He first became interested in the sport while filming Winning in 1968 film. Newman's first professional event was in 1972, in Thompson, Connecticut.
He ran the 24 hours of Le Mans once in 1979 and finished second in a Porsche 935 of Dick Barbour thanks to the driving skills of German team mate Rolf Stommelen.
Onward from the mid seventies to the early nineties, he would drive for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Nissans. He however would become heavily associated with the brand during the eighties, even appearing in commercials for them. Although they named a Skyline model after him, calling it the Newman, he was most of all associated with the Z series, where he got most of his race victories and championship titles from.
At the age of 70, he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1995. Newman told an Associated Press journalist in March 2005 that he'll "probably race for another year". Paul Newman co-founded Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, a CART Championship auto racing team, in 1983.
