Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

TIME REMEMBERED Joe Leonard the front row," Leonard says. "I was always good at digging out off the line, and one night I remember that I was waiting for them to come by Weighing _ 20 pounds more than ....117 of his rivals, L_rd wasn't supposed to be competitive on the mile tncb, but he tough nalla there. He stili ranks among the top 10 ail-time mile w1n_rs In AlIA history. This race, ....... rd a Triumph at the 1 H3 Sacramento Mile, _ s one of his Iaat on • motorcycle. _s .s Urquhart was quite the character, Leonard recalls, dressed in a hat and sweater, giving off the mysterious yet humorous persona of the likes of Alfred Hitchcock. He quickly took a liking to the young Leonard. "He used to always tell me, 'Joe, you remember to check the gas and oil?'" Leonard says. "I'd tell him, 'Yes.' Then he'd say, 'Did you remember to check the tires?' And I'd say, 'Yes.' And then he'd say, 'You've got to remember to check that radiator!' And I'd fall for it and say, 'Oh yeah, I'll remember to check the antifreeze.' He used to think that was so funny. Of course, little did we know that motorcycles would later have those coolers on 'em to make 'em run better." Practice made perfect in those field meets on the Urquhart demo machines, and the day finally came when Leonard would get his chance to try bona fide track racing, the deal arranged by Phillips, as the two had struck up a friendship. "Jimmy told me, 'Maybe I can get you a ride,'" Leonard says. "So he got me a ride on this old Indian Scout, and my first race was at Corona [California] which was a 3lB-mile that went uphill on the front stretch and 38 SEPTEMBER 12. 2001 • a U 0: me, but no one did. Then I fell down, and I realized that they were all right behind me. A fellow named Jack Turner ran me over, and that dingled me up pretty good." Tragedy would bring about a real turning point in Leonard's life, although it had nothing to do with motorcycles. In 1949, his sister, Linda Lee, the second eldest of the five Leonard children, drowned. Leonard's parents, fearing for his own safety, then laid down the law: no more racing. That, combined with his father's escalating alcohol use and the trouble that came with it, was enough of a shove to send Leonard out the door to seek his fortune. He was 17 years old. "My dad was one of them guys who was real nice, but when he had liquor, he'd get real ornary," Leonard says. "Everyone liked Bill, but when he drank, oh boy, look downhill on the back stretch. I got through my heat race, but in the main event the bike blew up. Then I rode it over at Pomona for my second race, and I won the heat and was leading the main event for a lap or two when boom, it blew up again. "But there was a guy there that night by the name of Howard Strom who had a BSA that he'd ride to work, but he'd take the lights off of it and run it at the races. It had a hot cam, and it was pretty healthy better than what I had. So he asked me if I wanted to start riding it at Chuck Basney. Nick Nicolaidis rode like the wind on that AJS he had, and Bert Brundage - they called him chrome dome because of that helmet that he wore. Can you imagine a helmet that was made out of tin and polished? If that got bent down on your gord, they'd have to pry it off in a hurry." . Carroll Speedway, and we went and rode outlaw. I remember Tex Luce, the main event, and I was slower, so that meant that I got to start on After three or four outings, Leonard could be counted on to lead a lap or two in the main event, but the local hot shoes were just too much. "They would start three rows in out. I remember the day that I told him I was leaving. He asked me how much money I had, and I told him I had 21 dollars. He said, 'I'll see you in a week.' I said, 'Don't bet on it.'" Upon his departure, Leonard hooked up with a circus character of sorts, a hard-drinking, globe-of- Leonard (47) returned to Sacramento In 1964, driving the Hunt Magneto Offy against the likes of USAC top guns like Don Branson (5) and Arnie Knepper (161. "I didn't care for the dirt cars much," Leonard remembers. "I saw a lot of guys get killed in thos•."

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