Adam Carolla and Nate Adams‘ Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman (Film Buff, 5.22 theatrical & VOD) appears to be a niche doc appealing to Paul Newman fans (mostly GenX, boomer) plus racing fans (all ages). Everyone adores the idea of enhancing your middle-aged life with something you really love, which is what the 47 year-old Newman did when he began professionally racing in early 1972. It took guts, skill and tenacity, but career moves of this kind are tough to pull off if you’re not rich and famous to begin with. Newman’s racing career spanned roughly 33 years (or until ’05); Newman won four national championships as a driver and eight championships as an owner. Sidenote: Co-director Carolla, the well-known author, comic talk-show guy and car aficionado, owns and races “five of Paul Newman’s race cars,” according to Newman’s Wiki page.

Excerpt: “Newman’s first professional event as a racer was in 1972, at Thompson International Speedway, and he was a frequent competitor in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events for the rest of the decade, eventually winning four national championships. He later drove in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in Dick Barbour‘s Porsche 935 and finished in second place.[48] Newman reunited with Barbour in 2000 to compete in the Petit Le Mans.

“From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Datsuns (later rebranded as Nissans) in the Trans-Am Series. He became closely associated with the brand during the 1980s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 years and eight days, he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, winning in his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona. Among his last races were the Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.”