You may recall we were looking for actors who were competent racing drivers.. well.. we missed a couple! James Dean was a regular racer taking part in 'Road Races' at Palm Springs ( 2nd), Bakersfield (3rd) and Santa Babara where he blew a piston in his Porsche while running 4th.
Remember that car chase in The French Connection in 1971? Was it really that long ago?! Gene Hackman was the man... But in 1983 Hackman put his money where his mouth was and raced one of Dan Gurney's Toyotas at The Daytona 24 hrs. He finished 57th after the transmission failed. But as Bob Bondurant put it, this was not a place for a weekend dabbler, but Hackman did well and was one of the most talented celebrity racers he ever taught.
Eric Bana is not a name your scribe is familiar with but he was the star of Hulk and Troy. He bought his first car when he was fifteen, it was a Falcon XB Coupe. He entered it for the 1996 Targa Tasmania. He then crashed out in 1996 at the same event. He even made a movie about it called 'Love The Beast ! He also raced a Porsche 944 in The Australian Porsche Challenge. OK so he is not up with Newman but he did his bit!
