Sweetness_ The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton - Jeff Pearlman [207]
Payton spent less than two years flailing around on the Sports 2000 circuit when, in 1990, an opportunity presented itself. Paul Newman, who, like Payton, had dabbled in the sport, was the co-owner of a team, Newman Sharp Racing, that participated in the highly competitive Trans-Am Series. Though Newman was obviously best known as an Academy Award winner, he was passionate about the track and, through eighteen years, had developed into a high-level driver.
As part of his team’s sponsorship agreement with Oldsmobile, Newman was required to have a set number of celebrity participants. His big name had been Tom Cruise, but the actor dropped out to film three new projects. “Which made us all very happy, because Cruise was not merely a jerk, he was a jerk who couldn’t drive for shit,” said Barry Chappel, who handled Newman Sharp’s sponsorship deals. “A bunch of guys who worked the different tracks had T-shirts made that said SCCA: SEE CRUISE CRASH AGAIN.”
As opposed to the arrogant and inept Cruise, who once demolished five Nissan 300 cars in a single season, Payton was a refreshing breath of fresh air. Chappel traveled to Studebaker’s to sell him on jumping from Sports 2000 to Trans-Am, and—against the advice of Olsson and Kester, who rightly insisted he was not ready—six days later Payton was in Atlanta, preparing to test for the team at the Road Atlanta track. He stayed in the Admiral Benbow Inn, a dump with moldy ceiling tiles and torn carpets that Newman, ever the bargain hunter, raved about.
Chappel and Newman flew via private plane to Atlanta to see him drive. It was only while they were thirty thousand feet above ground that the actor asked about the auditionee.
“Who is this guy we’re gonna watch?” Newman said.
“Walter Payton,” replied Chappel.
“Am I supposed to know that name?” Newman said.
Chappel was dumbfounded. “Paul, let me ask you a question,” he said. “Where have you been for the last ten years?” He proceeded to pull out Payton’s bio sheet, chock full o’ NFL records.
“Holy shit!” Newman said. “He sounds perfect.”
Wrote Sports Illustrated of Payton’s foray into the Trans-Am circuit: “Anybody who thought Franco Harris ran out of bounds a lot should see Walter Payton drive a race car.” He made his Trans-Am debut at the Road America track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in 1991, and quickly showed himself to be unprepared for the distance (usually one hundred miles), duration (more than an hour of straight driving), speed (200 mph), and power (750 horsepower). The cars were primarily Chevrolets, Dodges, and Fords, and they packed a punch.
He kicked off the 1992 season by placing twenty-first at Long Beach and twenty-seventh two weeks later at Detroit. “Walter’s biggest problem was that he thought of himself as a professional driver, and he wasn’t,” said Bob Sharp, who co-owned the team with Newman. “In football, he was the complete package. In racing, he wasn’t a pro. But he failed to realize that. He probably had ninety percent of what’s needed to pull it off, but he needed a little more humility and a little more patience.”
“He was better than Cruise, but he wasn’t good,” said Chappel. “His biggest problem was he couldn’t keep the cars together. He crashed one, then he crashed another, then he crashed another. But Paul came to love him, because of the enthusiasm and energy he brought.”
The first time Payton drove at famed Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, Newman rode shotgun to offer some pointers. Intimidated by the actor’s presence, Payton accidentally spun the car. Twice. For the remainder of the trip Newman rode with his feet wedged against the