The Speed Kings. A New Book About Boardtrack Racing
Press Release | December 4, 2019
The Speed Kings. The Rise and Fall of Motordrome Racing, By Don Emde
This is a press release from Don Emde…
Don Emde, a Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee and former Daytona 200 winner, has announced his newly-released book: The Speed Kings. The Rise and Fall of Motordrome Racing. The richly illustrated, 372-page hardbound book tells the story of the first generation of motorcycle boardtrack racing in the early-1900s, when daring riders sped at 90+ mph around ¼-mile circular motordromes banked at 60-degrees.
The spectacle of motordrome racing became contagious and the public couldn’t get enough, filling wooden stadiums in some cities three nights a week, sometimes at their own peril. The Speed Kings follows the life and times of Jake DeRosier, Charles “Fearless” Balke, Eddie Hasha and others who became national sports heroes, featured regularly on the front pages of daily newspapers from coast to coast. The news was not always good, however, and “Murderdromes” became part of America’s vocabulary, leading to the demise of the sport.
Emde, whose previous books include a history of the Daytona 200 and Cannon Ball Baker’s transcontinental ride of 1914, has been collecting motorcycle history materials for over 50 years. In addition to his large collection of historic scrapbooks and photographs—many not seen in 100 years—he made use of over 1,000 magazines with first-generation information about boardtrack racing. Added to that were numerous newspapers, race programs, books and more. These publications yielded more than 6,000 pages that he scanned into a chronological database and used as a guide throughout the project.
February 11, 1912. With smoke and oil spewing from their total loss engines, Joe Wolters leads Jake DeRosier and Charles “Fearless” Balke on opening day of a new motordrome located near downtown Los Angeles. Don Emde Collection
The Speed Kings. The Rise and Fall of Motordrome Racing provides more details about motordrome racing than any previous publication.
The Speed Kings. The Rise and Fall of Motordrome Racing Details:
- Foreword by Kenny Roberts.
- Price: $75.00 + applicable sales tax and postage.
- Book with Bonus Package: $90 + applicable sales tax and postage. Book signed by the author, plus three additional reproductions of historic items featured in the book.
- Hardbound / 372 pages / 600 illustrations / 40 chapters plus prologue and epilogue
- 4-color sepia tone throughout / Printed in the United States of America
- Available from EmdeBooks.com / ISBN: 978-0-9972720-1-7
Available now direct from EmdeBooks.com. Contact Don Emde at don@emdebooks.com for more information.
