Oldfield's Chicago Rest - 1910

It's always interesting to account for Barney Oldfield's whereabouts if you are interested in Heroic Age auto racing because he was America's first superstar race driver. The article in the attachment below is from the May 19, 1910, Indianapolis Sun. It reports that after a burst of travel around the country Oldfield was taking a breather in Chicago just before his appearance a couple of hundred miles south at the May 1910 race meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 
This is a very brief article but it has a good amount of useful information in that it accounts for Oldfield's activities during Spring 1910. It notes the following:

  • His high speed runs on a track in Denver the previous week.
  • His March world land speed record at Daytona with the Blitzen Benz. It reports he reached 142 MPH which I understand he did, but not within the measured mile where his speed was 131+.
  • Also in March, this article confirms his one mile (one lap) tour of the Playa Del Rey board track in 36.22 seconds.
  • His 26.00-second tour of the mile track at Cheyenne speedway in Wyoming.

 
Oldfield had been touring the country with the Blitzen Benz to cash in with appearance fees for demonstration/record runs at tracks throughout America. He was reaping the benefits of having attained unprecedented speed with the Blitzen Benz at Daytona. He had captured the imagination of the country and took full advantage. The article ends by noting that Oldfield had the Blitzen Benz on display at a local garage in Chicago

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OldfieldSun051910.pdf340.69 KB