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Acting legend, race car driver and race car owner, Paul Newman dies at 83

Newman was an avid auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in motorsports ("the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in") while training for and filming Winning, a 1969 film. Newman's first professional event was in 1972, in Thompson, Connecticut, and he was a common competitor in Sports Car Club of America events for the rest of the decade, eventually winning several championships. He later drove in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in *** Barbour's Porsche 935 and finished the race in second.[25] Newman rejoined *** Barbour in 2000 to compete in the Petit Le Mans.[26]

From the mid-'70s to the early '90s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Datsuns in the Trans-Am Series. He became heavily associated with the re-branded Nissans during the '80s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race,[citation needed] winning in his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona.[27] Among his final experiences in racing was competing in the Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.[28]

Newman initially owned his own racing team which competed in the Can-Am series, but later co-founded Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, a Champ Car team, in 1983. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the IMAX film Super Speedway, which Newman narrated. He was also a partner in the Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing. Newman also owned a car NASCAR Winston Cup before selling it to Penske Racing, where it now serves as the #12 car.

We will sure miss those blue eyes.

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NASCAR recalls Newman's passion for giving, racing
Actor, activist, driver and owner dies of cancer at 83
By The Associated Press
September 27, 2008
06:29 PM EDT

type size: + -KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Paul Newman wanted to be a great athlete -- he just never found a sport in which he could excel. Then, while filming the movie Winning in 1969 at age 43, he discovered auto racing.

"I was never a very graceful person. The only time I ever really feel coordinated is when I dance with Joanne," he once told The Associated Press, referring to his wife, Joanne Woodward. "And that's not my doing. But when I'm behind the wheel of racecar, I feel competent and in charge. It's something I really enjoy."


Paul Newman, at Indy in May 2008Newman, an Oscar-winning actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist and racecar driver, died of cancer Friday at his farmhouse near Westport, Conn., publicist Jeff Sanderson said.

"Paul Newman, a real American hero," team owner Jack Roush said.

Jimmie Johnson remembered Newman as a great friend of the sport -- and a pretty fast driver.

"I have been out on numerous days where he has driven Cup cars," the two-time Cup champion said. "Normally, Rick [Hendrick] has a play day and puts a restrictor plate on the car and lets guys go out and drive around with half the horsepower. Numerous times, Paul has gone out on sticker tires, the plate off and run really quick laps. I was always so impressed with his driving ability and who he was as a person."

Newman spoke of his passion for racing during a 1995 interview with the AP shortly after he was part of the winning team in the Daytona 24-Hours sports-car endurance race. He was 70 years old at the time. No one remotely close to that age had ever won in that event.

Newman could be terse and distant in his rare interviews, but he would light up when he talked about his favorite sport.

"I don't like talking about acting because that's business and pretty boring," Newman told the AP another time. "And politics can get you in trouble. But I'll always talk about racing because the people are interesting and fun, the sport is a lot more exciting than anything else I do, and nobody cares that I'm an actor. I wish I could spend all my time at the racetrack."

When Newman decided to get into racing, it was more than just being in the cockpit that interested him. He became a car owner in the Can-Am Series, campaigning cars for a number of top drivers, including Indianapolis 500 winners Al Unser, Danny Sullivan and Bobby Rahal, as well as Formula One champion Keke Rosberg.

After competing against team owner Carl Haas in Can-Am, Newman formed a partnership with the Chicago businessman, starting Newman/Haas Racing in 1983 and joining the CART series.

With Mario Andretti hired as its first driver, the team was an instant success. Throughout the past 26 years, the team -- now known as Newman/Haas/Lanigan and part of the IndyCar Series -- has won 107 races and eight series championships with drivers like Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Cristiano da Matta, Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais.

Despite a heavy schedule, Newman came to the track as often as possible. He tried without much success to keep a low profile as he roamed pit lane on his motor scooter or sat at the team's pit box, his baseball cap pulled low over those famous blue eyes, a pair of reading glasses -- used for reading the timing and scoring monitor -- dangling from a string around his neck.

"Paul and I have been partners for 26 years and I have come to know his passion, humor and, above all, his generosity," Haas said. "Not just economic generosity, but generosity of spirit. His support of the team's drivers, crew and the racing industry is legendary. His pure joy at winning a pole position or winning a race exemplified the spirit he brought to his life and to all those that knew him."

“
We connected as racers, but Paul's ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most.
”
TONY STEWARTNewman's many charitable works extended to racing. Kyle Petty and his wife founded a camp for chronically ill children in North Carolina, modeled on Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang camps.

"He was dedicated to giving back to those less fortunate and with each child we see, we honor his spirit and vision," Petty said. "Undoubtedly he has touched millions of lives."

Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart competed against Newman in several sports-car races.

"We connected as racers, but Paul's ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most. He set the bar, not only with his giving, but in how he gave. ... Paul did it right, and he did it with class. He'll be terribly missed," Stewart said.

As he passed his 80th birthday, he remained in demand. He managed to combine acting with racing by providing the voice of a crusty 1951 car in the 2006 Disney-Pixar hit, Cars.

Johnson had the opportunity to interview him as part of a TV project he was working on. Johnson also took part in a day at a racetrack as part of the festivities leading to the premier of the animated feature.

He said they put the body of a Hudson Hornet -- the car that Newman portrayed as "Doc Hudson" in the movie -- on a stock-car frame and let him and others make laps in it.

"The only man on pit road with a stopwatch was Paul Newman," Johnson said. "He was timing the laps I was running, other guys were running. Then he got in that car that had no business, with that body especially, going around that track at speed, and he was trying to break the lap times that we were running out there with the school cars and stuff.

"You could see that spark in his eye. He had a true passion for motorsports in general. I would say more IndyCar and road racing, because that is what he came from. He was a great friend of Rick's and knew a lot more than people probably realize about NASCAR racing."