Moto Board Track in Indianapolis?

Constructed in 1898, the Newby Oval was the first board track built in Indianapolis. Not for cars or motorcycles, this structure served the burgeoning bicycling community of the age. Bicycle racing was a major sport of the era with stars like Marshall "Major" Taylor and Tom Cooper. For a brief few years during the 1890's it rivaled other spectator pastimes of the day.
 
The track was named after its founder, Art Newby, a force in the business community of the Hoosier capital. Among his accomplishments was to form the corporation, Diamond Chain, a supplier to bicycle manufacturers. He also, along with two other bright, young, Indianapolis businessmen, Carl Fisher and James Allison, established the "Zig-Zag Club" for area bicycle enthusiasts.
 

The advent of the automobile and racing them turned the public's attention from the manually propelled two-wheelers to vehicles powered by the wonder of the age - the internal combustion engine. Newby quickly recognized opportunity and helped launch companies like National Motor Vehicle Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
As the decade pressed on, first motorcycle racing and then automobile competition considered the wood plank velodromes as suitable facilities for their purposes. In an age of terrible public roads, these structures were seen as relatively easy and inexpensive to construct. Over time, cost of ownership became oppressive as the boards fell apart under the stress of pounding machines and the elements.
 
Still, in 1910, American was just beginning to see the potential of the board tracks. Through the following decade, they sprouted up in cities across the country to host breathtaking and tremendously dangerous wheel-to-wheel competition.
 
As motorcycle ownership exploded, the Indiana Motorcycle Club rapidly expanded. The Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM) had sanctioned the first motorized competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the previous year in August, 1909. That event was an unmitigated fiasco as the crushed-stone running surface proved impossible for traction and there were spills. Some riders were scared off and simply withdrew.
 
After paving the track, Speedway management hoped to attract the FAM boys to give them a second chance. Many were lukewarm, to say the least. An idea that did take root was to construct a motorcycle board track in Indianapolis, much the same as had been done in various other cities.
 
That's what the article and analysis you can read at this link are all about. There's no record the track was ever constructed, but the conversations of the day are fascinating. What could have been?