In October, world-famous actor Keanu Reeves made his debut in professional motorsports, finishing 25th and 24th at the Toyota Gazoo Racing North American Cup season finale in Indianapolis. Reeves is far from the first actor to try his hand at motorsports. Here is a list of seven actors who participated in professional careers.
Paul Newman
to the cinema
One of Hollywood’s cult actors of the second half of the 20th century. Eight Oscar nominations in the Best Actor category, one of which he won for his work in the film The Color of Money. By the way, it was Newman who voiced Doc Hudson in the English version of the animated film Cars. It would have been difficult to find a more suitable person for this position.
in the races
Interestingly, Newman came to the world of high speeds through cinema: he trained at a racing school in Watkins Glen before filming the movie “Victory”, the plot of which was partially set during the Indy 500 race. According to the actor, the Motor sport is the first thing in which he found at least some humor. Newman subsequently competed in sports car racing for more than 20 years, both regionally and internationally. And in 1979, the American actor participated in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the same team as former F1 driver Ralf Stommelen. His Porsche won its class (IMSA GTX) and took second place overall.
Among Newman’s other achievements, it is worth highlighting his victory in the GTS-1 category (third place in “absolute”) in the Daytona 24-hour marathon, won in 1995; At that time the great actor was 70 years old! And 10 years later, he returned to the starting line at Daytona (and this at 80 years old!).
By the way, Newman was not only a driver, but also a team owner. His most successful project was the Newman/Haas Racing team, which competed in CART and IndyCar, of which he was one of the co-founders. Giants like Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell and Paul Tracy played for this team. In total, Newman/Haas Racing earned 107 victories and held eight individual championships.
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Steve McQueen
to the cinema
Another iconic Hollywood actor of the 1960s and 1970s. Most notably, he played the lead role in the film “Le Mans.”
in the races
McQueen was a big fan of cars and motorcycles and owned an impressive collection of classic vehicles. Steve’s love of high speed is reflected in his daily work. For example, many of the car stunts were performed by him alone during filming, without the help of specialists.
Steve McQueen at Le Mans
Photo: Keystone Features/Getty Images
McQueen also did not go through professional racing. In the 1960s he began competing in British touring races, where he performed quite well. However, McQueen’s main achievement as a racing driver was second place in the Sebring 12 Hour Marathon in 1970 with the same team as Peter Revson. The American Porsche lost only 20 seconds to the Ferrari crew (Mario Andretti, Ignazo Giunti and Nino Vaccarella). By the way, in that race McQueen competed with a cast on his left leg, which he broke when he fell from a motorcycle.
One of McQueen’s cars was recently auctioned:
Photo
Steve McQueen’s sports car, up for auction
Jason Priestley
to the cinema
Compared to previous heroes, he is far from the most popular actor. His most famous works were in the television series “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Call Me Fitz.”
in the races
Priestley began his career in motorsport in the mid-1990s, with local rally racing. Later, he also competed in sports cars (still in America), and in 2002 he was ready to make his debut on open wheels: the Canadian entered the Indy Pro championship (now Indy NXT, an analogue of Formula 2 on the IndyCar ladder ). . Priestley ran his first race in the junior championship at the age of 32, too late to compete in the juniors. However, it is unlikely that the Canadian actor had the same ambitions as his rivals – he simply enjoyed the process.
Jason started very well in single-seaters: he finished the first race in second place. However, Priestley’s long history in the Indy Pro championship did not work out: during training on the fourth stage at the Kentucky Speedway, the Canadian suffered a terrible accident: Jason was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. Fortunately, Priestley managed to avoid serious consequences, he recovered fairly quickly, but this was essentially the end of his sports career.
This year, the worst driver of our time competed in Indy NXT:
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Frankie Muñiz
to the cinema
You may remember him from the simple movies of the 2000s. Most notably, he played the lead role in Agent Cody Banks.
in the races
Another actor who came to open wheels. At the age of 19, after a couple of amateur races, Muniz was ready to debut in the American Formula BMW championship. Among the drivers who raced a full schedule, Frankie took last place in the individual competition and the champion of that season, by the way, was Robert Wickens. Despite the unsuccessful debut, the American actor did not think to stop: the following year he entered the Atlantic Championship (an analogue of Formula 2 in the classification of the then already moribund Champ Car). In total, Muñiz spent three seasons in this championship, the best of which, perhaps, was the second: he was far from the worst “full timer”.
Frankie Muniz in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Frankie subsequently continued to compete in semi-professional touring car championships and in 2024 he debuted in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the second most important division of the cult American championship. To date, Muñiz has two races in the Xfinity Series (he once again failed to qualify) at Daytona and Phoenix ovals, with his best finish being 30th place.
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Patrick Dempsey
to the cinema
The main project of his career is the series “Grey’s Anatomy.” You may also remember this actor from several romantic comedies: “Stylish Thing”, “The Bridesmaid”, “Bridget Jones 3”. He also played the role of Piero Taruffi in the film Ferrari.
in the races
Dempsey began his motorsport journey in the 2000s and quickly began racing a full calendar. At first, Patrick competed in the American touring car championship Rolex Sports Car Series, after which he moved to the more serious American Le Mans Series championship (the predecessor of IMSA, the North American analogue of the WEC).
Patrick Dempsey at Le Mans
Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Dempsey raced primarily in the GT class, the same category in which he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2009. He would subsequently return to Sarthe three more times, with his best result being second place in the GTE Am category, achieved in 2015. By the way, that same year, Dempsey drove a Porsche for almost a full season in the WEC championship as part of his own team and even won the 6 Hours of Fuji in his category.
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Michael Fassbender
to the cinema
Known for his role as Magneto in the X-Men film series. Among other important projects of Fassbender, it is worth highlighting “300”, “12 Years a Slave” and, of course, “Inglourious Basterds”. Two-time Oscar nominee.
in the races
Even as a child I was a racing fan, which was reflected in my adulthood, when the means to practice motor sports became available. Michael started with the semi-professional Ferrari Challenge championship, in which he debuted in 2017.
Michael Fassbender and Sebastian Vettel
Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Three years later, Fassbender competed in the European Le Mans Series in the LMGTE category as part of the Proton Competition (Porsche) team. Over four seasons, the Irish actor’s team twice finished in the top three in their class. Michael also participated twice in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: 16th place in the LMGTE Am category in 2022 and retirement in 2023.
The runners, in turn, try their luck at the movies:
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Premium. Nikolai Fomenko
to the cinema
The older generation remembers Fomenko, the actor from the film “Orphan of Kazan”, the younger generation – from several streaming series that have been released in recent years (for example, “Unprincipled”, where, by the way, Nikita Mazepin made a cameo.
in the races
Fomenko’s passion for motor sports arose while he was still studying at the university, but, unfortunately, at that time it was simply not possible to seriously engage in this business. Already in the 1990s, Nikolai began competing in Russian touring championships and even became the Russian champion in the Turismo-1600 class.
Nikolai Fomenko in the race for survival in 1996
Photo: RIA Novosti
In 2000, Fomenko reached the international level, debuting in the FIA GT championship. Nikolai will spend six seasons on this series; His greatest achievement was seventh place at the end of the 2004 championship in the N-GT category. Fomenko also participated in prestigious racing marathons: the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2005, Nikolai’s team took fifth place in the LMGT1 class at the daily Sarte marathon. With this, in fact, the active phase of the Russian actor’s sports career came to an end, but in the early 2010s, Fomenko came to Formula 1 and became the head of the Marusya team.
Great interview with Nikolai Fomenko:
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