Barney Oldfield
1878 -1946
Barney Oldfield was America’s first true auto racing hero in a career that spanned the first two decades of the 20th century. With a cigar clenched between his teeth, a leather helmet topped with goggles, and an ever-present smile, Oldfield was the consummate showman, barnstorming America’s fairground circuits in hulking, fire-belching beasts with names like Marmon, Peerless and Winton. Oldfield was the first driver to run a mile at over 60 miles per hour and competed in the first-ever race at the Indianapolis Speedway in 1909. During his career he competed in over 2,000 races, most of them match races or exhibitions.
Born in Ohio in 1878, Oldfield started racing bicycles at the age of 16 and was soon the Ohio champion. By 1896 he was a salesman and racer for the Stearns bicycle factory of Syracuse, New York. It wasn’t long, however, before his reputation caught the eye of Saginaw bicycle dealer, Tom Tierney.
Oldfield was attracted to Saginaw and for several years sold bicycles out of Tierney’s shop in the 200-block of East Genesee. Tierney was a noted promoter of sports in Saginaw, and Oldfield played right field for the local United Commercial Traveler’s baseball team.
Auto racing entered Oldfield’s life in 1902 when Henry Ford asked the daredevil rider to test one of his cars. That led Oldfield and a fellow bicycle racer to purchase two of Ford’s cars, and Oldfield and Ford were soon household names across America when Oldfield defeated auto racing champion Alexander Winton in Ford’s “No. 999,” which is now featured at the Henry Ford Museum.
In addition to auto racing, Oldfield once starred in a Broadway musical and a few motion pictures. He contributed to racing safety by helping to develop a race car that would protect the driver in a rollover. Barney Oldfield’s business ventures resulted in the first-ever car dealership in America and the promotion of Firestone as one of the country’s premier tire manufacturers.
In 1953 Oldfield was among the first 10 pioneers of auto racing to be enshrined in Auto Racing’s Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
In 1946, shortly before he died, Oldfield shared the speaker’s platform in Detroit with Henry Ford, Ransom E. Olds and J. Frank Duryea as he was honored as one of racing’s greatest drivers during the city’s celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Automobile. As he stood to accept the trophy, the audience rose and gave him a thundering ovation.