芝加哥先驱报 (Chicago Times Herald) 赞助这场比赛，冠军可以赢得2000美金，而把这种无马运输工具取名为摩托车的人则获得500美元的奖金。 

不过在更早的两年前，法兰克．杜伊尔和他的兄弟查尔斯 (Charles Duryeas) 就已经建好并驾驶他们认为是美国第一辆以石油当作动力的汽车。不过在先驱报举办这场征名比赛的时候，已经有超过70个人报名参加了。 因为大众热烈的回响，使得克里夫兰总统要求战争部要重视这个事件。在杜伊尔获得胜利之后，兄弟二人打造了13部同型的芝加哥汽车，而法兰克．杜伊尔又打造了一辆昂贵的汽车，称之为史帝文斯．杜伊尔 (Stevens-Duryeas) ，一直到1920年代都还有生产。

The Chicago Times Herald sponsored that first race with $2,000 going to the winner and $500 to the fan who named the horseless vehicles "motocycles."

Two years earlier, the winners, J. Frank Duryea and his brother Charles, had built and driven what they claimed to be the first American gasoline-powered automobile. Yet by the time the Times Herald race came along, more than 70 entries were filed. This huge response prompted President Cleveland to ask the War Department to oversee the event. After their victory, the Duryeas made 13 copies of the Chicago car, and J. Frank Duryea developed the Stevens-Duryea, an expensive limousine that remained in production into the 1920s.

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