Glitz In The Pits: The Stars Who Race Cars

Motor racing has long been seen as a true test of skill and character, which pays no attention to who you are or how influential you may be elsewhere. Perhaps that is why it attracts such a variety of people who, despite successful careers in their own fields, are compelled to prove themselves on the tarmac and put their health and wealth on the line in pursuit of glory. Nicholas Hoult is the latest young actor to get behind the wheel with Team Ferrari, but he's certainly not the first, and so here is our (non-exhaustive) list of notables from the world of film and entertainment who have been brave enough to get out on track.

Paul Newman

Paul Newman’s first taste of racing came at the age of 43 during driver training for his role in ‘Winning’, a 1969 film in which he played struggling race car driver Frank Capua. One of the first students of Bob Bondurant’s Racing School, Newman showed considerable talent, and three years later decided to go all-in on racing, earning his SCCA licence in a Lotus Elan before graduating to racing a Datsun 510.

In 1972 he entered his first professional race for Bob Sharp Racing (for whom he would compete frequently until the mid-’90s), and in 1976 Newman became a SCCA Class D champion in a Triumph TR6, the first of his four SCCA championships. More successes followed before a Le Mans podium and class win in 1979, driving the Kremer Racing Porsche 935 alongside Rolf Stommelen and Dick Barbour. It was not a bad performance for a 54-year-old late bloomer who had only started racing in anger a decade prior and as a side project. Newman would continue to defy expectations by taking a class win at the 1995 Daytona 24h in a GTS-1 Ford Mustang at the age of 70, and making racing appearances until a year before his death in 2008.

Alongside his own driving exploits, Newman also found time to co-own the Newman Freeman Can-Am racing team as well as the hugely successful Newman/Haas CART/ChampCar team, which won 8 drivers’ championships during its existence from 1983-2011.

Patrick Dempsey

As well as having an extensive collection of vintage and modern sports cars, Patrick Dempsey is an avid racing driver, having participated in four outings at Le Mans and a whole host of other race series.

In 2015 he achieved a second place Le Mans class finish in the Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR alongside Patrick Long and Marco Seefried, and he has also put in impressive performances in the IMSA Sports Car Championship. While Dempsey’s scalpel-sharp driving has also been on display in events as varied as the Porsche Supercup, Maserati Trofeo World Series and Baja 1000 over the years, these days he has taken a step back from active track duties, preferring to concentrate on management of his racing team and philanthropic work.

George Lucas

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas was a rule-breaking drag racer in Modesto, California, always on the hunt for tricks to help achieve warp speed in his Autobianchi Bianchina. A car obsessive, he would spend all day working on cars at a local garage, dreaming of being a professional racing driver. However a serious accident shortly before his graduation in 1962, where he was broadsided by a fellow street racer, left his Autobianchi completely destroyed and a young George Lucas fighting for his life in the local hospital.

The near-death experience made him realise that perhaps the life of a racer was not for him; he went on to pursue his interests in photography and filmmaking to become the legendary director he is today, though he remains an enthusiast.

James Garner

In his role as Pete Aron in John Frankenheimer’s wonderful 1966 film ‘Grand Prix’, James Garner found it easier than most of the other actors to play the part of a full-blooded F1 driver, gathering praise from the professional drivers present for his skills. Having spent significant time at Willow Springs Raceway in the hands of Bob Bondurant in preparation for the role, and six months during filming in the company of Phil Hill, Graham Hill, Fangio, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Dan Gurney, Ritchie Ginther and Bruce McLaren, Garner took his talents behind the wheel into the real world. His American International Racing team was the result, which began competing soon after the film’s release fielding L88 Corvettes and Lola T70s at Daytona and Sebring, alongside a number of Formula 5000 entries.

While contractual and insurance issues prevented Garner from competing as fully as he might have wished on track in the 1970s, he took the opportunity to indulge his passion for off-road racing as well, with numerous desert race entries including a second in class finish at the 1969 Baja 1000 and a victory at the Riverside Off-Road Grand Prix in 1972. In 1978 Garner was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, and had the privilege in the ‘70s and ‘80s of driving the Indy 500 pace car a total of three times in 1975, ‘77 and ‘85.

