Barney Oldfield

Oldfield, Barney (1878–1946), U.S. race car driver. Hired by Henry Ford in 1902 to drive Ford's racing car, the “999”, Oldfield became the first person to break the 60 mph (96.56 kmph) barrier (1903). In 1910 he set another speed record of 131.724 mph (211.983 kmph). After retiring from racing in 1918, he worked toward improved auto safety engineering.