Elder initially wanted to become a
jockey but by his late teens had grown to almost six feet tall, leading to his 'Sprouts' nickname. He got a job in a motorcycle shop and began racing, eventually taking up speedway. Elder was also a pioneer of speedway racing in the USA. He was a champion rider at home and abroad during the 1920s and early 1930s and helped organize speedway racing on the east and west coasts of America, later becoming an AMA referee and a member of the competition committee. In 1925 Sprouts Elder became the inaugural
AMA American Speedway Champion. Elder was also a visitor to Australia, winning the Maroubra Golden Helmet four times in 1927, and once in 1928 on the concrete 1 mile
Maroubra Speedway. In Australia Elder raced against top Australian as well as several top British and American riders who also spent the winter months racing in the Australian summer, mostly on the larger showground tracks of the day such as the
Sydney Showground Speedway,
Brisbane Exhibition Ground (Ekka), the
Wayville Showground in
Adelaide, and
Perth's
Claremont Speedway (as of 2014 only the Ekka and Wayville stand as they did in the late 1920s and early 1930s when Elder rode there). Elder also won titles in South America, including the first unofficial
Speedway World Championship event at
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, while under contract to
A.J. Hunting. He also won numerous Argentine Gold, Silver and Bronze Helmets in 1929, 1930 and 1930. 1928 saw Elder turn his attention to racing in the United Kingdom, becoming one of the most popular riders in the country. He could command fees of £100 per meeting, plus prize money, and once earned £350 in a day by racing at three nearby tracks. while also winning the Scottish Gold and Silver Helmets in 1929. He never rode for the
West Ham Hammers in 1929 but was their overseas representative in the
Star Riders' Championship, and in 1930 he rode for the
Southampton Saints. Elder was one of speedway's pioneers and featured in the first
Star Riders' Championship, the forerunner to the
Speedway World Championship in 1929. He was beaten in the semi-final of the 'overseas' section by Australian
Vic Huxley. During the mid-1930s, Elder returned to the United States to help organize American speedway. Speedway racing was among the popular forms of motorcycle racing in the country. Elder, along with
Wilbur Lamoreaux,
Jack and
Cordy Milne, he helped found and promote speedway in America. == Retirement ==