Several folks have already put in an order for copies, and I am very grateful for their support! I am hoping for delivery by December 1, and I have set up my book’s sales page at this website-just navigate to it from the header bar at the top of my website. My publisher is shipping books to us on November 19 from Canada, so no bottlenecks with container ships or holdups at a seaport are expected. Thanks to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for use of images from their collection, for newspaper excerpts, as well as historical resources from and the Indiana History Blog. The Cannonball Run road events were celebrated in a book by Yates called Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race.Īlthough Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker never won a major race in his life, his name endures as a lasting symbol of those early motoring pioneers who were living their passion for adventure and speed, and very often doing it by roaring along in a Stutz Bearcat speedster! Baker was considered a hero of the early twentieth century from his exploits in his Stutz Bearcat speedster (and many other vehicles) his bio is part of my book’s chapter on Stutz. This series of madcap films was bookended by Speed Zone! in 1989. Two comedic movie productions, appropriately called The Cannonball Run, were released in 19 and starred Burt Reynolds, Farrah Fawcett, and a host of other notables. Nothing escapes Hollywood’s attention, and this infamously rebellious activity inspired several movies, beginning with The Gumball Rally in 1976. Congress in 1974 as a response to the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Until 1973!Ĭannon Ball Baker’s story inspired a cross-country non-sanctioned race that was held in the 1970s to openly defy the national speed limit of 55 miles per hour, which had been instituted by the U.S. In another record attempt, his cross-country dash in a supercharged 1933 Graham-Paige Blue Streak 8 set a long distance record of 53 hours, 30 minutes that lasted over 40 years. Baker eventually crossed the United States 126 times and covered over 5 million miles in his travels.īaker’s nickname, “Cannon Ball” comes from his race against the Chicago-New York Express, which he of course beat. Baker was in the thick of this, and in addition to endorsing products, Baker would drive cars hither and yon, setting record after record.
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