very sad news. a legend if there was any!!!!
ok, great film star but as ye know i have another intrest apart from music and thats motorsport so im gonna mention paul newmans other highly successful career.....
Newman was an avid auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in
motorsports ("the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in") while training for and filming
Winning, a
1969 film. Newman's first professional event was in 1972, in
Thompson, Connecticut, and he was a common competitor in
Sports Car Club of America events for the rest of the decade, eventually winning several championships. He later drove in the
1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in
Dick Barbour's
Porsche 935 and finished the race in second. Newman rejoined Dick Barbour in 2000 to compete in the
Petit Le Mans.
From the mid-'70s to the early '90s, he drove for the
Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly
Datsuns (later rebranded as
Nissans) in the
Trans-Am Series. He became heavily associated with the brand during the '80s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, winning in his class at the 1995
24 Hours of Daytona. Among his final experiences in racing was competing in the
Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.
Newman initially owned his own racing team which competed in the
Can-Am series, but later co-founded
Newman/Haas Racing with
Carl Haas, a
Champ Car team, in 1983. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the
IMAX film
Super Speedway, which Newman narrated. He was also a partner in the
Atlantic Championship team
Newman Wachs Racing. Newman also owned a car
NASCAR Winston Cup before selling it to
Penske Racing, where it now serves as the #12 car.
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) is a motor racing team competing in the
IndyCar Series. The team operations are based in
Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed when actor
Paul Newman and long-time racer
Carl Haas, competitors in the
Can-Am championship, each began looking to Champ Car racing in 1982. The two decided to join forces for 1983, with
Mario Andretti as the team’s driver. Since then, the team has won 105 Champ Car races, as well the drivers championship in 1984 with Mario Andretti, 1991 with
Michael Andretti, 1993 with rookie
Nigel Mansell, 2002 with Cristiano da Matta and the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 championships with
Sébastien Bourdais. In 2007
Mike Lanigan became a partner in the company, resulting in the change of team name.
NHLR was the most successful team that was active as of the 2007 Champ Car World Series. Since the team's inception in 1983, its drivers have won seven points championships. The first four championship crowns came in Champ Car's predecessor series, CART, and four others by
Sébastien Bourdais in
2004,
2005,
2006, and
2007 were Champ Car World Series titles. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is also second overall in driver wins. The team has had many notable drivers over the years, including
Mario Andretti,
Michael Andretti,
Nigel Mansell,
Paul Tracy,
Cristiano da Matta,
Sébastien Bourdais, and current drivers,
Justin Wilson and
Graham Rahal.
In 2005, Newman/Haas Racing fielded two cars in the Champ Car World Series. The drivers were
Bruno Junqueira and
Sébastien Bourdais, the eventual champion. Junqueira was injured in a crash during the 2005
Indianapolis 500, however, and was replaced in the cockpit by
Oriol Servia.
For 2006, Newman/Haas Racing fielded two cars in the Champ Car World Series. The cars were based on
Lola chassis, powered by
Ford Cosworth engines and rode on
Bridgestone tires. The drivers were
Sébastien Bourdais and
Bruno Junqueira.
NHLR earned its 100th Champ Car World Series win on June 10, 2007 as Sébastian Bourdais won the Portland Grand Prix by a margin of over 15 seconds.
On January 29, 2008 NHLR announced that
Justin Wilson will team with
Graham Rahal for the 2008 Champ Car World Series season. NHLR will attempt to earn their ninth series title in their 26th season of Champ Car competition.
Justin Wilson has finished runner-up in the Champ Car World Series driver standings in 2006 and 2007 to
Sébastien Bourdais and NHLR.
After more than a decade of intense rivalry,
Indy Racing League founder and CEO
Tony George and owners of the
Champ Car World Series agreed on February 22nd, 2008, to re-unify American open-wheel racing for 2008 and beyond. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing welcomed the news and confirmed their participation in the unified
IndyCar Series in 2008 with
Justin Wilson and
Graham Rahal.
