THE FIRST SPEEDWAY MEET

Oldfield and Flying Machine will Contest

NEXT SUNDAY, JULY 25, IN THE AFTERNOON

Barney Oldfield in His Racing Automobile and DeLloyd Thompson in Aeroplane.

Barney Oldfield, the world's master driver, and De Lloyd Thompson, admittedly the greatest aviator of all time, will flirt with and flaunt death - court it and make it their laughing stock - when they officially open the new speedway here on next Sunday afternoon with their series of sensational, spectactular and startling stunts.

Oldfield will attempt to smash existing world's records for the half-mile, mile and two miles made on a mile speedway - his won marks - when he rushes and roars around the saucer track in his 300-horsepower, freak, front drive Christie. This steel steed is the fastest racer in the world, so powerful it has to be pulled to be started, and Barney is the only man in the world capable of driving it.

The veteran master driver used this racer when he rushed around the Tacoma speedway a few weeks ago and established new world's records for the half-mile, mile and two miles. He covered the half in 16.6 seconds, the mile in 31.6 seconds, at the rate of 120 miles an hour, and the two miles in 1:10. These marks are all officially and electrically timed by the American Automobile Association.

Barney also drove his great racer when he made Mercury, the runner of the gods, look like a piker at the new Chicago speedway, travelling arounf the two mile bowl at the rate of 111.5 miles an hour. The first mile he made in 34.9 seconds, and the second in 30.1 seconds, going the latter portion at the pace of 130 miles an hour. When he flashed across the finish line at the end of this speed trial it was estimated he was making 140 miles an hour. This time was not, however, sanctioned by the American Automobile Association and as a resultant his mark for the two miles made at Tacoma stands.

Oldfield will also make an effort to lower the records for the half-mile, mile, two miles and five miles in his 100 horsepower Fiat Cyclone, which is second only his great Christie as a record smasher. Barney will drive this car when he clashes with De Lloyd Thompson, the aerial marvel, in the racing duel between the two to decide the supremacy of their respective machines.

This race is looked on as the big thriller of the afternoon. It is always closely contested, each pushing his craft to the utmost capacity, because of the reluctance of either to be the loser and bear the merry jests of the winner. Sometimes the aviator is within a few feet of the auto driver as they race around at the rate of almost a hundred miles an hour, the aeroplane resembling a huge bird of prey and the wheels of its chassis cruel talons.

Nip and tuck as these clashes and sometimes inches only separate the noses of their crafts as they rush into the finish. Frequently they bring their race to a shut so closely that even the spectators are at a loss to decide correctly which is the winner, and heated arguments are often resultant. In its wild excitement over the thrilling contest the partisan throng forgets itself, and stands and cheers vociferously, urging on the favorites to victory.

Thompson will give thrills galore and many more with many variations of the loop the loop, and will also offer the far-famed and perilous tumble flight, the dreaded manuever that sent the late Lincoln Beachey, friend and rival of Thompson, to his death at San Francisco. Thompson is claimed to have conquered the air, and all are willing to admit this after having seen him perform his hazardous death-cheating and nerve tingling upside down flight.

Thompson's "war spectacle" is also a strong feature of splendid program that has been arranged, the aviator seeking to show the manner in which the European aviator carries on his work of death, devastation and destruction. From a dizzy distance in the clouds he attempts to destroy an impromptu "fort" but he is not permitted to do this unassailed as the "garrison" of the fort makes him the target of its aerial bombs.

An added attraction on Oldfield Day will be the appearance of Eddie O'Donnell in a 100 mile speed trial against time in his Duesenberg car. Seven motorcyclists of nation-wide fame will appear in a contest for big prizes.

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