Oldfield, Barney

▪ American race–car driver

byname of  Berna Eli Oldfield  

born Jan. 29, 1878, near Wauseon, Ohio, U.S.

died Oct. 4, 1946, Beverly Hills, Calif.

      American automobile-racing driver, whose name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century.

      A bicycle racer from 1894, and briefly a professional boxer, Oldfield was hired in 1902 as chief mechanic for Henry Ford's racing team. He soon became the team's driver and achieved fame by guiding the Ford-Cooper 999 to two victories over Alexander Winton's supposedly invincible Bullet. On June 15, 1903, at Indianapolis, he accomplished the first mile-a-minute performance in an automobile (59.6 seconds); in August 1903 he drove five miles in 4 minutes 55 seconds. At Daytona Beach, Fla., March 16, 1910, in his Blitzen Benz, he set a world speed record of 131.724 miles per hour. Despite his success he came to dislike auto racing, calling the sport a “Roman circus”; he was disgusted at the great publicity accorded him following two racing accidents in which spectators were killed. After his retirement in 1918, he became a well-known advocate of driving safety.

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