Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-04
.OLDFIELD BREAKS
RECORD FOR MILE
Drives His Bitten Benz Over
Motordrome Course in
SO 1-5 Seconds
DE PALMA LATER EQUALS IT
Timing Is Reliable, as Official
Timer of A. A. A. Was One of
Those Who Caught 1t

Barney turned the trick at the Motor
drome yesterday afternoon. The
worlds speed king sent his wonderful
Bitten Benz mile in 36 1-5 seconds,
at a rate Of 9944 miles per hour,
and making good Jack Princes claim
that the fastest mile ever driven on
any track in America would be shown
here in Los Angeles.
Oldtied drove a mile over the Day
tona, Florida, beach in 2733 seconds
with the same car he used yesterday
but the course was q straightaway and
cannot be compared to the mile circle
here. Nothing save a bullet ever traV-
eled faster than Oldield did in Florida
The American record for one mile on a
track was held by Lewis Strang in a
200 horse power Fiat, made at Atlanta
over the two-mile speedway last Oc-
tober. Strang's time was 37.72, so it
readily will be seen that Oldfeld's mile
yesterday gives the veteran driver the
undisputed right to the title of track
king, although his position in the game
for the past seven years has made nc
other proof necessary.
The timing yesterday was not of the
guess so" variety. One man who held
a watch that showed the record time
was official timer G. H. Warner of the
American Automobile association, sent
here to officiate at the races. Charlie
Burman, Roger Stearns, Dick Ferris
f. e. MoscoVics and Bert Dlngley were
the other timers and three of them
caught the miIe in 36 seconds fiat.
Barney's drive was most spectacular
and nerve-shredding. Charlie Burmar
and others begged the speed king not
to go for a record yesterday, as it was
the first time he had ever had the Benz
an wi hp nt ri
have covered hundreds of miles at tor
speed and are thoroughly accustomed
to the turns. But with an air of reck-
less abandon King Barney swung
onto the track, after adjusting the his
toric cigar stub. and taking two laps tc
warm up, gave the timers the sigma
to clock him for a little breeze.
1t was rumored around the track thai
Caleb Bragg. the daring but modest
little driver of the Fiat go" had beer
replaced by Ralph De Palma as pilot
of the Fiat. Bragg made many friends
by his good driving and splendid time
in practice and though De Palma may
have had more experience Bragg's
showing here certainly entitled him tc
a chance to drive the star car of the
Fiat stable. De Palma took the car
from Bragg yesterday and showed sew
eral miles under forty seconds.
Il
the same time, according to DIR. Bas-
ley and Bruno Seibel, while others who
held watches on this event verified the
time. De Palma did not go onto the
track until 5:25 o'clock last evening
after Oldfeld had hung out the
worlds record. but there was a large
crowd in attendance and many compe-
tent timers to give the time announced
a touch of reliability.
!, 1,t
zen Benz" and de Palma used Calet
Bragg's Fiat "90' 1t was the first
brush between the champions prelim-
mary to the great race which will de-
termine who is the racing champion OF
the world. The two cars were not on
the motordrome at the same time, as
de Palma did not use the Fiat until
Bragg had finished his practice work
and then changed gears before start
ing.
The sensational view of the big cars
laundering by the grand stand was
enhanced by the ability to watch them
all the way around the pie pam" Even
at the half mile post, when they were
further away from the spectators than
at any other point, the tremendous
speed developed was fascinating. The
cars running on the motordrome do not
always maintain the same speed, but
frequently make exciting spurts. Even
on an ordinary mile track these are
n, ; fully visible to the grand stand,
but every second of the race at the
motordrome gives a full view of the
machines.
De Palma and Oldf1eld's fast mile is
at the exact rate of 1914 miles an
hour Even at that they are far from
reaching the possibilities of the track
or their machines and experts are chary
about venturing a guess as to the
speed which will be made in the mo-
tordrome inaugural for fear of putting
1t too low. Although the motordrome
is a perfect circle whose circumfer-
ence does not vary at any point, it Is
so large that a look straight along the
track gives the idea of a straightaway
AS result the racing car rounding
the circle toward a spectator seems TO
be coming directly at him, when In fact
1t is merely following the circular
course.
When Oldheld's wicked looking Benz
came around the track yesterday af-
ternoon number of the spectators
were fully convinced that he was GO
ing full tilt into the grand stand and
there was a scattering. They were in
no danger, however. for in less than
seconds time they were looking al
the rear of the car. Even If driver
should lose control and allow his car
to head directly to the grand stand ii
could not iniure the spectators. as II
would only strike the 90-pound railroad
rail which Is put up as fender and
glance off to the ground below.
Oldfield put the big Renz around
three times, averaging a mile in 81 sec
onds. He is delighted with the motor
drome and thinks 1t Is the finest kind
of a track yet devised. De Palma also
expressed himself as satisfied that the
Los Angeles innovation will produce
some wonderful speed and a new set
of automobile records. Both champions
will continue practicing on the track
preparing to contest for the title of
worlds champion.
Caleb Bragg made mile yesterday
in 1-5 seconds, another in 3S 2-5, and
several at the 39-seconds speed. Al
Livingston had the Standardization on
the track and Joe Nikrent made some
fast time with his Buick go" There
were 500 automobiles in or arounud the
motordrome field.
Practice hours have been extended to
the forenoon to accommodate the driv-
ers. The public will be admitted free
during all practice hours up to Fri
day, the opening day of the meet. Men
who have been timing the cars look for
even better time than 100 miles an hour
during the practice work.