Barney Oldfield's Comeback

This collection of articles is from Barney Oldfield's scrapbook. All are from March 1910 leading up to and through Oldfield's successful world land speed record run at Daytona Beach where he his 131.7 MPH. Aside from coverage of the record run (which was not recognized as an official record because that required the driver to make a return run for an average of the speeds up and down the beach, which Oldfield did not do) this content offers some interesting perspectives beyond the scope of the record run. Key among them was the negotiation between the owner of Ralph De Palma's Fiat and Oldfield for the two to meet the following month at the new Jack Prince board track in Los Angeles, which was referred to as a "motordrome." Another point is that one of the articles discusses Oldfield's quest to purchase the big 200 HP Blitzen Benz and reclaim his career. The opinion that Oldfield's career was in the tank and he had "lost his nerve" is expressed. Finally, a "race of Speed Kings" at Daytona is described, where Oldfield and his Benz won out over Ralph DePalma (Fiat), David Bruce-Brown (Benz), J. Walter Christie (Christie) and Ben Kirshner (Darracq) is described. Also, Oldfield won a stock car race pitting his National against the same drivers.