Paul Newman Week - Watkins Glen 2003

Gunnar Jeannette, Paul Newman & Kyle Petty

Bully Hill Vineyards 250 at Watkins Glen
August 8, 2003 - Gunnar Racing G-99

Paul is about to get in the car - it's hard not to notice his hair & beard.
He was in the middle of filming "Empire Falls", where he played Max Roby.

Here's the 2003 version of that famous P.L.N. helmet.

Time to celebrate - we finished 2nd in class!

"I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried - who tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being. Someone who isn't complacent, who doesn't cop out."
Paul Newman

Paul Newman Week - sometimes things don't always work out as planned

Kyle Petty, Gunnar Jeannette, Paul Newman, Michael Brockman

2004 Daytona 24 Hours

We had custom driving suits made for all 4 drivers...
They were going to look real cool!
Newman loves his white "camp car" suit, so he had been wearing it during all of the practices, saving the new suit and a new pair of driving shoes for the race. So, now it was time to pose for photos. I tell Paul that he needs to put on his new gear. Paul came out of the trailer and his voice seemed a little higher than normal. Somehow, measurements must have gotten mixed up because I think Paul got Billy Barty's suit. There was no way Paul was zipping the suit past his manhood! So, now he puts his "camp car" suit back on and comes out with his new driving shoes. We noticed a stumble in his stride. He looked at me and said "how can I make these things fit?" (Now remember, we're about to start a 24 hour race).

I said "just cut the ends off"...and he did! Minutes later, the toes are chopped off and he says "they're still too tight"...so he went back to the old shoes and the old suit, but he was now in his comfort zone!

Paul Newman Week - 2006 Moroso Fun Day

February 7, 2006 Paul came to another one of our Fun Days at Moroso Motorsports Park. Here's Kevin & Paul posing by the Gunnar G99. Paul loved to drive this car and he especially loved it because it displayed the logos of all the "Hole in the Wall Gang Camps".

Hole in the Wall Camps and programs serve children that are living with a serious medical condition. The severity of the campers' illnesses varies from child to child. Through intentional programming and therapeutic recreation, traditional camp programs are designed to foster self-confidence, enhance coping and resilience, and help them reach beyond the limits of their medical condition. If you're interested in donating, there may be a camp near you: Double H Ranch, NY; The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, CT; Barretstown, Ireland; Camp Boggy Creek, FL; L'Envol, France; The Painted Turtle, CA; Victory Junction, NC; Over the Wall, United Kingdom; Dynamo Camp, Italy; Ba tor Tabor, Hungary;and Jordan River, Israel.

We always loved putting that smile on Paul's face
by providing him with his favorite race car for an afternoon.

Stan Barrett and Gunnar
One of Paul's good friends, Stan Barrett was also at the track.
"On December 17, 1979 Stan Barrett was strapped into the cockpit of the Budweiser rocket car waiting to make a final run in an attempt to be the first person to drive a land-bound vehicle faster than the speed of sound."

Paul is getting ready for his turn in the G99.

"I've never had any physical grace," Paul insists. "I've done all kinds of sports, boxing, skiing, tennis - everything - and I have no physical grace. The only time I've ever felt graceful doing anything was when I was in a car."

His helmet has evolved a little, but still remains
the same basic design painted by his daughter years ago.

Even though Paul is gone, he'll never be forgotten at Gunnar Racing.

Paul Newman Week - 2000 Daytona Test

It's Paul's turn to jump back into a Porsche.
He has raced RSR's through the years, so he felt
comfortable climbing into our 2000 Porsche GT3-R.

Paul's coming in after his first stint for tire pressures and a chat.

"O.K. Paul, if you want me to be in your next movie,
this is one of my demands...I want to be the hero".

Gunnar is the one who got the most out of the Newman/Jeannette driver pairing. Paul shared his life and racing wisdom with the kid. Here, Paul is telling him about turn 2, or maybe they're just talking about popcorn!

Now they're talking about Newman's movie "Where the Money Is",
starring Paul, Linda Fiorentino and Dermot Mulroney.

Legendary bank robber Henry Manning (Newman) pushes his luck too far and ends up in prison, where he suffers a massive stroke. He is transferred to a nursing home, in the care of Carol Ann McKay (Fiorentino), a high school prom queen who married her boyfriend Wayne (Mulroney), the star of her school's football team, and whose glamour days are well behind her. Carol Ann starts to suspect that Henry isn't as sick as he seems, and she and Wayne are soon working with Henry to plan his last and greatest score.

We all got to attend a private screening of the movie
at our local theatre on January 19, 2000.
That was pretty special for us!

Paul Newman Week - 1995 Moroso Fun Day

January 1995
Paul came to a few of our Fun Days at Moroso Motorsports Park.
It was always such a pleasure having him join us.

This was his first opportunity to drive a Porsche 917.

917-026 had the pleasure of having Paul Newman behind the wheel,
not many 917's can say that!

Paul's helmet was designed and painted by one of his daughters.

Paul Newman Week - 1994 Daytona Test

We'll all be remembering a good racing buddy this week.
These photos were taken at the 1994 Daytona Test where we were running our Porsche G-93 mid-engine car with Paul Newman, Charles Slater and John Paul Jr.

Kevin, Paul & Charlie talking about practice strategy.

Paul looks on, wishing he could drive first, but John Paul Jr. was our official test driver for the weekend.

This would have been the driver line-up for the 24 Hour race, but the car was vetoed out because Nissan didn't want it there. Problem was, we didn't find this out until we arrived at the test. (Just for the record, I asked IMSA to O.K. the build of a mid-engined 911 and it was approved.) Nissan was the sponsor of IMSA at the time. Charles Slater is one of my good pals and he owned IMSA, but could do nothing about the politics. Not even Paul could put in the good word.

IMSA said we could practice the car, so John Paul Jr. took a few laps and then we put Paul in and he did one lap before there was a black flag. The black flag gave me time to think about why we were there, especially having Paul as one of the drivers, and then finding out we couldn't race the car in IMSA. So, I pulled the plug and we went home. Good thing was that we got to hang out with our good buddy Paul. He even ate some of our Salsa Verde and liked it too!
He especially liked our slogan..."EAT ME!"