Lakeside Racetrack & Barney Oldfield
John H. Gay bought the Lakeside Inn in 1904. He fenced the park and claimed it as part of the estate. He laid out a 60-foot wide racetrack that was especially adapted for automobile and horse racing. The Lakeside racetrack circled Lindo lake. Many famous race drivers participated there, including Barney Oldfield in his well known “Green Dragon.” T. P. Bernereli “Barney” Oldfield began his racing career on a bicycle. Oldfield was born June 3, 1878, in Wauseon, Ohio. He quit school at age 12 and worked as a bellhop in a hotel in Toledo. He learned to drive a car in a week — no simple thing in those days!. Ford’s big four-cylinder machine had no clutch or gears. The steering wheel was a straight iron bar, similar to a tiller on a boat. The car made so much noise that they named it after a famous steam locomotive, the “999.” He won his first race in Detroit by half a mile in 1902. On the heals of this publicity, the Ford Motor Company was born.
In October, 1901, a race was scheduled at Old Grosse Point Blue Ribbon Track in Michigan. As a special feature attraction, there was to be an exhibition of a tandem racing bicycle ridden by the team ofBarney Oldfield and Tom Cooper. Oldfield was a large, strong professional bicycle racer. His early life was very hard. He began work as a water boy on a construction crew, and moonlighted as a bellhop. He started bicycle racing at age sixteen, won his first race and found he could sell his gold medal back to the promoter for cash. After an unsuccessful venture in coal mining in Colorado, he resumed his bicycle racing career in Salt Lake City, Utah. He again became associated with Cooper in Detroit where Cooper had convinced Henry Ford to build him a race car. Oldfield learned the intricacies of automobile racing and having driven only one car in his life, he raced it at the Old Grosse Point Blue Ribbon Track, and completed the five miles in a world’s record time of five minutes and twenty-eight seconds.
Oldfield later drove a Peerless automobile which became known as the “Green Dragon.” This was a successful race car which he purchased and used to barnstorm his way across the country, racing and giving exhibitions when he could. In 1907, he came to the new racetrack in Lakeside. Often another car and driver traveled with him to compete against him in exhibitions. These were usually a series of timed laps with each car taking a turn on the track alone, running against the clock. On April 7, 1907,The San Diego Union announced the first event to open the new racetrack. Barney Oldfield in his “Green Dragon” was to be featured in a match against Bruno Seibel in the “Red Devil” on Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, 1907. Special excursion trains would run from San Diego to Lakeside and return after races. The Union said that the largest crowd in Lakeside’s history was expected. Both Oldfield and Seibel pronounced the track as being excellent and without a peer anywhere in the world. According to the April 22 issue of the Union, Oldfield had set a new record of 51 4/5 seconds for the mile.
For about ten years, regular weekly auto and motorcycle races were held at the dirt circular track. Many old-timers recalled spending Sunday afternoons at the track, even testing their own driving and mechanical skills. The appearance of Barney Oldfield was an outstanding highlight in the history of the Lakeside Track. Oldfield retired a wealthy man in 1918, but lost his money in the depression. In later years, he ran a saloon in California. Henry Ford once visited him and they joked about how each helped to make the other. In 1946, at the age of 68, Oldfield died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
2007 Lakeside Speedway Centennial Celebration
In 1907 an event took place that would forever change the look of auto racing. This was the opening of the Lakeside Auto Speedway in Lakeside, California, a little resort town in the foothills of San Diego County. The Lakeside Auto Speedway was claimed to be the first purpose-built auto racing facility in the country. Now races could be held off the dangerous public roads and horse race tracks, which are not ideally suited to cars.
Because of the significance of this milestone 100 years ago the Lakeside Historical Society is organizing a 2007 Centennial celebration at the site of the original Speedway. This event will be highlighted by a gathering of the finest antique race cars and other vehicles from the era of 1907 though 1919. These historic vehicles will be on display to the public and will be invited to a parade around the roads closely following the path of the original speedway. This running display will enable spectators to visualize what the speedway atmosphere must have been like a century ago.
The public is invited to participate, either with a historic vehicle or as a spectator.
The Lakeside Auto Speedway was constructed by John H. Gay, owner of the Lakeside Inn. This spectacular Victorian hotel was located adjacent to Lindo Lake in the town of Lakeside, ;California. The Inn was a tourist attraction due to its beautiful country location and easy access from San Diego via railroad. To improve business at the Inn the owner, Mr. Gay, invested $10,000 in construction of the speedway. The Speedway was a 2-mile high-speed oval circling Lindo Lake adjacent to the Lakeside Inn.
The first event featured perhaps the best-known driver in the country, Barney Oldfield. Huge crowds arriving by train watched him pilot his Green Dragon racer to a new speed record. The opening of Lakeside Auto Speedway initiated a successful run of events that continued until the Inn closed in 1920. The history surrounding the Inn and the Speedway is being collected and documented by the Lakeside Historical Society. A selection of historical publications including period photos will be available for viewing and purchase at the event.
The centennial celebration of the Lakeside Auto Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, November 18, 2007 at the Lakeside Community Center in Lindo Lake Park, 25 miles east of San Diego. The event’s presenting sponsor is Barona, famed for its popular Indian gaming casino, and location of the only remaining racing speedway in San Diego County. The Barona Resort Casino and luxury hotel are located six miles north of downtown Lakeside. The Lakeside Historical Society has its headquarters and museum at the historic Olde Community Church at 9906 Maine Avenue.
For event entry information contact Fred Puhn, Entry Chairman, at (619) xxx-xxxx.
For information on the Lakeside Historical Society call (619) 561-1886.