One of the shining stars of last month's SVRA Brickyard Invitational at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the recently-restored Vel's Parnelli Jones Samsonite racer Joe Leonard drove to the 1972 USAC national championship. Along the way Leonard picked off three important victories in the Pocono 500, the Michigan 200, and the Milwaukee 200. He also scored a third-place in that year's Indianapolis 500 behind winner Mark Donohue and teammate Al Unser. Leonard's passing this year on April 27 at age 84 made the car's debut as a vintage racer all the more appropriate and poignant. The car, owned by Chuck Jones, Chief Design Officer for Silicon Valley surgical robot company Intuitive Surgical,...
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