Erwin Baker

12 March 1882

Dearborn County, Indiana, USA

10 May 1960 (Age 78)

Crown Hill Cemetery
Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana,
Resting in Section 60, Lot 150

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.