J
ack Milne has a place in
motorcycle-racing history that
will never be erased. Milne was
the first American motorcycle
racer to win a World Champion-
ship. In 1937, Milne won the
Speedway World Championship
at London's Wembley Stadium in
front of 85,000 fans, securing a
position of permanence that few
racers could hope to achieve.
Milne also won the American
Speedway title in 1936 and his
younger brother, Cordy, was also
a world-class speedway rider.
Jack Milne was born in Buf-
falo, New York, in 1907. After
childhood in Detroit, his family
moved to Pasadena, California,
when Jack was 15, and that's
where he attended high school.
On leaving school, both Milnes
brothers went to work for West-
ern Union as messenger delivery
boys. Cordy saved his money
and bought a motorcycle. Jack
bought a small gas station. It
would be later that he would join
his younger brother as a motor-
cyclist.
"I worked my way onto an
Indian Scout, a 37-inch V-Twin,"
Jack said in a 1995 interview
with Street Bike magazine. "I
just liked to go fast. I cut off the
long bars that forced you to sit
upright, and I was able to lean
into the wind and go for it. There
were few speed limits and fewer
cops then."
The more adventurous Cordy
converted his street bike into a
CN
III ARCHIVES
P114
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
Jack
FIRST
(From left to right)
Wilbur Lamoreaux,
Jack Milne, and
his brother, Cordy
Milne celebrate
their all-American
one-two-three
finish in the 1937
Speedway World
Championship.
