Newman’s Own: A love of auto racing

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It is an understatement to say Paul Newman, who died Friday at 83, was passionate about race cars. Besides being an accomplished driver himself, Newman was a longtime co-owner of the team now called Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing, and tributes poured in today from others in the sport.

‘I had the pleasure of driving for Mr. Newman in 1981 and I was richer for the experience,’ said Bobby Rahal, the 1986 winner of the Indianapolis 500 and now a team owner himself. ‘He was a man of class and he was also deservedly very highly regarded for his driving skills.’

Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart said, ‘we connected as racers, but Paul’s ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most.’

Newman was a fixture each spring at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, a race on the city’s seaside streets that his team came to dominate. With Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel, Newman-Haas-Lanigan won the celebrated event for three consecutive years from 2005-07.

Newman also adhered to his principles, which included sticking with the now defunct Champ Car World Series (formerly CART) when it split from the Indy Racing League under the guidance of Tony George, head of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in the mid-1990s, creating a civil war in U.S. open-wheel racing.

But the long split ended early this year when the series reunited, and George was among those saluting Newman today.

‘To all his fans worldwide and those close to him in our racing community,’ George said, ‘we share a deep sense of loss, but cherish the many fond memories we will forever carry with us.’

-- Jim Peltz