Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman.

I watched it recently via Amazon Prime. Highly recommended.

Thanks for the heads up on Amazon. I'll watch it this weekend.

You got to get your mind right, Luke.

Thanks, I watched him race at Lime Rock in a 510 as PL Newman before word got out about his racing. Watched him race w/Bob Sharp cars as well. Also saw him race at Brainerd where I was working Tech. He had a mechanical issue close to track entrance, but instead of leaving, he got out of his car and sat next to the track barrier watching the rest of the race.

Finally got to see this, very well done and recommended. For me one of the most surprising parts was the interviews with Willy T. Ribbs. For those perhaps a bit young to remember, Willy T. was a very talented, very fast and very aggressive driver back when black drivers were very scarce. His career got sidetracked for a number of reasons, mostly self-inflicted through a tendency to shoot off his mouth rather than letting his driving do the talking. Still, he was very fast and a regular winner in Trans-Am and IMSA GTO, where he was Scott Pruett's teammate. Their rivalry was one of the things that caused Willy T. to lose focus.

Anyhow, what struck me was how humble and sincere his comments were on PLN - very different from the Willy T. of old, and obviously very much deeply felt. This shows how much PLN affected others, and the whole film showed how good he was, how deeply he cared about his racing, and what a great man he was. Definitely two thumbs up.

It also gave us a very slight look at how Sam Posey is dealing with his Parkinson's. We hear his comments before every F1 race, and he doesn't appear to be suffering as badly as some, but it is definitely taking its toll. Sam is another one of the genuinely good guys in our sport, and I'm glad to see he is still showing his passion for the sport through pre-recorded commentary and occasional written pieces. A good guy. He was a good friend of Paul's and his model railroad layout has a brewery labeled with Newman's branding - read his book for more insights into Sam, his racing, and his fight with Parkinson's.

In reply to Jim Pettengill:

I agree that Willy T. Ribbs comes off as very humble and likable in this film. I did not find him to be likable back in the day.

I have to say that Adam Corolla did a very good job with this film, and I credit him for stepping back from the camera and letting others tell Paul Newman's story.

Jim Pettengill wrote: Willy T. was a very talented, very fast and very aggressive driver back when black drivers were very scarce.

Not to thread hijack, but except for Lewis and Bill Lester (I had to look it up), I don't know that it's changed that much.

I watched it and came away more impressed that I was before. I didn't realize he started racing so late in life. Make me wonder if he'd have been even better if he'd started earlier or (because of the lack of safety) would have ended a great acting career. I was never a big Newman fan. Not that I didn't like him, but he was before my time. Watching the show, however, makes me want to watch more of his movies to find out about him. It's incredible to imagine that an actor of his talent could be so "normal" in life compared to today. But then again, modern actors are simply more accessible with social media and such.

I knew Carolla was a car guy who liked Datsun's, but didn't realize he was trying to restore all of Paul Newman's old cars. That's simply incredible.

-Rob

As a kid my grandparents had a vacation house just down the road from Lime Rock. One time when I was about 7 or 8 I was up there I had gotten my grandfather to take me down to the track when we heard cars running. I took a few pictures and we went to town to have them developed. My grandmother about died when she saw them and found out we saw Paul Newman. I had no idea she was a racing fan. I wish I still had those pics.

I have a slightly different angle. I always respected the man, and the one time I met him and his wife found them as impressive as anyone I've met in terms of being warm and genuine. That said, Frank Leary was a family friend and was the last person to win C Production before Newman (1978). Frank had some sponsorship from the Ferrari dealership where he worked as a mechanic, but mainly paid for racing by building motors. Anyway, he was resentful towards Newman because he felt that Newman was able to afford a higher level of ride with all his money. I don't know if that was just sour grapes, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was true.

Back in I think 01 I was at the Petit Lemans and Newman was driving a 911. Coming though the esses he turned into an LMP car and the both went off pretty hard. Out gets Newman and he walks/shuffles over to the worker station looking like Tim Conway's old man character from the Carol Burnett show. A bit odd to see a racer moving like that.

Got to see him school the youngins at LRP in 03 or 04 maybe, in the rain, in the Vette posted earlier. Big fan.

All must see Slapshot.

Certainly, PLN's money made it easier for him to go racing than the average guy. However, he did say in the documentary that he wasn't very good when he started and Bob Sharp described how he made him start out in a relatively slow race car (Datsun 510) rather than something faster and more powerful.

Back in the late 1970s / early 1980s my cousin was racing in GT-1 as was Newman, and I crewed for him a couple times when he came up to race at Brainerd. I didn't actually meet Newman but was hanging around the edge of the crowd, and from what I could see he was treated as just one of the guys by all the competitors. I stood next to him in a driver's meeting, and noticed 1) he had REALLY blue eyes, and 2) he had scrawny legs.

In reply to wbjones:

Damn straight.

I caught it today. Makes me wish the paparazzi at lemans would have been run over and not made him so miserable.

In reply to stuart in mn:

Yes, I remember seeing him wearing shorts while standing on top of a motorhome in the Lime Rock pits when he was driving the plain Datsun 510. Real scrawny legs.

Really enjoyed the movie as well. I saw him at the 2002 Runoffs at mid-ohio racing a Paul Gentilozzi Jaguar in GT-1. (I read somewhere he had wrecked his regular car at Watkins Glen.) Running #77 which was his age at the time. It was a thrill to see him flying down toward the Esses.

You know, if PLN could still be an effectively competitive racer driver into his 80's, then by God so can the rest of us!

Is the movie available anywhere else?

Just saw it this past weekend. Recorded it on the DVR-- it was on Velocity. I've seen it rerun a couple of times, so you might still be able to catch it.

Great film. Made me respect Adam Carolla a bit more, whom I'd only just found annoying previously. I didn't know a lot about Newman's racing career and some of the history of his brand empire, etc. Also didn't realize how close he was to Posey. Is the squinting Posey was doing related to his Parkinson's? I've known other folks with Parkinson's and not seen that.

Basil Exposition wrote: Great film. Made me respect Adam Carolla a bit more, whom I'd only just found annoying previously.

^This.

About that time period Paul Newman and 3 other "celebrities" decided to put a Noontime "event" on and they came over and asked the 4 of us driving T series MG's if they could use our cars.. We politely declined, PLN was the first to make us feel it was OK and he was sorry to ask.. (although technically he never asked)
Pail Newman honestly wanted to race but could understand why we declined.. A real Gentleman.

They later decided to race Semi's bob tail (No trailer) and 4 identical Mack's quickly arrived.. I quick run up the road a piece while three of the drivers "learned" how to drive a Diesel..

The race itself started from a dead start and as they raced down the short straight under the bridge they were three abreast.. I'm pretty sure it was Paul Newman who saw the bridge over the race track, judged the height the bridge, compared it to the truck's roof and at the last second dive bombed the brakes..... While Jerry Hanson and Someone else (who's name I've forgotten) roared off to the finish line laughing their butts off