Walter Cronkite

It may come as some surprise that Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS Evening News anchorman from 1962-1981, was also something of a speed freak. The most trusted man in America, as he was called, who took U.S. audiences through the Vietnam War, the Iran hostage crisis and the Apollo moon missions was always hankering to get out and about in a fast car of some sort. His first racing experiences came in the late 1940s at Watkins Glen and Bridgehampton Raceway in Long Island; the 1950s would see him race a four-cylinder Austin Healey, followed by a Lotus 11, before joining Art Riley’s Little Le Mans team at Lime Rock and taking third place overall in a Volvo PV444 in 1959.

However one of Cronkite’s greatest exploits came in the rain-soaked 1959 edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring, in which he not only piloted a Lancia Appia Zagato against a field featuring the likes of Phil Hill, Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney, but filed race reports for CBS radio when not behind the wheel! As his star power grew, Cronkite’s auto racing activities were restricted by CBS - not least because of his outing at the ‘59 American International Rally, which ended with a Triumph TR3 bottom-up in Lake Ocoee. As a consequence, Cronkite’s automotive activities were confined to the New York enthusiast scene: meetings of the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society at Sardi’s, and the embrace of ex-Grand Prix driver Rene Dreyfus at his legendary Le Chanteclair restaurant.

James Dean

Dean, renowned for his iconic roles in films like Rebel Without a Cause, had a brief yet passionate racing career that mirrored his love for speed. An avid car enthusiast, he participated in several amateur races in 1955, including a Palm Springs Road Race on the weekend of the 26th March. Reportedly 'nervous and chain-smoking' before hopping into the Porsche 356 Super Speedster he had owned a mere two weeks, Jimmy won the preliminary race, qualifying him for the finals.

In the finals, he competed against such veterans as Ken Miles and Cy Yedor, both of whom were driving MG Specials. Jimmy finished the race in third place. But later, Miles was disqualified on a technicality and Jimmy was bumped up to second place.

"Gee, I can't believe it. All I've been doing is driving around Mulholland Drive" - James Dean

Later, Dean upgraded to a Porsche 550 Spyder nicknamed 'Little Bastard', a car that tragically became synonymous with his untimely death. A few years later in 1958, rising young star Tom Pittman was also killed behind the wheel of his 550 Spyder.

Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas Hoult, known for his Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, has made his mark in a range of films and TV shows, including 2002’s About a Boy, the X-Men franchise, the Oscar-winning The Favourite, and Mad Max: Fury Road. In the latter, he plays Nux, a tattooed and crazed gearhead tearing through a post-apocalyptic wasteland on dirt bikes. While Hoult and his character couldn’t be more different, they do share one surprising trait: a deep passion for racing.

Hoult has been driving with Ferrari for a couple of years now, originally starting with the Corso Pilota program, and now taking part in the Ferrari Challenge Series in a race car that’s based on the road-going 296 GTB. In July, he took part in – and won – the timed lap segment of the Ferrari Club Challenge program at Watkins Glen,  having completed a most impressive 1:49.2 lap of the circuit.

Steve McQueen

Of course Steve McQueen was going to make this list. McQueen competed in both motorcycle and car racing, balancing his acting career with time on the track. He entered numerous events, such as the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1970, where he and co-driver Peter Revson impressively finished second overall in a Porsche 908/02, despite McQueen driving with a cast on his foot. An avid motorcycle racer, he also competed in off-road events like the International Six Days Trial as part of Team USA.

McQueen’s love for racing spilled into his film career, influencing movies like Le Mans (1971), which was a deeply personal project, and something we discussed at length in our interview with Richard Attwood.

Sophia Loren

Legendary Italian screen siren Sophia Loren owned a silver Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, which was a gift from her husband, film producer Carlo Ponti, in 1955. She was frequently photographed with it during the height of her career in the 1950s. Loren wasn’t just a passive owner—she drove the 300SL in prestigious events, including the Mille Miglia and the Rallye del Cinema, an exclusive Italian rally where film stars and directors showcased their cars.

Other honourable mentions include Rowan Atkinson, Michael Fassbender and of course Tom Cruise.