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a true nig, stacked so much paper he didnt even keep profits. all to charity.. Thank you for keeping me refreshed with such dank heady drinks for all these years. ** REST EASY ***
A real man of cinema(with films like the Hustler, and cool hand luke), a major influence in the automotive racing world , and man whos last part of his life consisted mainly of charity work.
At least he got to see one of the racers on his team, Justin Wilson, on the Newman/Hass team win the Detroit indy 300 at belle isle park a few weeks ago.
paul newman is a badass, cool hand luke, and especially butch cassidy and the sundance kid are some of the best movies ever, especially butch cassidy, thats seriously one of the best 20 movies ever made, and one of the best 3 westers ever. he was a race car driver, owned a racing team and gave a shit ton to charity, doesnt get much more awesome than that. im gonna go rent cool hand luke and butch cassidy now.
one of the biggest BAMFS ever, a few weeks ago he spun a few laps in his SCCA corvette from when he raced trans am in the 70s at limerock and was apparently driving the wheels off it
here's a great memoir of PLN's racing legacy: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/miller-paul-newman-an-american-original/
"He was a reluctant movie star, a philanthropist of magnanimous
proportions, a late-blooming race driver, a happily married father, a
passionate car owner and a guy's guy who enjoyed his beer, telling stories and hanging out at the track.
But the main reason Paul Newman had such a love affair with auto racing for the past 40 years was the essence of this very special man.
"He enjoyed everything about our world and he definitely felt
embraced," said Mario Andretti. "But everyone respected his privacy and
gave him space.
"And he really cherished just being one of the boys."
While it may be hard to imagine this Hollywood icon blending in
with the scenery, that's exactly what he did from the time he started sports car racing in the '70s with PLN scribbled on the side of his car to his last appearance at Milwaukee this past June.
Whether he was perched in the corner of his garage watching the
crew change engines, standing on the podium with Carl Haas, competing
at the 24 Hours of Daytona, riding his scooter through the paddock,
testing a sprint car or chatting up one of his legendary drivers,
Newman never acted like a person of privilege, he just felt privileged
to be part of the action.
Acting was how he made his living, but it ran a distant second to racing.
Hollywood was make believe, but racing was reality and it gave him
a satisfaction like nothing he ever experienced in front of a camera.
Newman said many times that driving fast was the one thing he felt like he had an aptitude for and it challenged him like nothing else.
"When Paul started driving for my dad, he was just so enthusiastic
and full of questions and he could not get anough of racing," said
Scott Sharp, who teamed with Newman in his dad's (Bob) Datsun 240Zs in
Trans-Am.
"I mean, you've got to remember he was in his mid-40s when he
started and he really had natural ability. You can only imagine where
he might have gone if he'd started in his 20s."
Winning SCCA National titles and Trans-Am races confirmed his talent yet his appetite for faster cars never went away. He tested super-modifieds, stock cars, midgets,
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dirt modifieds and sprint cars.
Three years ago, dirt-track ace Corey Kruseman took some of his
850-horsepower sprinters out to Perris Speedway near Riverside, Calif.
so Sebastien Bourdais, Bruno Junqueira, Paul Tracy and Newman could hot
lap them on the half-mile dirt track. Bourdais could not believe his
eyes.
"Here's this 80-year-old guy who weighs about 125 pounds guy
thowing this sprint car into the corner," recalled the four-time Champ
Car king. "I mean, these things are powerful and then he gets in too
hot and rides up on the wall. Thankfully, it came back down on all four
wheels instead of flipping.
"Paul came in with a big grin on his face and said: 'Can you
imagine how you guys would have explained that to Joanne (Woodward, his
wife)?"
About that same time, the great writer Brock Yates was toying with
the idea of bringing back the original Cannonball Baker
Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy dash (of which I'd had the pleasure
of running in 1972). Eddie Wirth, a helluva racer on two or four
wheels, was PLN's best bud so I approached them about teaming up.
Newman's response was classic: "There's no way Joanne would ever
let me do that," he said. I screamed back: 'First of all, your Paul
F...... Newman, you can do whatever you want and, besides, you almost
killed yourself in a sprint car a couple months ago and this will be
tame compared to that."
He grinned and put his index finger up to his mouth and indicated
he had not shared that latest adventure with his wife. But by the end
of the summer he'd started asking questions about who might be in the
Cannonball, how long it might take and what kind of car we would use. I
responded by saying whatever car he could promote. "Oh, so that's why
you want me on the team?," he said.
No, not really, was my response. We want you because every time we
get stopped for speeding by the state troopers, they'll recognize you
and let us skate.
"Don't bet on that," he chuckled. "I'm not that big anymore. Hell, I don't even recognize me."
Of course it was that self-depreciating sense of humor that
endeared Newman to everyone lucky enough to become his friend.
At Long Beach a few years ago, three rather, um, older plus-sized women
were almost apoplectic upon spotting Cool Hand Luke sitting in his
hospitality area. They wanted a picture, so I informed PLN his
participation would be an extension of his overall goodwill towards
humanity.
He waved the girls in, put his arm around them and smiled. Their
life was complete. After they left, Newman turned and said: "I use to
get that a lot from pretty young women, but it's been a different
audience since I turned 78."
During the past decade, he always wore the same nondescript outfit
of all white -- shirt, pants and tennis shoes. That wardrobe brings us
to my favorite personal story and illustrates why PLN felt so anonymous
at a race track. We were at Sebring, Fla. and Newman had flown down to
watch Junqueira's first test since being seriously injured at
Indianapolis.
It was lunchtime, so we drove into downtown Sebring to grab a burger.
As we were leaving the cashier pointed to Paul and asked me: "Is that
who I think it is? Paul Newman?"
I laughed and said no, he was just a painter at the track. When
informed of his new identity, Newman laughed for five minutes and he
talked about that every time I saw him for the next six months. He
truly loved not being Paul Newman sometimes.
About the only thing he used his celebrity for was his benevolence
to those not as fortunate. His salad dressing became a million-dollar
business and 20 years ago he launched a camp for teminally ill children
called The Hole in the Wall Gang. He'd contributed nearly $200 million
before he passed away Friday night.
Andretti, who put Newman and Haas together back in 1983, spoke to
his old friend for the last time a few days
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ago. Naturally, they talked about racing and how well Bourdais had been running at Spa.
Although Nigel Mansell, Michael Andretti, Cristiano da Matta,
Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, Junqueira, Tracy and
Bourdais all brought success to to this team, it was Mario who got
Newman excited about and into Indy cars.
And it's Mario who can put Newman's life and death into perspective,
"Here's this guy who was bigger than life in another life and he
truly, truly loved motor racing," said Mario, who won the first CART
title for Newman/Haas in 1984. "A couple years ago he and I started
talking seriously about what we could do in the future to try and put
open wheel back together.
"The first meeting at my house there was Kevin Kalkhoven, Paul
Gentilozzi, Tony George, Brian Barnhart and Paul. I think when Tony saw
Paul putting out that olive branch, it was huge and that was a big
factor in bringing this thing together."
Of all their victories, Newman/Haas never won Indianapolis but PLN
returned last May on pole day and clearly enjoyed the sight of everyone
back together in Gasoline Alley.
"Paul was a character and an icon and he contributed so much to
our sport and so much to life itself," continued Andretti. "Losing an
individual like him is irreplaceable and I know I'll miss him greatly.
"He touched my life in a very positive way."
As he did for so many people, for so many years from so many angles."
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