Motorcycle and Race Car Driver. Born in Dearborn County, Indiana, he was a motorcycling pioneer who set dozens of cross-country records riding a variety of motorcycles and was known for record-setting runs in automobiles. In 1908, Baker purchased an Indian motorcycle, began entering races and won the first race ever held at the newly built Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. After a record-setting transcontinental drive in 1914, he was nicknamed "Cannon Ball". From the 1910s through the 1930s, he set 143 driving records and his best remembered drive was a 1933 New York City to Los Angeles trek, setting a 53.5 hour record that stood for nearly 40 years. He also had a focus toward automobiles, drove in the 1922 Indianapolis 500 Race, finishing 11th and became a test driver for automobile companies. He became an AMA race official and later was named the first Commissioner of NASCAR. He died of a heart attack at age 78 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was posthumously inducted to the Motorcycle Museum's Hall of Fame 1998.
Motorcycle and Race Car Driver. Born in Dearborn County, Indiana, he was a motorcycling pioneer who set dozens of cross-country records riding a variety of motorcycles and was known for record-setting runs in automobiles. In 1908, Baker purchased an Indian motorcycle, began entering races and won the first race ever held at the newly built Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. After a record-setting transcontinental drive in 1914, he was nicknamed "Cannon Ball". From the 1910s through the 1930s, he set 143 driving records and his best remembered drive was a 1933 New York City to Los Angeles trek, setting a 53.5 hour record that stood for nearly 40 years. He also had a focus toward automobiles, drove in the 1922 Indianapolis 500 Race, finishing 11th and became a test driver for automobile companies. He became an AMA race official and later was named the first Commissioner of NASCAR. He died of a heart attack at age 78 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was posthumously inducted to the Motorcycle Museum's Hall of Fame 1998.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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