Westport’s Paul Newman was in Chicago Friday night and took the opportunity to jump in a go-kart to race wheel-to-wheel at 35 m.p.h. against his friend and longtime stunt double, Stan Barrett.
The 80-year-old Oscar-winning actor appeared at Chicago Indoor Racing for a private event staged by McDonald’s, a major sponsor of the Newman-Haas racing team.
Newman said he caught racing fever after filming “Winning” in 1968, and hasn’t looked back since claiming his first national title in 1976.
Racing a go-kart is not that different from racing a car, he told the Chicago Tribune. “The smoother you are, the quicker you go. You can’t muscle your way around the track in these cars.”
Newman is enamored enough of go-karts that he said racing them should be mandatory for all high school students.
“It’s a wonderful way to get some sense of changing direction and braking,” he said.
Mike Roberts, McDonald’s president and chief operating officer, said the fast-food firm first teamed up with the actor over his salad dressings and then asked what else they might do together. Sponsor our race cars, Newman told Roberts.
“It’s been a major investment and it’s been a great investment,” Roberts said.
Way to go Mr. Newman. I agree that driving karts at a young age gives teens a great introduction to the dynamics of save road skills. I started racing motorcycles when I was 12 years old and I’m convinced that it made me a better and more defensive rider on the street when I turned 16. Too bad there aren’t any karting tracks anywhere near Westport.
There is a karting track in norwalk
http://www.norwalkkartingassociaton.net
dirtyracing.com/norwalkkart