SAN JOSE SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2001

Motor Sports Pioneer

Plaque Location: SAP Center, Section 107

The San Jose resident is a racing legend on both two and four wheels.  In 1954, he won a record eight Grand National motorcycle races in one season, with two of those races coming on the same day.  He earned back-to-back titles in motorcycling’s biggest race, the Daytona 200, in 1956 and 1957.  In 1964, he made the switch to auto racing.  At the Indianapolis 500, he captured third place finishes in 1967 and 1972 and a pole position start in 1968.

Retiring in 1974 as the only man to win national championships in both automobile and motorcycle racing, Leonard was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.