Newman caught the bug when he was cast as a racing driver in the 1969 film Winning. How fitting that his last cinematic role was as the voice of Doc Hudson, the veteran racing car who has retired to Radiator Springs in the 2006 animated film Cars.
Newman said: “I just decided one day, why not do it? . .. I can’t be competitive about acting, because there’s no way to compete as an actor. What are you competing against?”
He started at the bottom, driving a saloon car. In 1976 he won his first national amateur championship. In 1977 he began competing against professionals.
Once a spectator spotted him rubbing ice cubes on his racing gloves to stiffen the leather and yelled: “So that’s why they call you Cool Hand Luke.” It became one of Newman’s favourite anecdotes.
He put on his driving gloves once again a few weeks after his 70th birthday and, with three crew members, drove a Ford Mustang to victory in their class and to third place overall in the 24-hour endurance race at Daytona Beach. He was the oldest person to win the event.
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