Ted Boody, Jr. was a leading AMA Grand National Championship racer from 1976 through 1988. Boody was a versatile rider, earning national victories on miles, half-miles and short tracks.

Though he spent the majority of his career racing has a privateer, Boody rode for the Harley-Davidson factory team in the late 1970s and later was instrumental in helping Honda develop its flat track racing machine, which became successful during the 1980s.

Boody was twice runnerup in the AMA Grand National Series and won a total of eight nationals during his professional racing career, which spanned just over 12 years. Sadly, Boody died during his prime from injuries he sustained in a crash at the Ascot Park Half-Mile in Gardena, California, in May of 1988.

In 1976, Boody made his rookie debut and scored his first AMA national points in May at the Oklahoma City Half-Mile, where he finished second. He earned his first AMA national win in June of that year at the indoor Short Track held in the Pontiac (Michigan) Silverdome. At the time, he was the youngest rider, at 17, to win an AMA national.

In 1977, Boody was given a full factory ride with Harley-Davidson. That year, he scored an amazing 18 top-10 finishes, including wins at the Harrington (Delaware) Half-Mile and Indy Mile, and was runnerup in the championship to teammate Jay Springsteen.

Boody returned with the Harley-Davidson squad in 1978, and even though he scored a solid fourth in the series standings, he tallied no wins and was dropped from the team at the end of the year. He came back to prove a point in 1979 and started the season’s opening weekend with a victory in the Houston Astrodome’s Short Track riding a Yamaha.

Boody didn’t win again until 1983 when he won the Hamburg Half-Mile.

In 1984, he won on the legendary Springfield (Illinois) Mile. He also won the Louisville Half-Mile that year.

In 1985, Boody had nine podium finishes, including a victory on the Ascot Park Half-Mile in May. He finished runner-up to Honda’s Bubba Shobert in the season standings.

Ironically, Ascot Park was the site of both Boody’s final AMA national victory, and his tragic death three years later.

On May 7, 1988, Boody crashed in a freak accident on the final lap of the national and died from the injuries. He was 29 years old.

Ted Boody Jr. was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.