Police to Race Motorcycles

This brief article was published in the June 27, 1909 Indianapolis Star and was part of the paper's coverage leading up to the first motorcycle race meet at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Speedway was finishing its construction work at the time this article was originally published.
 
The article reports on some of the riders most likely to enter the races both professional an amateur. Perhaps most interesting was the idea of a challenge across cities to enter their best police force motorcycle riders to create some sort of inter-metropolitan police department championship. Officer Gibney of the Indianapolis Police Department is specifically mentioned. This certainly cast a spotlight on Gibney and that may have come with heightened expectations and stress. Regardless Gibney would several weeks later become the first compeititor to be injured at the Speedway when he lost control of his bike in practice. He never raced at the track.
 
Among the top riders noted as probably entrants were Jake DeRosier, Paul Derkum, M.J. Graves, Stanley Kellogg, Robert Stubbs and Fred Huyck. The article closes with a mention of how traditionally national championship events had been held in New York but the Indiana Motorcycle Club had worked had to bring this event to the Speedway.