryan Memorial atPhoenix International Raceway) and drove the #7Vita Fresh Orange JuiceMeskowski-Offenhauser at the dirt tracks (along with theAtlanta 300 atAtlanta Motor Speedway in the #11Huffaker-Offenhauser. Leonard recorded a best finish of 3rd place three times en route to a 4th-place finish in points. Also, during the season at theIndianapolis 500 Leonard got his first top 10 in the historic race with a 9th-place finish.

In1967, Leonard began the season forSheraton-Thompson Racing in the #82Sheraton-Thompson RacingLotus-Ford and finished 4th at the season-openingJimmy Bryan Memorial atPhoenix International Raceway. Starting at theIndianapolis 500 Leonard drove the #4Sheraton-Thompson RacingCoyote-Ford. He qualified in 5th place and finished in 3rd place. Leonard changed cars again for the two races that made up theTelegraph Trophy 200 atMosport Park where he drove the #4Sheraton-Thompson RacingEagle-Ford.

After that race, Leonard began to drive forVel's Parnelli Jones Racing in the #20Wagner Lockheed Brake FluidMongoose-Ford (also sponsored byVel's Ford Sales at theHanford 200 atHanford Motor Speedway and theRex Mays 300 atRiverside International Raceway). His best finish of the season wound up being at Indianapolis as he finished 9th in points.

In1968, Leonard started the season in the #9Vel's Ford SalesMorris-Ford forVel's Parnelli Jones Racing. Leonard finished in 3rd place at theStardust 150 atStardust International Raceway. This would end up being his best finish of the season. At theIndianapolis 500, Leonard drove forSTP-Granatelli Racing. He first drove the #40STP Oil TreatmentGranatelli-Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 but crashed that car in practice. As a result, drove the #60STP Oil TreatmentLotus 56-Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 in place of the injuredJackie Stewart. Leonard qualified on the pole position at a new track record speed of 171.599 mph. Leonard led the race for 31 laps, battling withBobby Unser andLloyd Ruby. He was the leader under a yellow flag with less than 10 laps to go, but when the race restarted on lap 191 Leonard's fuel shaft broke. His teammateArt Pollard, who had been running three laps behind at the time, had the same thing happen to him. Leonard coasted to a stop and finished in 12th place as Unser took the victory.

For the remainder of the season Leonard would usually qualify well, including a pole position atCalifornia 200 atHanford Motor Speedway, but results weren't on his side as his best finish was only a 6th place at the second heat of theTelegraph Trophy 200 atMosport Park. He finished 21st in points. Leonard was without a car to drive at the beginning of1969 before legendary car builderSmokey Yunick hired him to drive his #44City of Daytona BeachEagle-Ford at theIndianapolis 500 where he finished in 6th place.

After Indianapolis, Leonard was without a car yet again. He first drove forGene White in the #4Wynn's SpitFireMongoose-Offenhauser at theTrenton 200 atTrenton International Speedway where he finished in 19th place after suffering a broken oil line. He then briefly reunited withSTP-Granatelli Racing in the #40STP Oil TreartmentLotus-Offenhauser at theTony Bettenhausen 200 atWisconsin State Fairgrounds Park and theDelaware 200 atDover Downs International Speedway. He qualified 3rd at Milwaukee but finishED 20th in that race and 21st at Dover. Leonard got one more driving gig that season atVel's Parnelli Jones Racing in the #3Vel's Parnelli FordLola-Ford for four races, getting a best finish of 5th at the Bobby Ball Memorial atPhoenix International Raceway. He finished 21st in points.

Leonard returned to Vel's Parnelli Jones again in1970, working with famed chief mechanicGeorge Bignotti. In his first race of the year, theIndianapolis 500 he drove the #15Johnny LightningPJ Colt-Ford. In the race Leonard qualified in 18th place and was soon running in 2nd place to teammate Unser. Leonard's engine quit after 73 laps and he could only finish in 24th place. It was discovered post-race the engine switch had been flipped, meaning that there was nothing wrong with the engine and that Leonard could have continued. Leonard then competed in theRex Mays Classic atWisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway where he only led the final nine laps on his way to his first victory since 1965 at Milwaukee. Leonard started one more race that year, theCalifornia 500 atOntario Motor Speedway, where he qualified in 6th place and finished in 13th place after spinning out. Leonard finished the season 32nd in points.

In1971, Leonard became a full-time driver at Vel's Parnelli Jones. When the season started, Leonard had no sponsor on his #15Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing PJ Colt-Ford for the season-opening pair of races, theRafaela Indy 300 atAutódromo Ciudad de Rafaela. At thePhoenix 150 atPhoenix International Raceway, the car was sponsored byJohnny Lightning, the same sponsor of teammateAl Unser. In the first three races of the season, Leonard was a model of consistency with finishes of 6th, 3rd and 4th. Starting with theTrenton 200 atTrenton International Speedway, the car got sponsorship fromSamsonite.

