An Experience in Retrospect - Paul Newman
PLN is dying.
According to reports, he may not make it until the end of next month before
terminal cancer overcomes him. His loss will be mourned by many, for as
Paul Newman, the actor, he has been a giant of the movie and theatrical
world for better than half a century. An individual of more than enormous
talent, his professional accomplishments as an actor are unquestioned. So
too are his achievements as a philanthropist. Newman for years has donated
the totality of his profits from his well known “Newman’s Own” food brand to
charity, much of it going to his “Hole in the Wall Gang” camps for ill and
disabled children.
But, for us in motorsport, he is neither a movie star, nor a philanthropist,
rather he is PLN, the race driver. There have been other celebrities who have
had a fascination with racing. Some, such as Steve McQueen, have been, or
at least could have been top level competitors, other less so. None, however,
have matched Newman, either in terms of style, or results. Still what he will
be remembered for by us in the sports car world is his approach to his racing.
Most indicative of that approach are the initials under which he raced for
much of his career, “PLN.”
For Newman, motorsport has not been a public relations exercise to boost
his standing in the movie community, nor has he ever demanded to be treated
like the star he is. Quite to the contrary, the initials “PLN” were deliberately
chosen to hide his stardom. Moreover, throughout his association with the
sport he has insisted, demanded really, to be treated like any other
participant, good, bad or indifferent. Indeed, for Newman, racing has been far
more than a past time, rather it has been an avocation, and that ironically has
led at times to conflicts with his desire not to draw attention to himself, one of
those moments coming when he became a factory Nissan driver for Bob
Sharp racing on the IMSA Camel GT tour. After the announcement, Newman
made it clear that he would give no interviews, only relenting when it was
explained to him that, as a factory driver, he was required to do so. Of
course, the acceptance of this duty had strings attached: Newman would
limit those interviews solely to racing;. One question or word about his other
“career,” and the talking stopped. It was as simple as that.
Newman, of course, hasn’t stayed completely out of the industry’s limelight,
being part owner with Carl Haas for many years of the Newman-Hass Team
on the CART and IRL circuits, as well as making the occasional documentary
about the sport. For the most part, though, Newman has been someone who
has let his racing speak for itself which it has both loudly and eloquently.
Even though Newman has been associated with the Indy Car scene as an
owner for many years, and even though he has driven such things as 800
horsepower, front engined Sprinters, his accomplishments have come almost
exclusively in the sports car arena, a journey that began in the 1970’s behind
the wheel of a Bob Sharp prepared Datsun 510 sedan.
Even in his first year, Newman made the annual SCCA Runoffs, a preview of
what he would do in the future, winning multiple SCCA National Champions in
everything from an ex-Bob Tullius Group 44 Triumph TR-6 (beating Tullius
himself, who was driving a Triumph TR-7, in the process at Road Atlanta in
1976), to nearly winning Le Mans outright in 1979 as part of the Dick Barbour
935 crew which finished second overall, and first in the IMSA GTX category.
Newman has also taken time to try out the Salt Flats at Bonneville, where in
1974, driving a NART Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona coupe, he set a number of
speed records.
And, as if that weren’t enough, Newman also has been a Trans-Am winner
whose abilities have impressed even the toughest of his rivals. Now a SPEED
TV commentator, ex-racing star David Hobbs, who ran against him in the
series, has said that “PLN” was one of the toughest, most talented
competitors he faced, adding that if Newman had had more time away from
his “day job,” he might have even become a Trans-Am champion. Newman’s
talents likewise didn’t escape the notice of Jack Roush, whose Trans-Am and
IMSA GTO records include more than one or two season championships.
Roush made Newman part of his Ford Mustang team at the Daytona 24
Hours on several occasions, the Connecticut resident helping to reward him
with class victories each time. Indeed, perhaps an even better measure of just
how good Newman has been can be found in the fact that the last of those
triumphs came in his seventies, a time when most wouldn’t have even thought
of stepping into a race car, much less pushing it hard enough to win.
Age, in fact, seems not to mattered at all for “PLN” who several years ago
finished in the top five at Lime Rock in a Trans-Am event in what was a less
than top car, and who more recently found himself behind the wheel of a Max
Crawford Daytona Prototype, a vehicle which he exited with some alacrity
during a January test session when it turned into a blazing inferno. A secret,
perhaps, to Newman’s ability to act as a young man, even if his birth date
says he shouldn’t, can be found in his sense of humor. Many years ago,
when he was racing against Tullius, who was then sponsored by Quaker
State Oil, Newman went to the trouble of hiring a garbage truck to patrol the
paddock at a regular SCCA National Championship event, emblazoned in full
Quaker State livery, complete with references to the personal habits of Tullius
and his crew. (Tullius, however, later repaid his friend by hiring an off-duty
Georgia State Trooper at the Runoffs that same year to arrest Newman for
“impersonating an actor.”)
Several weeks ago, “PLN” took a “goodbye” drive around Lime Rock, doing so
in typical understated fashion, with no one else around but some track
workers, a few friends and his family, Lime Rock’s Major Domo, Skip Barber
having shut the circuit down for an hour to allow him to do so in private. The
occasion was fitting, for Newman, whether as an actor, or as a race driver, or
a philanthropist, has never been one for touting himself in public, preferring to
let his actions speak for him. Some day, when all of us are dead and gone,
perhaps we will get a chance to see him race again, and if we do, we can
only wonder if he will chastise God for making a big deal about it.
Best of luck PLN, you did more than entertain, you inspired.
Thank you.
Bill Oursler, August 2008
|
