"Smokin'" Joe Petrali was an Italian-American motorcycle racer, active in the 1920s and 1930s. Petrali was a Class A racing champion who competed in board-track and dirt-track racing circuits, speed records, and hillclimbs. Petrali won a record 49 American Motorcyclist Association national championship races, with his last coming on August 29, 1937. The record stood for 55 years until broken by Scott Parker in 1992.
Biography
Early life
Petrail was born in San Francisco, California on February 22, 1904. Petrali's affection for motorcycles began growing up in California as a child, he would watch the Class A racers of the 1910s, such as Don Johns and Balke also known as Charles “Fearless”. Balke wore leather pants and puttees while racing to keep his legs from burning. He later adopted the style and began to wear similar leather pants and puttees throughout his career. At 14 gained his first national victory when he entered an economy run held at the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. He rode his $35 single cylinder Indian. He went 176 miles on a gallon of gas. Petrali continued to participate more endurance runs for three more years. He participated in an endurance run that was recognised as a record, He entered a marathon event which took three days and four nights. After all the other riders dropped out, The race was considered as a tie between Petrali and his boss Archie Rife. In 1937 over the sand of Daytona Beach, Florida, Joe set a world motorcycle speed record of 136.183 mph with an experimental streamlined 61 cubic inch OHV Harley. The clocking has never been topped on sand although the speed mark was better 11 years later.
Later life
in 1925 National Board Track Championship and in 1926 he two national using a Harley-Davidson. On August 13, 1927 Eddie Brinck was racing at Springfield, Massachusetts and his front tire blew out and hit Petrali causing him to be flung 15 feet into the air. Brinck suffered severe injuries and later died, Petrali also was impacted by injures but none as fatal as Brincks and Petrali only recovered a year later and began to start participating in events again but less frequently. Petrali set his first land speed record on March 13, 1937 at Daytona Beach, reaching speed of 136.183 mph. Petrali held the record for 11 years on September 13, 1948 by Rollie Free who rode a Vincent HRD to a speed of 150.313 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah.
