One of the greatest American motorcycle racers of all time, Joseph "Smokin' Joe" Petrali is born in San Francisco.
Joe Petrali was known as one of the last great Class A racing stars who competed in board track racing, dirt track, speed records and hillclimbs. From the mid-1920's to the mid-30's Joe Petrali won an amazing 49 AMA National Championship races, a record that stood for 55 years.
On March 13, 1937 at Daytona Beach, Joe rode a specially built streamlined 61" Harley-Davidson knucklehead to a new one-mile motorcycle speed record of 136.183 mph. That record would stand for 11 years until Rollie Free finally broke the mark on a Vincent at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Joseph A. Petrali was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1998.
Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk
Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk
