Paul Newan dies at 83

[jwetering]

Sad but true..he had a good run and was a gentleman to the end.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE48Q25W20080927?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&sp=true

[muis]

some very nice stories and pics here:

http://www.early911sregistry.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22438

[billybek]

Sad, but man what a life he had!!!
He lived more in one life time than most of us could in 3.
At least it wasn't drawn out over many months or years.
Incredible man.

[WPOZZZ]

Very sad to see such a great man pass. I do know he was an inspiration to my brother who also raced Datsuns. RIP.

[JABSEA]

http://www.newman-haas.com and the link to Newman's Own has some good stuff too.

[matty74]

Love that Bloke, he is a good example of how a life should be spent.

I live on the otherside of the world and he supported the Childrens Hostpital that my child is always in and out of from time to time, he donated over $5 million US for equipment desperatley needed.

[Quicksilver]

A wonderful odd example of a curmudgeon with a heart of gold.

I remember years ago reading a story of how Paul, as a joke, sponsored two well known road racers to put a tongue in cheek insult on each others cars. One of them was Wally Dallenbach Jr. but I can't remember who the other one was. (Kendall maybe?)

Anyway for $1,000 the other guys car read, "Hey Wally you turkey" while Wally's car read, "Hey xxxxx you turkey".

The real joke was when they started asking the drivers about it one of them waved his check and said, "Hey, I've got Paul Newman's autograph!"
(Paul was known for never giving autographs.)

[jh225]

One of the good guys......

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

A wonderful odd example of a curmudgeon with a heart of gold.

(Paul was known for never giving autographs.)

Yeah, I think he got to play himself in some of his rolls.

Good to know about the autograph thing because I could have very well made a big mistake. Scenario: I was standing at arms length from PL in the pits one race at Riverside when he was driving the Planters car. There were not too many people bothering him and the group was small. I really don't know who after all these years. I stood quietly and listened to driver talk for a few minutes and then simply walked away without being a bother. What struck me right off was how small he was. He had been driving at that time only a few years and had lost all his beer weight. Stories were that he used to put away a case a day even hanging an ice bag on his riding mower with a sixer in it on mowing day.

Yep, he was "Cool Hand Luke."

[jagular911]

I had the opportunity to meet Mr Newman in a makeshift paper stand at La Guardia Airport (during one of its many renovations). It was in a very remote part of the airport, and I was the only one in the small area. He walked in like any other person, and proceeded to step between me and the automotive magazines that I was viewing.

I stepped aside and then realized who he was. I was working for the Kendall-Amalie Division of Witco Corp at the time, and we were the track sponsor for many years at Watkins Glen. I introduced myself as one of their employees (in my late 20s or early 30s at the time), and told him that I seen him race GT cars at the Glen.

He beamed from ear to ear, and talked to me for almost 10 minutes about his love for cars, and racing, and how as he got older, it was more difficult for him to be competitive. At one of his last races at the Glen, I saw him exit the car after the race, and he was in terrible condition. He asked me if I had seen him after the race that day. I told him that I had, but that it had been a long race, on a hot day, and that many racers were also very tired.

He then told me that he had put the car into the guard rail the previous day, had cracked a few ribs, but didn't want anyone to know, because he didn't want to be treated any differently than any other racer. The Paul Newman that I met loved cars, like we love cars.

I will always remember him as one of us.

[Poor-sche Lover]

While I can't say that I'm old enough to remember his movies very well, I wanted to mention something. Back in May of 2003, my hometown of Franklin, KS (pop. 476) was torn apart by an F-5 tornado. It was a half-mile wide, and it cleared out about a third of our town. Mr. Newman was one of the first people to contribute to our rebuilding project. His donation paid for a number of storm sirens that are throughout the town. I cannot express how thankful I am that somebody of that caliber would stop to think about a tiny town in the middle of the country. While we still have a long way to go, I can definitely say that Paul Newman was one of the good ones. R.I.P.

Alan

[911pcars]

I've alluded to this before in other PLN threads.

He's my ideal role model. If we all strive for the same principles in life as he did, regardless of our economic position, the world will be a better place.

S

[JMatta]

Many years ago, I was in line at the St. John's food stand at Road America, ordering what else, but a brat. After paying, I turned around and Paul was standing in line behind me the entire time. I said "Hi, have a great weekend, Paul" and he returned the cordial just as any other race fan would have.

I would have been embarrassed to ask for an autograph without even a pen on hand.

He was a good one and we're very glad the ride lasted as long as it did. I live just down the road from Newman-Haas Racing in Lincolnshire IL; sad day to see this chapter end.

[tcar]

Remember reading somewhere (car mag) that he was the first (they said) to put a hopped up Porsche 356 motor in a Beetle. He said he very, very quickly learned that he needed to put Porsch brakes on it, too.

Supposedly made several of these for friends.

When you watch him acting, it looks like Tom Cruise gestures and expressions. No guesses as to who is copying whom.

[carr914]

I met him a few times at the 24 of Daytona and always got to wish Happy Birthday (we both shared January 26th). He remembered me.

The reason he didn't sign autographs is in the 60's he was a tavern, went to the restroom and some asshat asked him for an autograph while he was taking a piss. He later said he and his autograph were not that important. 2 months ago I was searching for the helmet that Graham Rahal wore that honored Paul. There were tons of autographed pictures - all fakes. If you looked at a few, they were all different.

R.I.P. Paul

T.C.

[overman]

I had the pleasure of seeing Paul in action back in 79 or 80 at Road Atlanta... This was during the Camel GT / IMSA days when he drove a 280ZX. I was a member of the Triad Area Z Club at that time and drove a 78 280Z... (my daily driver for 17 years). We followed Paul Newman and Jim Fitzgerald back in those day's, they both drove Datsun's Z cars and were very competitive. Jim lost his life in a race down in Florida many years ago... Now Newman, very sad.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

[carr914]

Overman, these pics were taken at St Pete the weekend that Fitz died.

[Baz]

Nice article on ESPN.com also:
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/columns/story?columnist=oreovicz_john&id=3612479&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

[SteveinTO]

Back in the mid-70's I was an extremely minor league club racer with the Cal Club. For several years Paul would come to California for an early National race when his beloved Limerock was still covered in snow.

Riverside Raceway would typically draw 700-800 people to a big National race with maybe 200 entrants. When Paul was there we'd have 2000 people, with 1000 paid at the gate.

He generally hid out in a motor home because the Hollywood tourists would mob him if he came out, but he was always very friendly if you were a steward or corner worker or wearing a driver's suit. Even came to the beer after the event once or twice as I recall. Really a class act.

[The Gaijin]

R.I.P. He drove just a few years ago at a vintage event at Lime Rock. A crowd favorite for sure..