CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
I
f you're a major devotee of the AMA
Grand National Championship, you
might know that the legendary Joe
Leonard was the first three-time AMA
Grand National Series Champion. But
only the most ardent historians of the
sport would be familiar with a rider from
Millville, New Jersey (ironically the loca-
tion of today's New Jersey Motorsports
Park, which hosts an AMA Superbike
Championship event) who was the first
three-time AMA National Champion.
That rider was Jimmy Chann, who, by
virtue of his victories at the Springfield
(Illinois) Mile in 1947, '48 and '49 won
the National Championship.
The difference of course was Chann
won his three National titles by being
victorious in the winner-take-all Spring-
field Mile, which began after World War
II in 1946 and pre-dated the AMA Grand
National Championship Series, which
awarded the title to the highest points-
earning rider over a series of races
starting in 1954. That's the series Leon-
ard won in 1954, '56 and '57.
Chann, winning at Springfield three
years in a row, earned him the right to wear the
prestigious AMA number-one plate. His peers also
recognized Chann as the Most Popular Rider of
the Year (later called AMA Pro Athlete of the Year)
in 1949. During his peak in the late-1940s, Chann
was considered by most racing experts as one of
the top dirt-track racers of all time. He raced with
backing from Harley-Davidson for most of his ca-
reer, except for taking a one-off ride with Norton
at Daytona in 1952.
Chann (like Nicky Hayden today) was the middle
brother of a trio of racers. Older brother Steve and
younger brother Pete were also well known rac-
ers of their day. Chann's racing career came to
a premature end in 1953 due to a freak accident
in which another rider hit a spectator during the
Daytona 200 and Chann crashed while swerving
to avoid the two. He retired from his trade as a
shipbuilder in the early 1980s and died on Fa-
thers Day in 1984.
Chann was born in Millville, New Jersey, on
September 30, 1915, and was raised on a farm
with five brothers and three sisters. His older
brother, Steve, was the first to become involved
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THE LITTLE-KNOWN CHAMPION
