Barney Oldfield

Barney Oldfield (born January 29, 1878, near Wauseon, Ohio, U.S.—died October 4, 1946, Beverly Hills, California) was an American automobile-racing driver whose name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century.

A bicycle racer from 1894, Oldfield in 1902 became the driver of the 999 racing car designed by Henry Ford and owned by champion cyclist Tom Cooper, with whom he was acquainted. Oldfield quickly achieved fame by guiding the vehicle to two victories over Alexander Winton’s supposedly invincible Bullet. On June 20, 1903, at Indianapolis, Oldfield accomplished the first mile-a-minute performance in an automobile (59.6 seconds); a month later he drove five miles in 4 minutes 55 seconds at Yonkers, New York. At Daytona Beach, Florida, March 16, 1910, in his Blitzen Benz, he set a world speed record of 131.724 miles per hour (mph). His unprecedented driving feats earned him the nickname “speed king.” In November 1914 he won the Los Angeles-to-Phoenix Cactus Derby Race, the medal for which proclaimed its victor “Master Driver of the World,” and on May 28, 1916, he became the first person to lap the Indianapolis Speedway at a speed of more than 100 mph.

Oldfield was also a well-known advocate for driving safety, and he was among the first to use a safety harness in his car. In 1919 he joined forces with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company to form the Oldfield Tire Company, of which he served as president.