No relation to Barney. An AAA contest board member, he entered his own radical rear-engined race car in 1937, intending that Joel Thorne should ride it, but Oldfield decided to have a go as well, some 25 years after his 1st attempt. Oldfield's involvement in the sport and industry was lengthy - he won the W.D. Edenburn Memorial Trophy in 1948 - a trophy that was awarded annually for an individual whose efforts had greatly aided and improved automobile racing and the automobile industry - which was awarded in part for his role as head of the technical committee of the Indianapolis Speeway in the 1940's. However Oldfield's longest-lasting legacy is Labeco, the firm he founded in 1943, which was founded to work on engines for the aviation industry. The firm still exists today as Renk Labesco, having grown and grown since then.

Biography last updated 29 Dec 2014