Barney and Ralph

Barney Oldfield and Ralph De Palma held match races throughout the summer of 1917. This photo supported a July 22 Atlanta Constitution article promoting a match race for Barney and Ralph at the  Lakewood Park dirt oval. This race ended the Golden Submarine configuration of Oldfield's Miller racer. He burst through the inside rail fence and into a pond. Because of the car's enclosed cockpit design, he had trouble extricating himself and nearly drowned. This is another important contribution by auto racing historian and researcher Ken Parrotte.