Paul Newman used to feel at home at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He was the star of the movie “Winning” which was filmed during the 1968 Indianapolis 500 and featured Newman as the winning driver, Frank Capua. He would later return to the Speedway as a CART team owner with such drivers as Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti and Nigel Mansell as his drivers.
But when the rival Indy Racing League was created in 1995 with the Indianapolis 500 becoming part of that series in 1996, Newman vowed he would never return to the hallowed grounds until both CART and the IRL were unified.
CART has since gone out of business with its assets purchased and revived as the Champ Car Series. And while team co-owner Carl Haas has returned to the Indianapolis 500 since then with Sebastian Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira as the drivers.
Newman remained true to his word in those years, choosing instead to let Haas spend time at the Speedway with the team.
Newman returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday when a partnership between Robert Yates Racing and the Newman-Haas-Lanigan Champ Car team was announced. Both sides will share engineering expertise with each other in an effort to improve their overall programs.
But for Newman, it was a bittersweet return to the track that spawned his interest in auto racing.
“This is the first time I’ve been back since 1995 and it’s very much the same except for that Formula One track in the middle of it,” Newman said. “It’s wonderful to be back. Why shouldn’t it be? This announcement in any way doesn’t diminish any feeling I have in open-wheel racing. We have the departments and wanted to stretch our wings a little bit.
“We’re very fortunate to have found a formidable partner. We have always been an engineering driven team. We think we have something special to add to the benefit of both.”
The only thing missing from Newman’s return would have been Jim Nabors singing, “Back Home Again in Indiana.” But that song is reserved for the Indianapolis 500 and Newman isn’t ready to return to that event as he remains loyal to Champ Car.
Off the second turn is the Brickyard Crossing Inn and Resort, which was formerly the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Motel. It was part of the movie “Winning” where Newman’s rival, Lou Erding was played by Robert Wagner and his real-life wife, Joanne Woodward, played his wife in the film only to have an adulterous affair with Wagner’s character.
“When we first got some sponsors here after we had been racing here with Mario, I always used to take a golf-cart and drive the sponsors to the back of the Speedway Motel and I would stop for a minute and point to a room and say, `And that’s where my wife shacked up with Robert Wagner,’” Newman recalled. “I’d let that comment sit there and deep silence and embarrassment would fall over everybody.
“Then 10 minutes later I’d say, ‘Oh, in the movie I meant.’”
Newman even drove a stock car at the old Riverside Speedway during the 1968 filming of winning and drives a car off the track where it rolls over.
“I was very slow,” Newman said. “In later years I went back to Daytona and got in a stock car and was flat-footed on the second lap. The ascendancy of NASCAR has been extraordinary. I take my hate off to them. They’ve done nothing wrong.”
Newman narrated the documentary, “Dale” which tells the story of the late Dale Earnhardt.
“I really enjoyed that,” Newman said. “It was quite an honor.”
The split between the two factions of open-wheel racing have distanced Newman from IndyCar team owner Michael Andretti, although he remains close to Mario, Michael’s father.
And with a third-generation Andretti, Marco, competing in IndyCar, Newman has watched him from afar.
“I’ve known Marco since he was a kid and he’s got a great future,” Newman said.
Newman’s presence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the NASCAR announcement brought back memories when his star power was part of the Indy 500.
Would he ever consider returning for the Indianapolis 500?
“Well, let’s see how things go,” Newman said.
Does he miss it?
“Yes,” he said. “Who wouldn’t?”