Riding for Harley-Davidson, Joe Leonard wins his second consecutive Daytona 200.
Joe Leonard was the first champion of the AMA Grand National Series which was initiated in 1954. For many years the National Champion was crowned on the basis of a single race, the Springfield (Illinois) Mile. Beginning in 1954, riders had to compete in a variety of racing disciplines at race tracks around the country. Leonard, then a second year expert, won 8 of the 18 Grand National races on his Tom Sifton-tuned (He, of Sifton cams) Harley-Davidson, dominating the inaugural championship series.
Leonard would go on to ride a factory supported H-D after the '56 season. With Harley's factory support ($$) Joe tore it up, winning at Daytona, Laconia, San Jose, Sturgis and Springfield to clinch National Championship number three.
In his career, he would amass 27 National wins split between the disciplines of TT, Mile, Half-Mile and Road Racing. Winning the Daytona 200 twice, the Laconia Classic three times and the Peoria TT a remarkable seven times.
Joe Leonard was inducted in the AMA Hall of Fame in 1998.
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