page_title: Steve Butler
section_title: Motorcycle racing
hierarchical_section_title: Steve Butler / Racing career / Motorcycle racing
caption_attribution_description: English: Steve Butler leading AMA race at Greenville, OH circa 1976,
context_page_description: Steve Butler won six national driving championships in USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown open-wheel racing. Butler was highly regarded for his technical skills and performed chief mechanic duties on several of his winning race cars. He also communicated his view of racing to fans both as author and television commentator. Despite a relatively brief racing career, Butler is an inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, the USAC Hall of Fame, and the Hoosier Auto Racing Fan's Hall of Fame. He retired at age 37 to pursue both an engineering career and more time with his growing family. Butler currently resides in Kokomo, IN.
context_section_description: Butler launched his amateur bike racing career upon graduating from high school. His first opportunity came when a buddy agreed to let him race an old bike under a lease/purchase agreement. This involved Steve paying $25/week for the machine with earnings from flipping hamburgers after school.
  Realizing that his meager budget was insufficient to race competitively, Butler prevailed upon a friend to provide (free) transport to/from the races. This allowed Steve to buy tires and other racing essentials. The strategy worked and allowed Butler to begin winning races.
  In 1976, Butler was able to win the AMA District 15 (Indiana) ½ Mile Flat Track Championship which convinced him to advance to professional motorcycle racing. However, in his first pro season Butler was severely injured during a race at the Onekama, MI ½ mile dirt track. He remained in the hospital for 30 days and spent nine months recovering from his injuries. This was the fourth time in four years that he found himself recovering from fractured bones resulting from motorcycle racing.
  In 1978, Butler rebounded from his injuries by winning a pro race at Beaver Dam, WI—his very first event after recovering from the Onekama crash. More than 20 years later, Butler's exploits are recalled in a 2001 Cycle News article featuring racers successful in both motorcycle and automobile racing. This piece placed Butler on a short-list of motorcycle/car racers that included legends such as Joe Leonard, Swede Savage, and Steve Morehead.
  Butler began 1979 aboard a Harley-Davidson XR-750—famous for both its performance and high maintenance costs. Unfortunately, these costs became prohibitive and Butler had to stop racing mid-season due to insufficient finances. At this point, he began attending local sprint car races and became inspired to abandon the unreliable Harley for a new kind of racer.
caption: Butler rides to a win in a 1978 pro flat track race at the Greenville (OH) ½ mile
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