Pocky's Paddock
A NASCAR BLOG BY Bob Pockrass
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Paul Newman's presence was felt in NASCAR community
Sep
28
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – When Paul Newman visited Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the premiere of the movie “Cars,” he was asked his advice after 81 years of life.
“It’s useless to put on the brakes when you’re upside down,” the actor and part-time racer quipped on that day in May 2006.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have not seen some of Newman’s greatest movies. But I did see the wonderfully filthy movie “Slap Shot” at a young age, much to my parents’ chagrin.
But you didn’t need to see Newman’s movies to understand his impact on racing and on the country. When I worked for the Daytona Beach newspaper, every time Newman practiced for or competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona sports-car race, it was a huge deal. Every editor I had wanted to know what Newman was doing all the time. Dale Earnhardt couldn’t even compare, it seemed, to generate the interest that Newman could.
Not only did people want to see and know about Newman’s racing, but his philanthropic efforts always seemed to be talked about along with his racing efforts. One of his Hole in the Wall camps, Boggy Creek, is about 50 miles from Daytona and had inspired Adam Petty to pledge to build a similar camp in North Carolina. That pledge turned into reality with the creation of the Victory Junction Gang Camp after Petty’s death.
While Newman wasn’t heavily involved in NASCAR, he certainly had an impact on the NASCAR community. And for that, we can all be grateful.
“It’s useless to put on the brakes when you’re upside down,” the actor and part-time racer quipped on that day in May 2006.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have not seen some of Newman’s greatest movies. But I did see the wonderfully filthy movie “Slap Shot” at a young age, much to my parents’ chagrin.
But you didn’t need to see Newman’s movies to understand his impact on racing and on the country. When I worked for the Daytona Beach newspaper, every time Newman practiced for or competed in the Rolex 24 At Daytona sports-car race, it was a huge deal. Every editor I had wanted to know what Newman was doing all the time. Dale Earnhardt couldn’t even compare, it seemed, to generate the interest that Newman could.
Not only did people want to see and know about Newman’s racing, but his philanthropic efforts always seemed to be talked about along with his racing efforts. One of his Hole in the Wall camps, Boggy Creek, is about 50 miles from Daytona and had inspired Adam Petty to pledge to build a similar camp in North Carolina. That pledge turned into reality with the creation of the Victory Junction Gang Camp after Petty’s death.
While Newman wasn’t heavily involved in NASCAR, he certainly had an impact on the NASCAR community. And for that, we can all be grateful.
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Comments
5 responses to "Paul Newman's presence was felt in NASCAR community"
John Lockhart said:
Sep 29, 2008 at 10:33 PMWell Bob,your still young.And have along time to catch up on some great movies that Mr.Newman made.Most can be found in video stores.Don't miss out,he was a great actor and one of my favorites.The world sure lost a good man,God bless him.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDee brown said:
Sep 30, 2008 at 10:23 AMto say he touched a lot of lives would be minimizing his contributions to the world... he was a great philanthropist and a wise and caring man...i never got to meet him...but his wit and wisdom will carry his legacy forward...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJohn Lockhart said:
Sep 30, 2008 at 11:12 AMRight on Dee,he raised over $200,000,000 for charity with just his NEWMANS OWN salad dressings.Wow has anyone else done that?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportsandra medura said:
Oct 2, 2008 at 12:30 PMwhen God made paul newman, He was just showing off. paul newman was class all the way. how much he cared about other people is almost unbeliveable in this day in time when everything is me, me, me. he will be missed, but isn't great that we didn't miss him.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJohn Lockhart said:
Oct 3, 2008 at 5:34 AMThe old saying that the good die young,dosen't really apply to Paul.He live along life.I guess it needs to be changed to that the good die first and that's a shame.
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