Racing community saddened by death of Paul Newman
By MARK VAUGHN
Paul Newman, Christian Fittipaldi and Carl Hass sport lucky cigars after Fittipaldi won the CART race at Road America in 1999
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Paul Newman: A racer remembered
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Paul Leonard Newman was a racer who supported his habit by acting. That’s how he would have wanted to be remembered--and was, in an outpouring of condolences from the racing community.
Racer/actor/philanthropist Newman, who managed to succeed in all three fields, died Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.
He came to racing late in life, driving his first race car in his forties. Bob Bondurant trained him to drive for the 1969 movie Winning at the then-brand-new Bondurant School, which at the time was using Datsun 510s, Datsun roadsters and a single Formula Vee at Orange County International Raceway in California.
Newman was the fourth student at the new school. Co-star Robert Wagner was the fifth.
“I asked him why he wanted to go to my school and he said, ‘I had two other movies I could make quite a bit of money in, but I wanted to see if I could drive a race car.’ ”
Turns out he could, and Newman fell in love with racing from the start.
"The first thing that I ever found I had any grace in", Newman once said.
He would race for the rest of his life. Many of his first rides were in Datsuns prepared by Bob Sharp, who was an accomplished racer himself and became a Datsun dealer in 1969. One of Newman’s earliest rides was a Bob Sharp Datsun 510 in SCCA B Production. He piloted BSR Zs, too.
“We spent a lot of Tuesdays up at Lime Rock with him following my line and me following him,” recalled Sharp. “He wanted a Z car but I put him in a 510 sedan instead. I thought he’d learn more in a less powerful car.”
Newman’s first race win was probably in one of those Bob Sharp 510s, though an early win is listed in a Lotus Elan in Thompson, Conn., in 1972. Whichever was first, there were many more to come in one of the longest racing careers on record.
Newman co-drove a Porsche 935 at LeMans in 1979 with Dick Barbour and Rolf Stommelen to first place in the IMSA class and second overall.
Among drivers who piloted his race cars was Elliott Forbes-Robinson, who raced for Newman in Can Am and became a friend. Robinson was impressed with Newman’s acumen behind the wheel.
“He was an excellent driver the whole time,” Forbes-Robinson recalled. “It was an absolute pleasure to work with him--if you showed him something, he wouldn’t come into the pits and say he couldn’t do it or complain about something, he’d go out and do it. He was great.”
Newman raced sports cars in endurance events, which meant he had a lot of co-drivers over the years. Among them was Sam Posey.
“Paul was guided in much of what he did by the attitude, ‘Why not?’ ” recalled Posey, who remained a friend throughout life. “He embraced projects that called for a leap of faith. Become a racing driver, starting in your mid 40s and putting your acting career at risk? Why not? Turn a few cases of salad dressing made in your basement into a commercial food empire--and then use the profits to create camps for sick children? Why not? If this sounds naive, it wasn’t. He calculated the odds. In real life, he never asked, ‘Who are those guys?’ He knew.”
From the mid ‘70s to the early ‘90s, Newman drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, mainly in Datsuns and Nissans. He won four SCCA national titles: D-production in 1976, C-production in ’79 and GT-1 in 1985-86. He raced in Trans-Am and even in the Baja 1000.
As a team owner he joined Carl Haas in 1983 to form Newman-Haas racing, which went on to win 97 races and seven championships.
He never seemed to tire of the other side of the sport, though, staying behind the wheel long after most reasonable men had given up even playing golf. At 70 he co-drove a Mustang to victory in the GTS class of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the oldest driver to win a major sanctioned race. A decade later he was still at it.
“My last recollection of him was a few years back when Panoz was just finishing the front-engined LMP racer,” said designer Peter Brock. “The Panoz crew had the new car out at Road Atlanta for a test with a couple of notable shoes who were looking for the ride. Since P.L. was there he was offered the chance to test the car. He hadn't been in a race car for over a year and in truth looked pretty frail. The shoes had just put up some pretty impressive times so the bar was set. P.L. got in and within five or six laps had matched 'em! He got out and quietly thanked the crew for the opportunity and left. Just amazing.”
“He drove less frequently in the last few years,” recalled Posey. “But his car was a brutish Corvette which had his age as its number. I remember when it was No. 81 and he was racing at Lime Rock. It was raining, and the track had standing water at several places. Any sensible 81-year-old would have put the thing on the trailer, but Paul got out there, out braked the field into Turn One, got into a slide at about 120 mph, corrected deftly, and shot through into the lead, which he never lost.”
The Newman’s Own Foundation, which has directed over $250 million to charity over the years, gave perhaps the best summation of his life:
“Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all.”
On Saturday, Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO and Indy Racing League founder Tony George said: "On behalf of my mother Mari Human George and the entire Hulman-George family at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar Series, our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and loved ones of Paul Newman. To all his fans world-wide 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."
More Reaction:
“On behalf of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, my wife Bernadette and myself, I want to express our most sincere condolences to Joanne and the entire Newman family on the loss of a great human being. Paul and I have been partners for 26 years and I have come to know his passion, humor and above all, his generosity. 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 will truly miss him.”
