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Scarce lot of four auto racing awards won by Oscar-winning actor Paul Newman, accolades that he presented to engineer and auto mechanic Larry Leifert, who served as Newman’s crew chief and engine builder during the twilight of Newman’s racing career. The lot is highlighted by a first-place winner’s plaque from the 1982 CRC Chemicals Trans-Am Championship held at the Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, on August 8, 1982, which represented Newman’s first professional win in the Trans-Am series and a significant moment in his racing career. The wooden plaque measures 15˝ x 12˝ and bears a mounted empty can of CRC Brakleen Brake Parts Cleaner.
The other awards, which range in size from 8˝ x 6˝ to 13˝ x 16˝, include:
2nd-place finish award plaque from the 1981 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) ‘Trak Auto Summer National’ race, which was held at the Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, West Virginia, August 7-9, 1981. In the 46-mile, 23-lap race, Newman competed in the C Production class and finished second, narrowly losing to Don Kearney.
3rd-place finish silver-tone award plate from the 1983 SCCA ‘Escort 300’ Budweiser Trans-Am Championship, which was at the Summit Point Raceway on May 15, 1983. Newman, making only his fourth Trans-Am start, drove the No. 33 Bob Sharp Racing Datsun 280Z Turbo to a podium finish.
Honorary membership plaque presented to Newman by the Capital Z Sports Car Club, which reads below: “‘For dedication to the sport of automobile racing, and the elevation of the Datsun Z Car.’”
Also included with the awards is a color photo of Newman behind the wheel of a race car, mounted to a wooden display plaque measuring 9˝ x 7˝; and a newspaper article from The Daily Mail of Hagerstown, Maryland, from August 11, 1981, which features a picture of Newman and the headline, “Driving act / Paul Newman had to prove he wasn’t just ‘a rich guy’ toying with race cars,” expertly lacquered to a wooden 10˝ x 18.5˝ display mount. In overall very good to fine condition, with various scuffs and scratches to the plaques.
