Larry Lawrence | December 12, 2021
Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
This Cycle News Archives Column is reprinted from the April 30, 2008 issue. CN has hundreds of past Archives columns in our files, too many destined to be archives themselves. So, to prevent that from happening, in the future, we will be revisiting past Archives articles while still planning to keep fresh ones coming down the road -Editor.
President Taft Attends The Indy Mile
Many people remember the classic Indy Mile that used to be a doubleheader held during the ever-popular Indiana State Fair. Perhaps one of the most memorable races in Grand National history took place there in 1975, when Kenny Roberts famously won the Indy Mile National aboard a TZ750-powered dirt track machine, which was promptly banned by the AMA.
Less known, but significant nevertheless, is the fact that the Indy Mile holds the distinction of hosting the only major motorcycle race in this country attended by a sitting American president.
On July 4, 1911, President William Howard Taft attended a motorcycle race at the Indy Mile as part of a whirlwind Independence Day tour of Indiana’s capital city. The big race of the day was “The President’s Race,” a special match race between local hero Erwin Baker (later better known as “Cannonball Baker”) riding an Indian, and John Sink who was mounted on a Merkel. Baker was best known for winning the first race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway two years earlier, but he had not yet earned his fame for his record-setting coast-to-coast runs.
President William Howard Taft and former chief justice of the U.S. attended the Indy Mile on July 4, 1911. He’s the only sitting president to attend a major motorcycle race.
A crowd of 25,000 attended the race despite record heat. It was 103 degrees on Fourth of July, the second hottest day on record in Indianapolis to that point. Taft, who sat in a special Presidential Box along with local dignitaries, including former U.S. Vice President and Indianapolis resident Charles Fairbanks, wore a suit in the oppressive heat. His only concession to the muggy conditions was to remove his top hat while attempting to cool himself with a large fan.
Indianapolis came out in force to greet the president. The local papers said that the entire Indianapolis Police force was on duty. It was the city’s first visit by a U.S. President in four years, and Taft spent the day observing a parade, touring the city’s parks by automobile, attending the motorcycle race (which also featured a staged head-on collision by two trains on a track set up in the infield), and giving a speech urging the approval of a reciprocity trade bill with Canada. The motorcycle races at the fairgrounds were held by the Indianapolis Motorcycle Club. A total of 20 riders entered the day’s events. Baker was the local favorite, but the big star attraction of the event was to be Chicagoan Freddie Huyck, the Merkel factory rider, who set the track record on the Indy Mile a few years earlier. He was advertised in the pre-race build-up, but for some reason Huyck’s name never showed up in the results. It’s not clear if he attended the race and found the track condition too bad to race, if he crashed in practice, or simply never showed up. Let’s just say the local reporting of the race left much to the imagination.
Baker broke Huyck’s five-mile record nevertheless on the Indy Mile, racing his Indian to a time of five minutes, 12 and two-fifths seconds. In other words, Baker averaged just under 60 miles per hour on the soft dirt of the horse-racing track.
For some reason the newspapers of the day kept citing a “Sane Fourth of July Celebration.” Apparently, many people were being injured by fireworks during the era and there was a national ad campaign promoting a sane celebration of the national holiday. The campaign was not a success. I guess Americans tend to go a little insane when it comes to the nation’s birthday.
When the President’s motorcade arrived at the Indiana State Fairground, home of the Indy Mile, hot-air balloons were launched, and a band struck up “Hail to the Chief.” The Prez was now suitably prepared for the motorcycle race and train collision. Never let it be said that Hoosiers don’t know how to put on a good show. Maybe it’s just a jaded view of a veteran racing journalist, but I would lay odds that the President’s Race was fixed. Local hero Baker and Sink traded the lead back and forth several times during the five-mile match race. On the final lap, it was Sink who led, but Baker made a miraculous last-second pass just before the finish line to win by a foot, much to the delight of the crowd and Mr. President.
The President called Baker and Sink to his box and shook the grimy hands of the racers. When shaking Baker’s hand Taft said, “I congratulate you, Mr. Baker. I have never seen such a race before. I don’t know whether you hold your breath when you go around those corners, but I do.”
Okay, maybe Taft’s speech writer had the Fourth of July off.
Then everyone settled back to watch the head-on train crash. One intrepid railroad man earned his claim to fame that day by being the last to jump off one of the trains before they collided. President Taft was said to have a look of seriousness at the moment of impact of the two 50-ton locomotives.
The ever-observant Indianapolis newspaper reporters didn’t pull any punches. One daily rag backhand complemented Taft saying, “The President handled the heat of the day surprisingly well,” stating how “unusual for a man as fat as the President to hold up so well in such conditions.” They might have chosen an adjective a tad more delicately, perhaps something like rotund, plump or something, but no… these were straightforward Midwestern reporters after all, and President Taft was fat, plain and simple.
If you think a president doing something as down to earth as coming to a motorcycle race is guaranteed to win the admiration of “the folks,” it didn’t quite work out that way for Taft. A little over a year later he lost his re-election bid, finishing third behind Woodrow Wilson and former backer Teddy Roosevelt. The good news is that without the stress of the presidency good old Taft lost 80 pounds and went on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
So, the next time there is the Indy Mile, you’ll have the chance to watch the race from the same vantage point an American president did 97 years ago, something that’s never happened before or since. CN
