Paul Newman is a road racer.
Champ Car is the general name for a class and specification of American professional top-level open wheel cars used in American Championship car racing for many decades , associated primarily with the Indianapolis 500 . Paul Leonard Newman ( January 26 , 1925 -- September 26 , 2008 ) was an American actor , IndyCar driver , entrepreneur , and philanthropist . Despite being colorblind , Newman won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing , and his race teams won several championships in open wheel IndyCar racing .