-- Carl A. Haas, co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
"We truly lost a great man. Most of us knew him as Butch or Fast Eddie from the theater or from our living rooms at home. He was much more than a great actor. His legacy will be his five children, his wife, Joanne, and all the sick children around the world who desperately needed his help. Paul was a man of character who cared about the world and the people who lived in it. Putting a smile on a young person’s face and helping people in need was a virtue he excelled at. Little did anyone realize a child born of such humble beginnings could affect our lives in so many positive ways. We should all learn to live by his example. We will miss him dearly but will never forget him."
-- Michael Lanigan, co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Newman. He was a man of great courage, determination and integrity and gave a lot not only to the world of auto racing, but to the world around us. His generosity knew no bounds and his work with helping children as well as what he achieved with aiding the environment will prove to help people for many years to come.”
“I had the pleasure of driving for Mr. Newman in 1981 and I was richer for the experience. He was a man of class and he was also deservedly very highly regarded for his driving skills. The world is a poorer place today for his passing.”
-- Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Racing
"Paul Newman--a real American hero, an inspiration to me in much that I have attempted in my adult life. Not so much for the parts he played, but for the man that he was. He was one of Hollywood's greatest. He could not only talk the talk on film, but more importantly could walk the walk as a private citizen. As a young man he was an American hero who served his country in one of the U.S. Army Air Corps' most dangerous assignments in Western Europe. Additionally, his charitable enterprises have generated tens of millions for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of underprivileged Americans. He will be never forgotten. May he rest in peace."
-- Jack Roush, owner, Roush Fenway Racing
"It’s truly a sad day. Paul was one of the most iconic figures not just in motorsports, but through his life in general. He was so much more a contributor to the world than a taker. He was a dear friend and will be missed.”
-- Don Panoz, founder of the American Le Mans Series and a close friend of Newman
“I probably wouldn’t be racing today if it wasn’t for Paul Newman. The first time I got in the car that year, he was faster than I was. Even recently, he was still incredibly quick and could get around Lime Rock (his home track) better than anyone. He has been such a huge influence on my career and has been a close friend of our family for a long time.”
-- Gunnar Jeannette, driver who first raced with Newman in 2000
“We were introduced driving Ferraris in 1977 at Daytona, and we developed a mutual friendship. Paul was so passionate about driving. He told me a few times that he didn’t really care for Hollywood, and that it was just a business. He really wished he had started driving earlier and made that his career. He was very consistent, never put a wheel off and was easy on the equipment.”
-- Dick Barbour, Robertson Racing
“There was a legend quality to Paul Newman not unlike Mario (Andretti). He was a guy who you’d see and be around and just realize how much love and passion he had for racing. I always admired, as did others in the paddock, how he would often put racing before his movie career. I remember a time when he missed an important movie awards show in order to be at one of our events. He was a very sweet person to talk to about everything, not just racing. He will be sadly missed.”
-- Adrian Fernandez, Lowe’s Fernandez Racing driver and owner
“Most of the world knew Paul as in incredible person and one of the best actors we were ever able to witness as well as a great philanthropist. But those of us in racing were very blessed to witness his passion for this sport, which was very apparent. He was one of the few high-profile owners to attend tests and this made all of us see him as one of us. This is very sad news indeed and we will miss him tremendously.”
-- Gil de Ferran, a two-time CART champion and former Indianapolis 500 winner
“Everyone treated him as a fellow competitor, not as a celebrity. He came here as a racer, was serious about his racing and…he was good. It was amazing that he was as good as he was at his age. And, he liked going fast. Back in the day when Bob Sharp was building the incredibly fast Nissans/Datsons, Newman was racing at Long Beach with Sharp along with the Indy Cars. Newman was the fastest guy down the straight--faster then the Indy Cars. And when I say fast, I don’t mean lap time…I mean speed. He always enjoyed having a car with a big motor. He was a huge supporter of the track. Everyone (the staff, friends and myself) at Lime Rock Park will miss him.”
-- Skip Barber, president, Lime Rock Park
"Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all. Paul had an abiding belief in the role that luck plays in one's life, and its randomness. He was quick to acknowledge the good fortune he had in his own life, beginning with being born in America, and was acutely aware of how unlucky so many others were. True to his character, he quietly devoted himself to helping offset this imbalance. An exceptional example is the legacy of Newman's Own. What started as something of a joke in the basement of his home, turned into a highly-respected, multi-million-dollar-a-year food company. And true to form, he shared this good fortune by donating all the profits and royalties he earned to thousands of charities around the world, a total which now exceeds $250 million."
-- Robert Forrester, vice chairman, Newman's Own Foundation
“I am extremely saddened to hear about Paul’s passing. He was a great guy to be with around the track. He was one of a kind. Obviously I am just thinking of his family and wishing them well while they are trying to deal with this. It can’t be easy. He’s going to be missed, not just in the motor racing world but in every area that he participated in, in his life. He affected so many people in a positive way. I’m going to miss him and am fortunate to have known him.”
-- Justin Wilson, driver of the No. 02 McDonald’s race car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
“It has been a very upsetting 24 hours for the team and my family. Paul has been a huge part of both my success as well as my father’s. and he will be greatly missed. He was a tremendous man, one that everyone should model their lives after. My sincere condolences go out to the Newman family.”
-- Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps race car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
