March 12, 1882
Edwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker, who would achieve widespread fame for his motorcycle and automobile records, was born in the community of Weisburg, Indiana. He first became known to the public as a vaudeville performer but started focusing instead on transportation-oriented pursuits after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race in the Hoosier State city of Crawfordsville sometime around 1904.
In 1908, Baker’s involvement in races for this type of motor vehicle took further shape when he purchased a motorcycle produced by the Massachusetts-based Hendee Manufacturing Company (later renamed the Indian Motocycle Company). With that motorcycle, he subsequently entered and won numerous races in his home state.
One of the more historic and high-profile events in which Baker participated took place on August 14, 1909, when he was among those competing in a series of motorcycle races at the newly built Indianapolis Motor Speedway. These races were the first motorsport events held in that venue and they were sanctioned by the Federation of American Motorcyclists. Baker finished first in that day’s ten-mile (16.1-kilometer) amateur championship race.
Baker’s motorcycle career also encompassed multiple long-distance journeys. In January 1912, for example, he departed from Indianapolis on a motorcycle and — over the next three months — covered a total of 14,000 miles (23,000 kilometers) en route to San Diego. With that California city as his temporary base, Baker remained in the western part of the United States long enough to take part in several endurance runs in California as well as Arizona.
Baker ultimately made 143 cross-country motorcycle speed runs altogether and in the process logged a grand total of approximately 550,000 miles (890,000 kilometers). After the completion of one of his transcontinental runs in 1914, Baker was given his nickname “Cannon Ball.” This moniker was bestowed on him by a New York newspaper reporter who likened the hard-charging motorcycle champion to the Illinois Central Railroad’s Cannonball Express train that had been made famous by the heroic but ill-fated locomotive engineer Casey Jones.
Baker gained renown as well for his accomplishments while driving automobiles. He drove a Stutz Bearcat sports car from Los Angeles to New York City in 11 days, seven hours, and 15 minutes; the following year, he broke that transcontinental record when he drove a Cadillac roadster between those same cities in only seven days, 11 hours, and 52 minutes. Another noteworthy automobile trek took place between June and September 1918, when Baker traversed more than 16,234 miles (26,126.1 kilometers) while driving a ReVere four-passenger touring car to all 48 of the state capitals of what then constituted the entire United States.
In 1926, Baker established a new travel milestone while behind the wheel of another type of motor vehicle. He did so by driving a loaded two-ton (1.8-metric ton) from New York City to San Francisco in what was then a record five days, 17 hours, and 30 minutes. Baker achieved yet more acclaim a couple of years later when he competed in an automobile race to the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Baker, driving a Franklin automobile up the Mount Washington Auto Road, reached that summit in a record time of 14:49:6 seconds.
Baker’s most celebrated automobile run, however, was the one he undertook in 1933 while driving a Graham Paige model 57 Blue Streak 8. He completed this trip in 53.5 hours, setting a record that stayed intact for nearly four decades. Other automobiles that Baker used for his coast-to-coast journeys included Model T Fords, Chrysler Imperials, Falcon-Knights, and Columbia Tigers.
In addition to his long-distance automobile expeditions, Baker drove a Frontenac race car in the Indianapolis 500. (He finished 11th in this competition.) Another one of Baker’s automotive claims to fame occurred in 1947, when he became the first commissioner of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
An article in in a 1952 edition of the Ontario-based North Bay Nugget underscored Baker’s continuing engagement in the world of motor vehicles. “‘Cannonball’ claims he has completed his life’s ambition of perfecting a new carburetor capable of giving users 50 miles [80.5 kilometers] to the gallon [liter] . . . At 72 years of age, Baker still drives a motorcycle.”
Baker died in Indianapolis on May 10, 1960, after suffering a heart attack. He was 78. Baker has since been honored in several major ways. These have included being posthumously inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1981; the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1989; and the American Motorcyclist Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on Edwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker, please check out https://bikersinc.org/articles/ErwinGeorgeBaker and https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/news-multimedia/news/2020/10/05/cannon-ball-baker-set-records-on-two-and-four-wheels-in-early-days
Transportation History 
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