At theIndianapolis 500, Leonard battled with teammate Unser for the lead. Leonard eventually led for 21 laps before retiring with a broken turbocharger. Leonard then got back-to-back second-place finishes at theRex Mays Classic 150 atWisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway and thePocono 500 atPocono International Raceway; in the latter Leonard battled withMark Donohue for the win, until Leonard stretched his fuel hose during his final pit stop. Leonard won theCalifornia 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Leonard clinched the championship at the next to last race of the season, theTrenton 300 at Trenton International Speedway, with a third-place finish.

In1972, Leonard became part of a Super Team at Vel's Parnelli Jones with Unser andMario Andretti. He originally drove the #1Samsonite PJ Colt-Offenhauser at the season-openingJimmy Bryan 150 atPhoenix International Raceway. Starting with theTrentonian 200 at Trenton International Speedway, Leonard drove aParnelli VPJ1-Offenhauser. The car was originally equipped with dihedral wings on the front. These were eventually scrapped by the time of theIndianapolis 500. The team was then struggling to remain competitive with the new designs fromAll American Racers andTeam McLaren. The team then got the car set up right for all three and Leonard qualified in 6th place and finished in third place. He had a three-race winning streak at theMichigan 200 atMichigan International Speedway, thePocono 500 at Pocono International Raceway and theTony Bettenhausen 200 atWisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway. Leonard clinched his second consecutive championship at theCalifornia 500 atOntario Motor Speedway.

In1973, Leonard returned to Vel's Parnelli Jones, driving the #1SamsoniteParnelli VPJ-2-Offenhauser. The season was a struggle for Leonard as he could only get a best finish of 5th place at the season-openingTexas 200 atTexas World Speedway and the second heat of theTrentonian 300 atTrenton International Speedway. At theIndianapolis 500, Leonard struggled to qualify after teammates Andretti and Unser qualified 6th and 8th. He eventually qualified in 29th place and finish in 18th place due to a broken hub. Leonard finished the season 15th in points.

By1974, Vel's Parnelli Jones was in trouble. Of their three cars from 1973 only Andretti in 5th place would make the top 10. They lost theirSamsonite sponsorship at year's end andFirestone (Vel's Parnelli Jones tire supplier since their debut in the1967 USAC Championship Car season) was cutting back their racing funding as well, eventually pulling out completely at the end of the year. Leonard drove the #16Vel's Parnelli FordEagle-Offenhauser. At the season-opening heat races that made up the1974 California 500 atOntario Motor Speedway he finished in 4th place.

A week later inthe main race, after completing 146 laps, his tire blew on the main stretch heading into turn one, causing him to drift high off the groove and crash heavily into the outside wall. He suffered a gash in his forehead and extensive injuries to his feet and legs. Since Leonard's injuries occurred before the orthopedic reconstruction methods pioneered by motorsports physician Dr. Terry Trammell, he was left severely debilitated. He finished 30th in points. A year later in1975, Leonard attempted to make a comeback at theCalifornia 500 atOntario Motor Speedway forGilmore Racing in the #10Gilmore RacingCoyote-Foyt. He ended up failingUSAC's physical, ending his career.

In 1969, after signing withSmokey Yunick for theIndianapolis 500, Leonard drove the #13Smokey YunickFordTorino Talladega at theFirecracker 400 atDaytona International Speedway. Leonard crashed out after 47 laps and finish in 31st place after starting in 12th place. Due to racing with aUSAC license he was unable to score points in theNASCAR Grand National Series, going unranked (a rule that no longer exists). Yunick would write in his autobiography that, "if there (was) such a thing as a natural born racer, (Leonard was) it. He liked to go fast, very fast and knew how to do it."^[4]

In 1991, he was inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America^[5] in the Motorcycles category. In 1998, he was inducted into theA.M.A.Motorcycle Hall of Fame.^[2] In 2001, he was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame.

• Joe Leonard at The Greatest 33
• Joe Leonard: Champion on Two Wheels and Four - Motorcyclist, 8 February 2011
• 'it's A Wonderful Wild Thing' - Sports Illustrated, 27 May 1968
• Rude Setback For The Jet Age - Sports Illustrated, 10 June 1968
• Hoist A Bottle To Leadfoot U. - Sports Illustrated, 20 September 1971
• You Know Me, Al,' Said Joe - Sports Illustrated, 7 August 1972
• Joe Leonard driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Joe Leonard career summary at DriverDB.com

• 1932 births
• 2017 deaths
• Motorcycle racers from San Diego
• American motorcycle racers
• AMA Grand National Championship riders
• Champ Car champions
• Champ Car drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indianapolis 500 polesitters
• Racing drivers from San Diego
• USAC Stock Car drivers
• San Diego High School alumni

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