Motor-racing driver, born in Wauseon, Ohio, USA. One of motor-racing's pioneers, he began as a bicycle racer. He was the first to race a car a mile a minute (1903), driving Henry Ford's famous 999 racer. A colourful showman who specialized in short match races on dirt tracks, he also established a land speed record in 1910 for a one-mile distance at over 131 mph.
Barney Oldfield?"Racing career
Bicycle racer
He began as a bicycle racer in 1894, and won silver medals and a gold watch. He was being paid handsomely by the Stearns bicycle factory to race on its amateur team in 1896 .
Auto racer
He was lent a gasoline-powered bicycle in 1902 to race at Salt Lake City. This led to a meeting with Henry Ford, who wanted to stop racing after one or two career starts in the now famous number 999 Ford car. Henry wanted to have Oldfield test his cars, since Oldfield had never driven a car before. Ford sold both cars to Oldfield for $800 . Oldfield spent much time to prepare the cars.
Oldfield agreed to drive one of the Fords against the current champion Alexander Winton. Oldfield learned how to operate the car the morning of the event, and won by a half mile in the five mile race.
He drove in a match race on Memorial Day weekend in New York in 1903, and was the first driver to drive a mile track in one minute flat or 60 mph (miles per hour). Oldfield criss crossed with his agent Will Pickens across the United States in a series of timed runs and match races, where he earned a reputation as a showman. One year he competed at twenty tracks in 18 weeks, and had four exhibition run and won sixteen straight match races. He frequently raced in a three event matchs, and won the first part by a nose, lost the second, before he won the third. He was suspended by the AAA for his "outlaw" racing activities and was unable to race at sanctioned events for much of the prime of his career. Speed records, match races and exhibitions made up most of Oldfield's career. Oldfield raced his Fiat car against Beachey's aircraft.
In June 1917 he used his Golden Submarine to beat fellow racing legend Ralph DePalma in a series of 10 to 25 mile match races at Milwaukee. He retired from racing in 1918, but he continued to tour and make movies. His movie career included the silent film Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913), where he raced against a train to rescue a heroine tied to the train tracks. He starred as himself in a racing film titled The Blonde Comet, the story of a young woman trying to achieve success as a race car driver.
Contributions to racing safety
Oldfield worked with Harry Arminius Miller, who developed and built carburetors in Los Angeles and became one of the most famous engine builders in America, to create a racing machine that would not only be fast and durable, but that would also protect the driver in the event of an accident. Bob Burman, one of Oldfield's top rivals and closest friends, was killed in a wreck during a race in Corona, California. Oldfield and Miller joined forces to build a race car that incorporated a roll cage inside a streamlined driver's compartment that completely enclosed the driver (called the "Golden Submarine").
Business ventures
Barney Oldfield also helped fellow racer Carl G.
He developed the Oldfield tire for Firestone, which help put Firestone on the map.
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