The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-27
BARNEY OLDFIELD
 IN BIRMINGHAM Premier Motorist of the World Talks Interestingly HAS HAD MANY ACCIDENTS oldfield Will Attempt to Lower Auto mobile Records at Fair Grounds
 Friday and Saturday
 Afternoons.
HAS HAD MANY ACCIDENTS

Barney .Oldf1eld, whose death-daring drives of the modern 'juggernauts have made kAn the sensation of the automo- bile world, arrived in Birmingham yes terday afternoon ready for the automo- bile races at the fair grounds Friday and Saturday, The famous young fellow proposes to demonstrate his prowess in guiding the huge racing cars around the circular track at faster speed than an express train makes.
 Chairman Van Duzen of the racing committee announced last night that ar arrangements had been concluded by wire with Paul Albert. the noted German chauffeur, for a match race between him and Oldheld. Albert is a protege of Van derbilt's and was brought to this coun- try by that millionaire sportsman when he imported. his famous Ao,oo0 foreign machine two years ago. Oldheld defeated Vanderbilt and his famous racing car for the worlds championship at Ormond Beach two years ago. It was on ac- count of this defeat that Vanderbilt withdrew from racing and gave Albert HIS tdI WHICH AilN CIdIh oClllltiAA io9 bSNii piloting with great success. Albert will arrive Wednesday morning. The com mittee received a wire last night from New York stating that the lanterns and decorations for the cars in the illumi- mated parade Wednesday night had been shipped There are 2000 lanterns in the lot.
 To group of listeners at the Athletic Club last night oldheld was telling an motor racing game.
 Barney received his first schooling ir judging pace and distance while riding bicycle ten years ago. and later took postgraduate course by piloting the motor-pacing machines over the indoor board tracks. He was as proficient in the latter line of work as he has since given in the automobile racing game, for his indoor records made at Madison Square Garden six years ago still stand as the fastest ever driven over that mo- toriously treacherous saucer course.
 Tells His Own Story.
 Here is the way the champion told of his experiences:
 -Four years ago. Henry Ford, of De- troit then a poor mechanical inventor, built the old 999 racing car a freak ma chine with just giant engine, four wheels and a frame, Tom Cooper the champion bicyclist of the old days, and myself were partners then in the motor- cycle racing business. and we bought the car from Ford about the time he had given up trying to get it to run suc- cessfully. We worked day and night on it, and finally six hours before- big race at Detroit the cratic old monster concluded it would run. Alexander Winton, who then held the American racing championship was the star of the meet, with his Bullet No. 1, and it was Winton I was to drive against. The purse was $500, and we needed it, for our bank-roll had been through an awful siege trying to complete old 999.'
 Before the race, Ford came around and said to me, That car isn't going to be able to keep within hailing dis tance of Winton, and I don't want you to connect my name with the car In any way. That made me awfully sore, and went on with preparations, determined to do something that had never been done before-I intended to drive the turns without shutting off the power. It is a matter of automobile history how that 1 race came out. I beat Winton by nearly a mile in five and broke all worlds rec ords to boot. The next morning I awoke | to find that Barney Oldfield was quite a man in his line.
 "rhe following spring it was in Indian apolis that I did something that everyone said was impossible. l drove the '999' a mile in 0:59 2-5-beating the minute. Then the. following July I went to work for Winton. for he never raced again after I defeated him, and drove a big eight cylinder machine he built for me-Bullet No ?.
 Tt was with this machine I had my first real accident in Detroit that fall I was rounding the upper turn in the last mile of a five-mile record trial-and I was inside the former mark. too-when my left-hand front tire blew up. The wheel would not answer the steering gear, and I knew I had no chance to escape going through the fence-something that I had always figured meant sure death There was q crowd lined up along the rail- and when you are going ninety-odd feet a second, there is not much time to think or plan. I had always figured out that must not hit the fence slanting or from the side, so l yanked the well all the way around and took the fence at right angles. l broke fence rail over my breast and upper arms, and why I ! was not brained l don't know It missed my head clean, and l braced myself for the shock that l knew was coming when | I lit.
 His First Fatal Accident.
 T had flash of a couple of men in flent of rne-both running. The machine caught one of them and carried him along in front of 1t through the air. Three seconds later I got up on my hands and knees It was exactly no feet from where the machine lay, a mass of wreckage. As I lay over I saw the other man beside me. I remember trying to get up and run-for he was a horrible looking object They afterwards told me every bone in