WALTER KNIGHT

PROFILE: Walter Knight was a retired Air Force Major with an engineering background and expertise in the aircraft and mobile home industries.

HISTORY: A friend of fellow Pioneer honorees, Tubby Weaver and John Brooks, Knight became interested in greyhound racing and was curious how valuable greyhounds were transported from racetrack to racetrack. Learning most traveled in homemade contraptions, he set about to invent a better method. While promoting his invention, he met a disgruntled fan who complained the greyhounds were not given an even start with the split door starting boxes. He then decided to solve the problem. He often attended American Greyhound Track Operators Association meetings.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Knight had a tremendous impact on greyhound racing with his innovative inventions. He manufactured greyhound transportation equipment, including the first aluminum clad greyhound truck bed and trailer, and invented a new kind of starting box with a flip top opening mechanism.