Paul Newman - last laps...

Cool story. Was at Savannah with Fitzy and PLN for Tom Cruise's SCCA driver's school. Seriously funny and down to earth guy.

Another time was with friends at Daytona racing about ten years ago and at the party, we turn around and there he is. A real racer.

He was a two-time SCCA National Champion AND a Daytona class winner AND came in 2nd at LeMans. There were several that said he could have made a decent living racing sports cars, had he not already had a successful career... High praise!

 

I heard Mario Andretti say once that if Paul Newman had become a racing driver in his teens or 20's, you probably never would have heard of Mario Andretti

 

This is May at Indy. I don't know who this guy is, but he was assisting PL. It's his buddy. I have seen him with him before.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It would be great if they could name a turn in his honor.
(or rename "No Name" straight )

 

This is the truth.

 

Might be Michael Brockman... Don't know.

 

Skip is a good enough friend to do that.

 

My funny PLN story:

Around 2001 I was in Daytona for the test days before the 24 hrs. Next to the track is an Olive Garden and I went there for dinner by myself. The waitress came up to me and asked me if I was an actor. I asked her why she thought this and she told me that she is in acting school right now and she thought I had the demeanor of an actor. Boy did her face turn red when I told her that I was no actor but that the other table she was waiting on (two over from mine) had Paul Newman at it.

 

I've been hearing about him in the news lately. I'm glad he got a chance to do this. From everything I've read, he is a real stand-up guy. I wish I had a chance to know him.

Peace

 

I remember, as a kid, hanging out in the pits at Watkins Glen while he was there doing testing. We hung out and had lunch between sessions. I had no idea who he was other than a race car driver and I think he preferred it that way.

 

That he would dine at an Olive Garden says it all.

 

Sounds like a 'Toly story...

Both great racers. Both their own men.

 

Had a few conversations with him over the years at Targa 66 and other events. Nice guy. He kept calling me "kid", though.

He'll be missed.

CW

 

Very sad.

He was one of the guys at the race track and loved being there. Those were his people

He will be in great company

 

Why,…this whole country is run on epidemics,…where you been? Epidemics of big business, price fixin’, crooked TV shows, income tax fenaglin’, souped up expense accounts,…how many honest men you know? You take the sinners away from the saints and you’re lucky to end up with Abraham Lincoln. Well I say lets us put our bread in some of that gravy while it is still hot………………………….

“You're an unprincipled man Hud.”

 

1976 308 GTB
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

this makes me smile to imagine how this must have been to witness pln take his last laps. it must have brought a tear or two also...i bet not a dry eye to be found.

i will miss his participation and patronage in racing.

 

I met his wife in 1989. Very nice woman, very warm and friendly. I have much respect for him and his family.

Always love a Z fan!!!!

 

Wow these photos are bringing tears to my eyes.

 

i feel sad for him, he gets everything in this life. he s a great Man.

 

That's some great praise from Mario. I remember the interview with Paul Newman talking about how uncoordinated he was, never good at any sports. It wasn't until he tried racing--for "Winning", I believe?--that he discovered he loved it and was good at it.

 

Newman was a class act many of today's Hollywood stars should emulate.

I had a couple encounters with the man. In 1983 when I was Director of Marketing at CART I had the pleasure of being invited to a barbecue at his motorhome. There were only 5 or 6 people there and PLN made the salad. He told the women that he had just gone to the bathroom and forgot to wash his hands before hand-tossing the lettuce...

A few years earlier at Lime Rock I was in the bathroom and the guy next to me turned out to be PLN. I wanted to look down but was afraid I wouldn't measure up (-:

 

I never met the man, but like many of you, I have come to think of him as: race driver first, actor second. I think the only time I saw him compete was when he was driving a Nissan Z-car in one of the support races to a Detroit Grand Prix that I attended in the late '80s.

I worked with a fellow in the early '90s who was an SCCA corner worker on weekends. He said that PLN was a great guy who just wanted to be treated as another race driver, not a celebrity. And that the corner workers said that "PLN" stood for "Pigeon Legs Newman" since apparently Paul was blessed (?) with skinny legs! But he was a heckuva race driver who could have been even greater if he had started younger.

 

He's a great guy. Back in the early 90's he ran at the Daytona 24 with Tommy Kendall. He had a car set up by Roush [same chassis as the previous year] and it was called "Nobodys Fool" [after the movie] and was car #70 [his age]. At one point during the night he was turning faster laps then TK!

I was honored to do some models of that car for him and he sent me a letter complimenting the work...a personal note from a super nice person.

I will miss him dearly.

When asked his favorite sound on the Actors Studio he replied "A V8"