Gene Walker

Gene Walker (June 7, 1893 – June 21, 1924) was an American motorcycle flat track racer who was one of the first riders from the Southern United States to become nationally known, winning 19 championships in a 10-year career that ended with his death at the peak of his success.

At 17 he worked as a postal delivery person in Birmingham using an Indian motorcycle for delivering mail.

Walker entered his first motorcycle race at the 1912 Alabama State Fair and won the five-mile final.

In the same year he left his job at the post office to go to work for a Birmingham Indian dealer named Bob Stubbs.

In 1914 Walker turned professional and worked in the testing room at the Indian headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1914 Indian team: 18, Gene Walker; 16, Dave Kinney; 15, Don Johns; 19, Specs Warner; 20, Marty Graves; 17, Red Armstrong