RIP Smokin Joe

These things tend to come in 3's.

Joe Leonard passed away Thursday, April, 27th, he was 84.

For us here, Joe was the 2-time USAC National Drivers Champion in 71 and 72. He also sat on the pole at Indy in one of the Lotus Turbines. His accomplishments also included 27 national wins, including 2 wins in the Daytona 200 in motorcycles before he turned to cars.

Jason Fitch wrote:

These things tend to come in 3's.

Joe Leonard passed away Thursday, April, 27th, he was 84.

For us here, Joe was the 2-time USAC National Drivers Champion in 71 and 72. He also sat on the pole at Indy in one of the Lotus Turbines. His accomplishments also included 27 national wins, including 2 wins in the Daytona 200 in motorcycles before he turned to cars.

Allways a match to the Unsers,Andretti,Johncock. Maybe not as Charismatic but a hard charging smart racer.
Rest in peace Joe.

A winner on both two and four wheels 


Indy pole 1968


1971


1972


With Al, Mario and Parnelli in '72


1973


1974 (Joe's last race)


Later in life, holding his metallic blue Samsonite helmet 

Yes very sad news indeed . A very underrated driver, and certainly one of the most overlooked Indycar champions ever. He was even despised by many back in the day because he won his titles thanks to his consistency (and thanks to the points system) while his team-mate Al Unser won many races but was not as consistent. At least his fans from his AMA days knew how good he truly was !

Not as known as Leonard was Billy Scott, who passed away on the 23rd of this month. Scott had a handful of Indycar starts in the 1970s, including the 1976 Indy 500.

RIP racers.