The Death of Paul Newman

The death of the great actor Paul Newman yesterday will leave a large void in the cinematic world.  I was a big fan of Newman and his movies and I watched him grow older on the big screen.  One of Newman's true passions in life was car racing and my friend, Steve Somermeyer, who is the Chief of Safety for the pits and garage area at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, got to know Newman over the years working with the Newman/Haas race team at a number of Indianapolis 500's.  In the following post, Steve shares some memories he had of Paul Newman:

One of my favorite race car owners, Paul Newman, died yesterday from long bout with cancer at the age of 83.  I got acquainted with him years ago while I was working in the pits for the Indy 500.  While his co-owner, Carl Haas, was very visible and recognizable due to his large unlit cigar always in his mouth, Paul would be dressed in faded jeans and jacket with a cap and sunglasses on.  Because he was so small (5'7" or so and very slim) and just blended into the crowd, very few fans (and quite a few pit personnel) realized who he was.  

  

He was almost never asked for an autograph because no one knew he was there.  At several 500's his wife, Joanne Woodward, attended and many folks recognized her but Paul escaped attention even if he was standing beside her.

 

Of course, the time he showed up at the reception desk at Eli Lilly when discussing a car sponsorship deal with the company, the receptionist immediately recognized him, was awestruck, and could hardly speak.  Word spread quickly and I believe that he exited the headquarters through the freight entrance.

 

He was always followed the rules and never acted offended when a Safety Patrol member asked him for his credentials or to step back.  The racing community really respected him since he was a fellow racer.  Even at the age of 80+, he could still hustle a high-powered 'Vette or 'Z' around a course
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I would chat with him during 'down times' and he was very down-to-earth.  Paul loved dirty jokes so I made an effort to always have a new one for him every day if I could.  The jokes would usually get a big laugh from him and then within minutes he'd be retelling it to a crew member or two.

 

When the IRL and CART split, missing him for a number of years at the Speedway was one of the worst outcomes of that racing disagreement.  Paul was very angry at Tony George over the split.

 

When he appeared this last May at the Speedway for just a couple of days, it was evident that he was ill.  He and Tony had made peace and I thought it was a nice gesture that the Speedway named Paul's Hole In The Wall camps the official camp of the Speedway.  I assume that the Speedway/Hulman-George family made a contribution to them.

 

Here is a link to some other racing memories of him from AutoWeek:

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/FREE/809279997/1508/newsletter02

 

Paul Newman left some big footprints on this earth.  He'll be missed.