Remembering the Titan

Being a fan of both cars and cameras there is, of course, a lot of overlap. I found these photos from LIFE.com that, in a broad stroke, cover Paul Newman's racing career.

I have a lot of respect for Newman as a actor, driver and most important a humanitarian. He was one of the few actors who managed to strike a balance between being a celebrity and being a normal person - achieving a great deal in his life beyond just making good movies. Newman's career reached heights around the time that racing seemed to hit its stride and a handful of fellow actors like Steve McQueen and James Garner were finding their way into professional racing as well.

Newman took a separate route and practically made a second career out of it. He competed in racing across 4 decades from the early 1970's until the early 2000's in a variety of motor sports venues and series winning notable achievements:

- 2nd place in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 935
- Competing in the 2004 Baja 1000 at age 79
- Achieving the status of oldest driver to be on a winning team at age 70 during a 24 Hours of Daytona
- Owned various teams in the SCCA and IndyCar

Some of this list would difficult for a professional driver to achieve in their own right. Newman was a class act and it's great to see some of these photos documenting such a fulfilling career - if I can find more I'll post them.