Motoring
The stars of TV, film and music who've moonlighted as racing drivers
From Frankie Muniz to Paul Newman, these screen and music stars fulfilled their dream of becoming racing drivers.
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While motorsports’ major stars often find themselves living the lives of A-list celebrities, prone to be being papped in embarrassing situations whether they like it or not, some of the world's biggest TV, film and music stars move in the opposite direction – aspiring to the sweaty, grease-slicked, speed-freak dream lived by racing drivers. Celebrity stardom and motorsport, it would seem, go hand-in-hand.
Whether it’s Jay Leno or Ludacris packing their garages with vintage motors and supercars, or Mr Bean, Jodi Kidd, Tom Cruise and Adam Carolla displaying a knack for cornering at high speed, there are many actors, broadcasters and musicians who have a serious lust for speed. Below are a few of our favourite (and most successful) pop culture/motorsport crossovers.
Frankie Muniz
In his role as Malcolm In The Middle, Frankie Muniz was always the most likely to achieve in the Wilkerson household and after the series finished he set himself a lofty ambition – to become a winner in the world of motorsport. While he didn’t end up at the very pinnacle of motor racing, he did experience his share of high-speed highlights.
In 2001, he drove the Daytona 500 pace car before being invited to take part in the 2004 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach, Florida. A year later, in 2005, he took third place overall, as well as the title for first-placed celebrity.
Those performances eventually led to then 20-year-old Muniz being signed up by Jensen Motorsport for the 2006 season of Formula BMW USA Championship – a boy's own story in the writing. In 2007, Muniz moved over to the Champ Car Atlantic Series, where he stayed until 2009, finishing his car-racing dalliance with Team Stargate Worlds and placing in the top ten in every race.
Frankie Muniz at the 2004 Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix Pro/Celebrity Race
© Jonathan Alcorn / Contributor / Getty Images
Andrew Ridgeley
Before escaping the public eye and settling down in Cornwall, UK, in the ’90s, George Michael’s sidekick in '80s pop giants Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley, lived life in the fast lane. First it was global pop superstardom and then, surprisingly perhaps, an attempt to master the art of Formula 3 racing.
After driving in the UK's Renault 5 series in 1985, Ridgeley moved to Monaco and in the mid '80s raced in the French and German Formula 3 Championships for David Price Racing. It didn't go as well as he would've hoped, though, and sponsorship eventually dried up after Ridgeley crashed out of most of his eight races.
Paul Newman
Sharing a birthday with fellow speed demon Andrew Ridgeley – but born 38 years earlier than the Wham! hero – Newman is maybe the ultimate Hollywood racing driver. There’s plenty of top competition, too, including James Dean, Steve McQueen, James Garner and Gene Hackman. But Newman tops them all.
Newman was originally described as a “terrible” racing driver, but he persisted and won a bagful of national championships in the Sports Car Club of America road racing series (SCCA). He also did something McQueen never did – he drove the 24 Hours Of Le Mans for real, not just on screen. Newman even finished second overall in 1979, driving his Porsche 935 to first place in his class.
Throughout the '80s, Newman drove for Bob Sharpe Racing in Trans Am and even raced the legendary off-road rally raid event, Baja 1000, joining McQueen, The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith and rock hell-raiser Ted Nugent on a long list of celebrity entrants.
The last few years of this “other” career saw Newman become the oldest winner of the 24 Hours Of Daytona, when he he placed first in his class in 1995. Ten years later, aged 81, he took pole position at the same event before hanging up his driving gloves.
Paul Newman at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
© Keystone/Getty Images
Walter Cronkite
Cronkite, aka “the most trusted man in America”, was a newsreader and anchor for CBS through the '60s and '70s, famous for his closing catchphrase, "and that's the way it is”. But offering Americans a window on the world wasn’t his only passion. He was a motorsport nut, too.
Cronkite was regularly spotted in the crowd at the Indianapolis 500, but he had racing aspirations of his own. He drove his Volvo PV444 at events throughout northeast US and raced in Little Le Mans endurance races in the late '50s.
In 1959, Cronkite’s team – sharing a Lancia Appia – took fifth place in their class at the Sebring 12 Hours, despite Cronkite needing to file radio reports from the race between driving shifts. Eventually, Cronkite’s duties as a reporter took over and racing took a back seat.
Walter Cronkite at the 1959 Firecracker 250
© RacingOne / Contributor / Getty Images
Johnny Hallyday
The Dakar Rally – which lands in Saudi Arabia for the first time in 2020 – is probably the least glamorous motor racing event in a sport that's splattered with enough grease and dirt anyway. But like the Baja 1000, the Dakar attracts its fair share of amateur daredevils, like French rock 'n' roll legend – the Gallic Elvis – Johnny Hallyday.
Without any rallying experience at all in his locker, the French singer was inspired to take part in the 2002 Dakar Rally after witnessing the Rallye du Maroc. Aged 59, he paired up with experienced co-driver and three-time Dakar winner Réne Metge and the two drove to a 49th place finish, helping rekindle interest in the event along the way.
The singer, whose death in 2017 was a national event, left behind a glorious memory of this rare pop music/rally raid crossover when, interviewed at the bivouac by French TV, he said: “If I hadn’t lost an hour and a quarter, I’d have been here about an hour and a quarter ago.”
Johnny Hallyday straps in for the 2002 Dakar
© Getty Images
Shane Lynch
A member of Irish boy band Boyzone, who featured Ronan Keating and sold more than 25 million records internationally, Shane Lynch has also carved out a more than respectable career as a professional drifter. Indeed, Lynch done so well in his "other" career that some drifting fans claim they're not even aware of his pop past.
After Boyzone chose to go on hiatus in 2000, Lynch started out in the British GT Championship, racing for the Eclipse Motorsport Team between 2002 and 2006, almost winning the whole thing in 2003 before crashing into a spinning car. But his greatest motorsport success came with his next move.
For years, Lynch has competed in the British Drift Championship – a motorsport spectacle that requires going sideways, forwards. In 2008, he and his team-mate Danny Eyles crashed at the Silverstone round of the European Drift Championship, writing off their Nissan Skylines. It didn't put Lynch off, though.
Despite Boyzone’s prolonged reunion between 2007 and 2019, Lynch continues to race in the British Drift Championship for Team Japspeed and, in 2016, he finished second at Lydden Hill after debuting the team's new VH45 V8 powered Nissan 370Z.
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Patrick Dempsey
Acting’s present-day motor racing star is Patrick Dempsey, better known as neurosurgeon Derek 'McDreamy' Shepherd in Grey’s Anatomy. Just as his character required precision with a scalpel, Dempsey is seriously focussed behind the wheel – and across a multitude of different racing events and disciplines, too.
Dempsey has competed in the 24 Hours Of Le Mans, World Endurance Championship, Grand-Am, ALMS (now the IMSA SportsCar Championship) and even the Baja 1000. As well as scoring nine podiums, including a second-place GTE AM class victory at the 2015 24 Hours Of Le Mans, and a third-place finish in the American Le Mans Series, Dempsey is also involved in running racing teams.
Patrick Dempsey at Hockenheim
© Porsche
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