Lime Rock Park names stretch for Paul Newman
LAKEVILLE — A straightaway at the historic Lime Rock Park racecourse was dedicated in honor of Paul Newman Saturday, according to track officials.
While living in Westport, Newman raced a Datsun 510 on Tuesdays at Lime Rock Park, eventually becoming a regular in the professional Trans-Am championship, officials said in a release.
Newman scored his second and final Trans-Am victory at Lime Rock, officials said. He also “won his last race at Lime Rock during a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) event, carrying the No. 82—his age at the time—on board a 900-horsepower Corvette.”
“Paul Newman’s name now lives in perpetuity at Lime Rock Park, not in recognition of Paul’s fame which was considerable, but for the authenticity of his experience here at the Park,” said Dicky Riegel, president and CEO of Lime Rock, in a statement. “Even with all his racing wins here on this legendary circuit and elsewhere around the world, it was Paul’s expression of joy at Lime Rock Park in every drive and every visit that cemented this place as his true home. The balanced appellation of the Sam Posey Straight, dedicated in 2013, and the Paul Newman Straight dedicated today pay homage to these amazing and pioneering drivers and friends of Lime Rock Park.”
As part of the proceedings, Lime Rock announced a partnership with The Hole in The Wall Gang Camp, “a nonprofit organization, dedicated to providing ‘a different kind of healing’ to more than 20,000 seriously ill children and family members annually—all completely free of charge.”