The Daring Yankee

The story goes that Kaiser Wilhelm cabled the man he called, "a daring Yankee" when he received word on March 23, 1910, from Daytona Beach that Barney Oldfield had just shattered the world land speed record by driving the 200 HP, chain-driven "Blitzen" Benz to a new world land speed record of 131.720 MPH. Yea for German engineering!
 
There was a lot more left in the car but cagey Oldfield had plans to come back in the future and smash the mark again. He never got the chance.
 
Months later the American Automobile Association (AAA) suspended him for staging an outlaw match race against - of all people - the first black heavyweight world champion, Jack Johnson. Johnson had, according to mainstream, white-dominated press, "ruined" the honorable and exalted sport of boxing.
 

The racism of the era is a hard truth. The idea of a black man defeating a white man at anything met with roars of disapproval.
 
The AAA feared the damage that could happen to auto racing if Johnson were to succeed in their sport. They made and example of Oldfield.
 
Still, for that shining moment in March 1910, Oldfield, a hard-scrabble hustler of the oldest school, indeed, the first school of motorsport, had restored his career. Long derided as a huckster after turning to barnstorming to not only earn a living but to mitigate risk to himself and spectators, he may have lost a step as he focused on showmanship and, unfortunately, alcohol.
 
The wily veteran who single-handedly carried oval track racing through the first decade of the 20th century understood what it took to pull together a winning combination. He purchased the Blitzen Benz (briefly renaming it, "Lightning"), the most powerful racer in the world with the aim of doing exactly what he did: going faster than anyone and anything on the planet.
 
His speed was unheard of. No vehicle - car, train, plane or boat - had ever touched that kind of speed. Oldfield knew too that once he set the mark he could tour the country and people everywhere would clamor - and pay good money - for a glimpse and an earful of the cannon blast-like explosions of its massive cylinders.
 
The grassroots hero did exactly that. He crisscrossed the continent staging exhibitions and accepting the accolades.
 
There is no doubt it was a grander time, far richer with legend than today, this Heroic Age. What's more, you can understand it, heck, you can live it, by clicking through to the deep, immersive world of First Super Speedway. There's no place like home.