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 said, referring to his wife, Joanne Woodward. “And that’s not my doing. But when I’m behind the wheel of race car, I feel competent and in charge. It’s something I really enjoy.”
Newman, an Oscar-winning actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and race car driver, died on Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut, publicist Jeff Sanderson said.
PHOTO: AP
Tony George, the chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the founder of the Indy Racing League, said: “To all his fans worldwide and those close to him in our racing community, we share a deep sense of loss, but cherish the many fond memories we will forever carry with us.”
Newman spoke of his passion for racing during a 1995 interview 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 reporters 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.”
Newman began racing sports cars in amateur divisions and won his first race in 1972 at Thompson, Connecticut, in a Lotus Elan. He earned the first of four SCCA National titles in 1976 in the D-Production class and also won championships in the 1979 C-Production category, as well as taking the GT-1 championship in 1985 and 1986.
His first professional victory came in the rain at an SCCA trans-Am race at Brainerd, Minnesota, in 1982.
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