Joe Petrali

Early life Petrali 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 Charles “Fearless" Balke, who wore leather pants and puttees while racing to keep his legs from burning and Don Johns. He later adopted the style and began to wear similar leather pants and puttees throughout his career. Death Petrali died from a heart attack on November 10, 1973, in Casa Grande, Arizona, performing an economy run. Awards He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992. In 1998, he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of fame, and in 2006 he was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. ==References==