Oldfield Wins Charter Oak

This package has great information on several levels. It also serves to illustrate what a rat's nest Barney Oldfield's personal scrapbook was - this is where I acquired the content. It requires some patience to read, but you can get through it and if you love auto racing history it is well worth the effort.
 
Although there is no way to be sure, I suspect that the articles originally appeared in a Hartford, Connecticut newspaper. This is because it covers events of a 1910 auto race at the Charter Oak race track near that city. It is obviously 1910 because Oldfield staged exhibition runs with his world land speed record-setting Lightning Benz, aka "Blitzen" Benz. Also on hand were Ben Kerscher - who worked for Oldfield - in Barney's Darracq, which won the 1905 Vanderbilt Cup. Lewis Strang is also noted as competing. Oldfield and Kerscher also drove Knox racers. Overall, this is a good snapshot insight to the life of a barnstorming driver in the early 20th century.
 
Another small article notes that heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson was negotiating the opportunity to race Oldfield. This eventually did come together at Sheepshead Bay in October 1910, but proved to be a fiasco. Oldfield was suspended for participating in an event not sanctioned by the AAA, Jackson was easily defeated by a far more experienced driver and most of the world didn't really care. Given the ugly racial overtones surrounding the event it has never been reflected on with kind words.

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Oldfield_Benz.pdf1.41 MB