Petrali won a record 49 American Motorcyclist Association national championship races, with his last coming on August 29, 1937.

[2] 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.

[1][3] At 14 gained his first national victory when he entered an economy run held at the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento.

[3][1] In 1937 over the sand of Daytona Beach, Florida, Joe set a world motorcycle speed record of 136.183 mph with an experimental streamlined 61 cubic inch OHV Harley.

On August 13, 1927 Eddie Brinck was racing at Springfield, Massachusetts and his front tire blew out and hit Petrali causing him to be flung 15 feet into the air.