Newman had big passion for auto racing

updated 2:51 p.m. ET Sept. 27, 2008

Paul Newman wanted to be a great athlete — he just never found a sport in which he could excel. Then, while filming the movie “Winning” in 1969 at age 43, he discovered auto racing.

“I was never a very graceful person. The only time I ever really feel coordinated is when I dance with Joanne,” he once told The Associated Press, referring to his wife, Joanne Woodward. “And that’s not my doing. But when I’m behind the wheel of race car, I feel competent and in charge. It’s something I really enjoy.”

Newman, an Oscar-winning actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and race car driver, died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, Conn., publicist Jeff Sanderson said.

Tony George, the chief executive officer of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder of the Indy Racing League, said: “To all his fans worldwide and those close to him in our racing community, we share a deep sense of loss, but cherish the many fond memories we will forever carry with us.”

Newman spoke of his passion for racing during a 1995 interview with the AP shortly after he was part of the winning team in the Daytona 24-Hours sports car endurance race. He was 70 years old at the time. No one remotely close to that age had ever won in that event.

Newman could be terse and distant in his rare interviews, but he would light up when he talked about his favorite sport.

“I don’t like talking about acting because that’s business and pretty boring,” Newman told the AP another time. “And politics can get you in trouble. But I’ll always talk about racing because the people are interesting and fun, the sport is a lot more exciting than anything else I do, and nobody cares that I’m an actor. I wish I could spend all my time at the racetrack.”

When Newman decided to get into racing, it was more than just being in the cockpit that interested him. He became a car owner in the Can-Am Series, campaigning cars for a number of top drivers, including Indianapolis 500 winners Al Unser, Danny Sullivan and Bobby Rahal, as well as Formula One champion Keke Rosberg.

After competing against team owner Carl Haas in Can-Am, Newman formed a partnership with the Chicago businessman, starting Newman/Haas Racing in 1983 and joining the CART series.

With Mario Andretti hired as its first driver, the team was an instant success. Throughout the last 26 years, the team — now known as Newman/Haas/Lanigan and part of the IndyCar Series — has won 107 races and eight series championships with drivers like Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Cristiano da Matta, Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais.

“He was a great man and he will be dearly missed,” Bourdais said from Singapore, site of this weekend’s Formula One race.

Despite a heavy schedule, Newman came to the track as often as possible. He tried without much success to keep a low profile as he roamed pit lane on his motor scooter or sat at the team’s pit box, his baseball cap pulled low over those famous blue eyes, a pair of reading glasses — used for reading the timing and scoring monitor — dangling from a string around his neck.

“Paul and I have been partners for 26 years and I have come to know his passion, humor and, above all, his generosity,” Haas said in a statement after learning of Newman’s death. “Not just economic generosity, but generosity of spirit. His support of the team’s drivers, crew and the racing industry is legendary. His pure joy at winning a pole position or winning a race exemplified the spirit he brought to his life and to all those that knew him.”

Newman’s many charitable works extended to racing. Kyle Petty and his wife founded a camp for chronically ill children in North Carolina, modeled on Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camps.

“He was dedicated to giving back to those less fortunate and with each child we see, we honor his spirit and vision,” Petty said.

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Two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart competed against Newman in several sports car races.

“We connected as racers, but Paul’s ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most,” Stewart said.

After playing the role of an Indy 500 driver in “Winning,” Newman found he couldn’t get the driving bug out of his system. And he found he had a real talent for the sport.

Newman began racing sports cars in amateur divisions and won his first race in 1972 at Thompson, Conn., in a Lotus Elan. He earned the first of four SCCA National title in 1976 in the D-Production class and also won championships in the 1979 C-Production category, as well as taking the GT-1 championship in 1985 and 1986.