On This Day In Alabama History: Motorcycle Racer Gene Walker Crashed

Alabama News Center | June 7, 2017 @ 5:00 am

By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200

June 7, 1924

Motorcycle racer Gene Walker crashed while practicing alone on a track in Pennsylvania and died two weeks later. A native of Birmingham, Walker was one of the world’s most talented flat track racers, a type of racing that featured large motorcycles reaching speeds of up to 90 mph without brakes on dirt tracks. Walker raced primarily on Indian-brand motorcycles and won 19 national championships in his 10 years of professional racing. In 1920, he set several world records at Daytona Beach, Florida, including a land-speed record of 115 mph. Walker was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

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