Barney Oldfield: Biography of an Early Automotive Hall of Famer

To his legion of fans, in the first two decades of the 20th century, Barney Oldfield’s name became synonymous with speed and daring on race car tracks across America.

Born in 1878 Ohio, at the tender age of 16, Oldfield took up competitive bicycle racing, swiftly rising through the ranks to become a paid racer for Stearns Bicycles of Syracuse, New York. After competing in a gas-powered bicycle race in Salt Lake City, fellow racer Tom Cooper introduced Oldfield to Henry Ford, who asked Oldfield to race one of two cars he had built specifically for the track.

Despite Oldfield’s complete lack of experience driving any type of car, in 1902 he traveled to Michigan to race the now-famous No. 999 car, but when neither experimental race car would start, Ford offered both test vehicles to Oldfield and Cooper for the staggering sum of $800.00.

On June 20th, 1903, Oldfield raced No. 999 in a competition at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, where he became the first driver to run a mile track in one minute flat. Two months later, he covered the same distance in 55.8 seconds at the Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York, galvanizing his fame as the fastest man on earth. In a nation fascinated by auto racing and feats of daring, Oldfield became a household name for the first two decades of the 20th century, winning eight major races in 49 tries.

He retired from racing in 1918, marrying four times before passing away in Beverly Hills in 1946 at 68 years of age.