Paul Newman RIP

[Lew Ledyard]

When I was 16, I worked for a guy who raced a showroom stock class 280Z on the weekends. We were at Lime Rock racing one weekend. We blew a thermostat and did not have a replacement. There was a big red, white and blue tractor trailer with cool IMSA 280Zs not too far from us. My boss said to go over to the trailer and ask Gene Crowe (the Datsun crew chief) whether we could borrow one from his team. I walked into the back of this 18 wheeler and asked for Gene. I couldn't see anything inside the trailer because my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark after being in the sun all day. A guy who was looking through the tool box in the trailer said that Gene wasn't there, but asked if he could help. I told him what happened to our car and what we needed. He said, "Let's take a look, we everything." After a minute or two he says "Ah - ha, I think I have what you need." He handed me the part, wouldn't let me pay for it and we walked out of the trailer. We got out in the light and I realized that it was Paul Newman. He could see that I just realized who he was. He chuckled a bit (what a cool smile!) and said "Best of luck!" He seemed like a really good guy.