Steve Parker Motoring / The Car Nut: PAUL NEWMAN, 83, RACE CAR DRIVER

Paul Newman was the real thing.

He died yesterday at age 83 in his Connecticut home (close to his home race track, Lime Rock Raceway).

Newman was said to have been suffering from lung cancer, for many years a heavy smoker. Still, 83, smoking or not, is not bad at all.

Here I’ll share a few memories, and offer a few anecdotes some readers might appreciate knowing.

Many of today’s obituaries are referring to him as a “racing enthusiast,” but he was not some wealthy dilettante who spent weekends slumming with gear-heads and wrenches; he was a skilled, professional and world-class race car driver as well as one of the most successful team owners in the sport’s history.

I first met him in the mid-1970s at Riverside Raceway in Southern California, once one of the greatest road racing tracks in the world, and today a down-at-the-heels shopping mall.

He was easy to spot: Those blue eyes, like little laser dots in the semi-darkness of the garage; and not very tall, but, naturally, “movie star thin.” He even let me ask a couple of questions. I never saw him voluntarily start a conversation with a stranger or fan, but neither did he shy away from anyone who approached him.

I’d speak with him a few more times over the years, mostly just trading pleasantries.

His movie bosses were never happy with his on-track activities; it’s not easy to get insurance on a production with a star who spends his weekends racing. Often he’d enter events with a pseudonym or as “PL Newman.” Newman’s wife Joanne Woodward rarely was there when he was racing, but she’d be seen when his team was racing and he was safely “behind the wall” in the pits.

As his racing skills developed he often said that he was still acting and directing to afford the costs of his racing. (Newman and wife Joanne Woodward in 1968; they lived full-time in Connecticut).

Click below for more on Paul Newman and his remarkable motor racing career.

He got his first taste of racing in “Winning,” a 1969 movie starring Newman about Indy-style oval-track racing. Newman would specialize, though, in road racing; on tracks, some as long as six miles, built along natural terrain with left and right turns and elevation changes. (Newman racing at the 2005 Daytona 24 Hour sports car race; he won his class, at age 70).

His first professional race was in 1972, and from then into the ‘90s Newman was closely associated with Datsun (eventually rebadged as Nissan) Z-cars. He appeared in commercials for the car company, both in the US and Japan. Newman was good friends with Yutaka Katayama, the first Datsun executive in the US, who prodded the factory to build and bring to the US the Z-car which would create such success for the company. A character named "Mr. K," seen in Nissan advertising in the 1990s, was based on Katayama.

Newman the racer was mainly affiliated with Bob Sharp Racing (Datsun and Nissan) and Dick Barbour Racing (Porsche). He finished second in 1979 at the world’s most prestigious sports car race, the 24 Hours of LeMans, in a Porsche. He won his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona, at age 70 the oldest driver to win a major professional racing event. He also tried the off-road Baja 1000 in 2004 and was in the 24 Hours of Daytona again as recently as 2005.

For a short time he owned a Can-Am racing team, a wild-and-woolly series featuring large-displacement American-built V8 engines in futuristic-looking cars which attracted the best drivers in the world. (Newman's voice work on the Disney/Pixar film Cars introduced him to an entirely new generation of movie-goers and racing fans).

In 1983, Newman took on a co-owner role with a team which would enjoy tremendous success for many years.

Sports car driver, team owner and Lola race car and parts importer Carl Haas and Newman had known each other for years. A possibly apocryphal story has Haas asking Newman if he was in the need for some tax write-offs. “Who isn’t?” answered the successful actor. Haas explained that owning a piece of a race team was a good way to lose a little money, maybe save a bit on taxes and have some great fun. Newman threw-in with Haas, and the east coast actor and Chicago businessman, whose trademark is a huge unlit cigar perpetually clamped in his mouth, became partners.

Newman/Haas Racing was born in 1983 in the CART (Championship Auto Race Teams) series.

Haas’ racing and business acumen combined with Newman’s star power attracted some of the best drivers in the world. The team was always well-sponsored with support from major corporations, ranging from Texaco to McDonald's.

The team was top-rate, attracting drivers including two ex-Formula One World Champions, Nigel Mansell and Mario Andretti. (Newman and Julia Roberts in their Nomex driving suits).

Newman/Haas has compiled 107 Indy car race wins since 1983, and other drivers have won championships for the team, including Nigel Mansell (1993), Cristiano da Matta (2002) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004-07). Ironically, the only major race the team now known as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing failed to win was the Indianapolis 500, though it achieved second-place finishes on two occasions.

He was also a partner in the Formula Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing and also owned a NASCAR Winston Cup car before selling it to Penske Racing, where this season it serves as the #12 Dodge driven by Ryan Newman.

Much has been written about Newman’s and Woodward’s contributions to charity, especially those involving children. Newman’s son from a previous marriage, Scott, died from a drug overdose at age 28 in 1978. Newman’s “Hole in the Wall Gang” charity (named after the gang in Newman’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” film) has worked closely with NASCAR star Kyle Petty’s “Victory Junction Gang” charity, and a second “vacation” facility for sick children will open, thanks to those charities, in 2010. (Newman and Woodward in a more contemporary photo).

Statement from the team regarding the passing of Paul Newman:

“On behalf of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, my wife Bernadette and myself, I want to express our most sincere condolences to Joanne and the entire Newman family on the loss of a great human being. Paul and I have been partners for 26 years and I have come to know his passion, humor and above all, his generosity. 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. We will truly miss him.”

- Carl A. Haas, co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing

"We truly lost a great man. Most of us knew him as Butch or Fast Eddie from the theater or from our living rooms at home. He was much more than a great actor. His legacy will be his five children, his wife, Joanne and all the sick children around the world who desperately needed his help. Paul was a man of character who cared about the world and the people who lived in it. Putting a smile on a young person’s face and helping people in need was a virtue he excelled at. Little did anyone realize a child born of such humble beginnings could affect our lives in so many positive ways. We should all learn to live by his example. We will miss him dearly but will never forget him." (Carl Haas and his ever-present trademark Honduran cigar ... unlit, of course).