Posted on 04/24/2019 6:19:52 PM PDT by MtnClimber
rint This Article >> Jack Roush’s teams had a remarkable run in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, winning the leading GT class nine consecutive times from 1985 through 1993. Roush sat out the 1994 Rolex 24, concentrating on his burgeoning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series operation that took him out of sports car competition. But for 1995, he was called out for an encore – a challenge that Roush found too enticing to pass up.
To celebrate Paul Newman’s 70th birthday, Paramount Pictures presented the veteran with a sponsored ride in the Rolex 24 – a Roush-prepared Ford Mustang. Joining Newman behind the wheel were fellow racer/actor Mike Brockman, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Mark Martin and Roush Trans-Am champion Tommy Kendall. The car was sponsored by Newman’s upcoming film, Nobody’s Fool, and carried No. 70 in honor of his age.
The race played out like a Hollywood script. Newman drove the car into the GTS-1 class lead four hours and 30 minutes into the event – running fifth overall in the 74-car field. Following his stint, Newman was asked if traffic had been courteous. “Courteous is what you find in office buildings and dentist offices,” the actor told Godwin Kelly of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The team kept the car in the class lead and top-five overall in a near-flawless performance. Newman held up his end, logging 114 laps while driving four hours, 20 minutes in his first Rolex 24 appearance since 1970.
Roush recalls Newman telling him, “I’m done,” after getting out of the car with four hours remaining.
“I said, ‘No Paul, this is your race car, you’ve got to be in it for the last hour when we finish,’” Roush recalled. “So he reached down and did something that an American hero would do, and got back in the car for the last hour.”
The Roush team won its class, finishing third overall.
I was in the stands for this race and was mainly watching the 70 car that Newman was driving for at 70 years old. I thought before the race that they had a sot with the driver lineup and they did.
Also an article about Adam Carolla and his Paul Newman race car collection:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/inside-adam-carolla-apos-collection-171308677.html
watched him every time he was at the Glen as driver and owner
i dint know Carolla had any interest in racing till just last night when he was on a Crowder video and he was talking about racing
if you ever get the change, watch Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman
simply outstanding film
Paul Newman is one of a very small handful of celebrities I wish I could have met - and it has more to do with his career as a racer and team owner in CART/IndyCar than it did with his film career. As an SCCA member and volunteer official I’ve met a few people who did have that opportunity - one of whom happened to meet him at his home track, Lime Rock, as a teenager.
She initially addressed him as Mr. Newman, as she tells the story, and asked him if he could sign her worker jacket. His reply, she said, was, “First, you can call me Paul. Second, don’t tell anyone I signed your jacket.”
Fun fact: I have a co-worker named Paul Newman. Based on his age, I think he was given the name before THE Paul Newman was THE Paul Newman.
You should have seen the 1995 Daytona 24 Hours. I knew he was racing with a team Roush put together in a car upgraded from two years past. I thought they may have a chance with the other drivers, but Newman was up with the younger stars.
if only he got started younger and ran wi Steve McQueen... what a pair that would have made
Or if he started with James Dean had he not beer killed in a wreck breaking in a new Porsche 550 Spider for the 12 hours of Sebring Race, or even Robert Redford.
woulda been something
At the Daytona 24, I don’t remember the year, but in the 1990’s. I was walking back to my car in the infield before the start of the race and I saw Craig T. Nelson (Coach on TV)walking toward me. He was running a prototype car in the race. I did not want to bother him, but a bizarre man near me approached him and said “will you take a picture with me?” This man was dressed like Davey Crockett except with buttons and pins all over, a cowboy hat with a mounted rattlesnake wrapped around the hat and poised to strike. Somewhere he had a big label that said “Wild Man”. Craig said “Sure Wild Man” and he stopped me to ask if I would take the picture. I said ok and I took the picture. I had a camera too and Craig asked if I wanted a picture too. I said I would like a picture of them and so I took it. I really should find that photo because it was so strange.
If I recall correctly, I think Steve McQueen used to street race James Garner and Dennis Hopper in the Hollywood Hills late at night when traffic was pretty non-existent.. Wild guys. Lucky thing they never pulled a James Dean.
Roush: “ What We have here is — Failure to Communicate.”
Newman: “Yes Sir Boss, Yes Sir.”
Thank You for the Post/Ping.
Paul might been a liberal, but he was nice.
that would not surprise me
Tom Kendall drove in this race four years after he broke both legs very badly in a crash at Watkins Glen in 1991. It was before they put the “inner loop” chicane to slow cars at the end of the fast Back Stretch. He was driving a GTP Prototype class IMSA car and when he hit his brakes to go into turn 5 (The Outer Loop) one of his rear tires came off and he hit the barrier at high speed. I saw him a few years later in the paddock area at the Daytona 24 hour race and he could not walk on his own. He had a hot blond on each side holding him up so he would not fall.
“Paul might been a liberal, but he was nice.”
Everyone I’ve talked to who has met him (most of them are folks I know through SCCA) has said he was a nice fellow. I’ve heard similar reports from them about Craig T. Nelson as well.
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