Oldfield, Barney (1878-1946), was the first person to drive an automobile at a speed of 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) per minute. His name became synonymous with speed after he did this in a much-publicized test at Indianapolis on June 15, 1903. His first racing car, the “999,” was built by Henry Ford. In it, Oldfield won his first race at Detroit in 1902. In 1910, at Daytona Beach, Florida, he raced a mile at an average speed of 131 miles per hour (211 kilometers per hour), a record then. Berner Eli Oldfield was born on Jan. 29 or June 3, 1878, in Wauseon, Ohio. Oldfield died on Oct. 4, 1946.
