Somewhere between acting, being a husband and a dad, and then turning into an Indy Car team owner and a philanthropist who raised something like $120 million for charities, Paul Newman was a driver -- living a separate life in the loneliness of a racecar, one filled with tire smoke and Nomex, filled with speed and daring, a sense of being in control, and then of enduring split seconds of intense crisis, where survival sometimes cannot be logically explained. And, in doing so he claimed a space for himself greater than anything Hollywood could ever bestow upon him.

It has been as a racing car driver that he mingled with those he competed with on racetracks as different as little Lime Rock Park in Connecticut to the flat squiggles of Sebring, the daunting high banks of Daytona and the merry-go-round of Le Mans. Learning from his Westport neighbor, Bob Sharp . . . and then having proven himself -- actually driving for Bob in a series of Sharp's Datsuns and Nissans around this country to claim two Trans-Am pro victories and four Sports Car Club of America National titles.

Along that road I found myself at many of the same places as Paul Newman. As the Motorsports Editor at The New Haven Register, I saw Paul racing at Lime Rock Park. As a guy just helping a friend tow his VW Rabbit racecar to Minnesota, I saw Paul win a Trans-Am race at Brainerd International Raceway in a high-tech, twin-turboed Bob Sharp car running in the rain.

Two images stand out in my mind. One was at a Sports Car Club of America National event at Lime Rock. Paul, I think, had the pole. As he roared into Big Bend, the decreasing radius turn at the end of the track's short main straightaway, he was leaned on, forced wide, bumped off the track. The red, white and blue sports car became mired in the mud, useless.

Paul crossed the track, walked through the paddock. Then, at the south end of pit row, he stepped out, almost onto the main straightaway. There, as the offending driver roared past, he raised a magnificent middle digit on his right hand . . . and then he was gone. Point made, without throwing his helmet.

Then, there was a time when after years of stalking Paul as a member of the press, a press Paul was loathe to speak with, I had seen a story in People Magazine. It dealt with his racing at Le Mans for the 24-hour race . . . and there were quotes in the story. Wow! Paul Newman was now speaking with the press!

So, I told my editors I was going to Lime Rock for a Tuesday practice day. Paul was going to be there testing. I watched that afternoon as Paul worked the car, as changes were made to the suspension, and at the end of it all, I approached him and asked if I could get an interview.

Paul said no. He didn't give interviews. He said he wasn't talking to The New York Times, so why would he start talking to me, the car guy from New Haven? Well, I sputtered, I had seen the story in People, he had talked to someone there. I had seen the quotes!

Paul said calmly that he had not spoken to anyone in France -- that all of the quotes had been made up.

Stunned, I lowered my head and backed away.

Sadly, it was announced on Saturday (September 27th, 2008) that PLN has died in his home in Westport, Connecticut.

In the weeks before his death, we sought out those who have known Paul Newman the driver for anecdotes, stories that would illustrate moments in his racing life.

And, no, we didn't wait for Paul's passing. We published these items, these remembrances, as we got them, hoping he might have seen them and had a chuckle over all the things he accomplished, for all the people who drew pride from knowing him, and as a way of sharing -- again -- a kinship that puts all racers into a special fraternity.

So, read these first anecdotes from staffers John Birchard, Hal Wood and Greg Rickes, as well as contributions from Lee Raskin and several automotive journalists like Jon Rosner, Bruce Anderson and Mitch McCullough who bring us unique views of Newman. Please tell your friends about them, and if you have anecdotes or photos you'd like to share, please get in touch with us here at SpeedStyle Magazine because we'll include them as we move forward.

As an addendum: Paul Newman was born on January 26th, 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio; married Joanne Woodward in 1958; was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his roll in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the same year; starred in the racing movie, Winning, in 1969; and in the same year paired with Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and, finally, he won a Best Actor Oscar for The Color of Money in 1987.

Briefly, Paul Newman achieved great success in racing. Perhaps he grew bored with acting at one point, and needed something else to stir his blood. And. just like his mentor, Bob Sharp, he found that being in a racecar at speed meant there was no room for anything other than driving, so the rest of the world and all its problems vanished for at least a few laps on the racetrack.

It was back in 1969 when maybe the movie Winning gave him an opportunity to focus on racing. From there he just kept getting better, and placed fifth in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1977 and second at Le Mans in 1979.

And, of course, Newman was a man who always got involved in what he was doing and he became an Indy Car owner, forming a partnership with Carl Haas to start Newman/Haas Racing in 1983 as part of the CART series. With Mario Andretti as its first driver, the team was an immediate power. Over the past 26 years, the team — now known as Newman/Haas/Lanigan and part of the IndyCar Series — has won 107 races and eight series championships.

Whether we worked hand-in-hand with Newman, or viewed him from the stands, he's filled our minds with grand memories.