Paul Newman is one of the Great Hollywood Stars -
an actor who's performances had such integrity they
lifted him to the heights of stardom. But he remained a
down-to-earth man, and nowhere is this more obvious than
his collaboration to form the Newman-Hass racing team
and his career as a Motorsport racer. He got the racing
bug after filming "Winning", and set out to become a
racer himself. Initially dismissed as a spoilt film
star, he soon proved his critics wrong, with his first
1972 race for Datsun, showing commitment, talent,
technique, and a professional determination to win. He
learnt in a Lotus Elan, then a Triumph TR-6, and won his
first SCCA championship in 1979, saying 'This is better
than the Oscars'. He notched up a series of successes
both on track and with his team - Daytona 24 Hour race,
where he won his class, aged 70; second in the Le Mans
24 hour race of 1979 racing a Porsche, 107 Daytona wins
and eight championships for the Newman-Hass racing team,
which both Nigel Mansell and Mario Andretti raced for,
and built up an impressive stable of cars, from Porsches
and Ferraris to modified VW's and Volvos, all featured
in this book along the legendary racing career of a man
who was a passionate car racer, making this a title
bound to appeal to any racing fan. With tributes from
Jay leno, Carl Hass, Mario Andretti, Brock Yates,
Patrick Dempsey, Roger Penslee, and others this is a
fitting tribute to a man who was as passionate in his
racing as his acting, and once commented he only took
films on to afford his racing career.
|
|