Paul Newman As a Car and Racing Afficionado

Most of us known Paul Newman as an accomplished actor, and when he passed away on September 26 this year, people were quick to make lists of his most famous roles and his most successful movies.

But Paul Newman wasn't just an actor and the automotive world has every right to mourn him as well because the ice-blue-eyed actor was also a bit of a gearhead. He caught the racing bug for the first time while working on the 1969 movie “Winning”. Later, he said about racing that was “the first thing that I ever found I had grace in”.

It wasn't long before he got interested in racing and in cars outside of the movie set considered entering the professional circuit. His first race was in 1972 as a competitor in the Sports Car Club of America. He found something very pure in racing “In auto racing, either you win or you lose. You go across the finish line and come in first or second or ninth – or not at all”.

By 1976 he was winning his first national amateur championship, a clear sign that this is not just a passing fad for him, but a life-long passion. In 1977 he started competed against professionals and from then on he was on his way, taken second at the 1979 Le Mans in a Porsche 935.

During the 80s he raced exclusively for Bob Sharp Racing Team but he also co-founded his own racing team with Carl Haas. His old age didn't keep him away from the circuit and at age 70 he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major race.

On screen, he also couldn't stay away from racing, considering that his last ever role was enacting the voice of Doc Hudson in the animated movie “Cars”. Also, in 1996 he narrated the IMAX feature film “Super Speedway”.

With a man which shown such resilience on and off the circuit, it's not to feel saddened that he succumbed to cancer at age 83.