[TRE Cup]

Though McQueen really put his money where his mouth was (went next to broke with producing Le Mans) I think Newman was a better driver. The man's focus was incredible.
At a private closed track day at Willow Springs, several of us brought different race cars for a "to be revealed" experienced drivers for the day. We signed the agreements, they locked the gates behind us and the helicopters came in. Bruce Willis (who owned a 911SC at the time), Tom Cruise, Paul Newman and his daughter.

Bruce was not into racing. He enjoyed going for a ride in some of the cars, after he saw us testing a little. Cruise was being mentored by Paul (this is well before his Nissan sedan racing stint back east and Days of Thunder) in the school Toyota Celicas (ex LBGP celebrity prepped cars)
Paul was also mentoring his daughter. One of the guys brought a Formula Atlantic (FAST car that requires skill and concentration) and Paul rented it for the afternoon. No chit chat with the boys, no time for bench racing; just track track track.
Cruise and Willis were both very personable in this environment as us "racers" were not gob smacked with their stardom

Anyway- PLN's racing accomplishments are well noted, and had great sponsors to help him keep up there. Dempsey does not have that amount of pull and has had to spend his own money racing.
You gotta keep racing to get better at it