Besides doing what they do best on screen, these celebrities also have a racing hobby.
For some men, racing is the source of adrenaline excitement. It is no wonder that some male celebrities seek this experience through their racing hobby. What about female celebrities?
Racing has become a unisex sport. Danica Patrick, for example, is bursting through her career in professional car racing. So, it should be no surprise if some female celebrities has the brand “speed demon” attached to their persona.
How far will these celebrities go in terms of pursuing their racing hobby? Some of them will just occasionally attend racing event or fool around with their own cars’ speed limit. However, not few of them took a further and deeper step into the racing world.
Among those celebrities, we picked ten who had tremendous achievements (or at least images) in their life because of this unique racing hobby they have.
10. Paul Walker
The late Paul Walker was related to racing from his last movie franchise, Fast and Furious. But he was also known for his racing hobby and his passion for exotic cars. Tragically, it was speed that ended his life.
Paul was not a street car racer like the character he portrayed in the movie. He competed in a professional racing series, the Redline Time Attack. He was riding a modified BMW M3, as seen on the picture.
He was not just talented on track. He was also talented in racing business. He co-owned the Always Evolving racing team. Today, the AE team still races professionally.
Paul Walker once expressed his love towards racing by saying:
“If one day the speed kills me, don’t cry. Because I was smiling.”
9. Steve McQueen
Even if you are the 90s generation, the name Steve McQueen must ring a bell in your head. At least as the main character in Pixar animated movie, Cars. His name exceeds his life. Steve McQueen was a legendary actor since early 1950s until his death in 1980.
Most of his movies involved a lot of actions. He would do all of his stunts himself especially when it comes to racing. Among them are some of the car chase in Bullitt and the motorcycle chase in The Great Escape.
As you can tell from the picture, McQueen was thinking to be a professional race car driver. In 1961, he joined one-off outing in the British Touring Car Championship. He was driving a BMC Mini and he finished third.
McQueen raced a lot of cars throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He raced a Porsche 908 and Speedster, Cooper Formula car, MGA, and Lotus 11. He once said, “I don’t know if I’m an actor who races or a racer who acts.”
8. David Letterman
David Letterman is popularly known for hosting a late night talk show, The Late Show with David Letterman. On May 2015, he retired from his 33 years career hosting the show.
Upon his retirement from television, Letterman has stepped even deeper into his racing hobby. On the picture, you see Letterman enjoying his time at the Indianapolis 500.
Letterman co-owns a racing team called Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR). As you can tell from its name, the team is also owned by two other men. One of them is Bobby Rahan, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner. The other one is a businessman, Mike Lanigan.
RLLR is based in Ohio. Today, the team is currently competing in the United SportsCar Championship. They won the Indianapolis 500 in 2004 with their driver Buddy Rice.
7. Michelle Rodriguez
Our next celebrity with racing hobby is another cast of Fast and Furious. Michelle Rodriguez, who portrays Letty Ortiz, was seen behind the wheels on the movie.
In real life, she also likes driving fast cars. According to her fellow cast, besides Paul Walker, she is the speed demon.
An interesting fact, Rodriguez first learned to drive for the movie when she was 22 years old. Since then, it has been influencing her reckless driving habits. She admitted that she has a bad record for speeding.
As seen on the picture, Rodriguez was watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix racing in Abu Dhabi from the Infiniti Red Bull Racing garage. Besides her, Jordan Brewster also admitted her favor for speeding.
6. Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves has definitely been taking his racing hobby to another level. His first encounter with racing world on screen may be in 1989 when he played Tod, a drag-car-racing slacker, in Parenthood.
You see on the picture, Reeves was riding his own bike during the opening ceremony of the Suzuka 8 Hours last year in Japan. He didn’t just buy the bike, he built it. That is a solid proof of his racing hobby.
The bike is called the KRGT-1 from Arch Motorcycle Company he co-owns. You would probably think that it’s just another gold digging product promoted by a celebrity. But it is actually Reeves’ revolutionary project which took him ten years to finish.
Reeves is not just a celebrity with racing hobby. He is an enthusiast. He even considered himself an obsessive in terms of racing, especially motorcycle. In 2009, he won the Toyota Celebrity Race in California.
5. Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey is mostly known for his role in the Grey’s Anatomy TV series. He portrayed Dr. Derek Shepherd, a.k.a McDreamy, for 11 seasons since 2005.
Dempsey is potentially the actor with most professional racing career records. Since 2002, he has been competing in many races. Dempsey competes regularly in many racing series but he focused his racing career in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Last year, he decided to focus on acting and his family. Ironically, it was after his character was killed off in a car crash. However, according to the official entry list, Dempsey’s racing team (Dempsey Proton Racing) will compete in the LMGTE-Pro series this June.
On the picture, you see him on the podium of the Le Mans race. His team finished second. If you miss Dr. McDreamy on screen, stay tune to this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
4. Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson is popularly known for his lifetime role as Mr. Bean. Even since his Mr. Bean day, he has been competing in many professional races. In 1980s, he competed in the Turbo Cup racing series driving a Renault 5 GT Turbo.
Atkinson bought the exclusive £1 million McLaren F1 car in 1997. He crashed it twice. Once in 1999 near Garstang, Lancashire. Then again in 2011 when he hit a tree and the car burst into flame. Ironically, he gained a £7 million profit from selling it in 2015.
Atkinson competed in the in the Aston Martin Owners Club event. It was held at the Croft Racing Circuit, Darlington in 2001. He was riding an Aston Martin V8 Zagato and crashed it.
Top Gear invites celebrities each week for a talk. Prior to that, they have to complete a timed lap around the test track in a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. In 2011, Atkinson was invited. He put his name on top of the leader-board with 1:42.2 lap time.
3. Michael Fassbender
If you are a fan of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing, you might notice Michael Fassbender among the attendants of some races. He has been a fan of the race for a long time. He is rooting for his fellow Germans, such as Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg.
Fassbender was spotted many times introducing his world of racing hobby to his girlfriend, Alicia Vikander. They were seen together at some races, including their first official public appearance as couple in Formula 1 Grand Prix Monte Carlo last year.
In 2014, Fassbender was also working on an exclusive Formula 1 documentary project. It was titled 1. He is the narrator of the movie. Fassbender is currently on the 4th rank of Top Gear‘s record with 1:42.8 lap time.
Fassbender rode a Honda CBR600RR bike for his first race track experience in July 2014. He was visiting the Honda Ron Haslam Race School as you can see on the picture.
2. Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc is the current record holder on the Top Gear‘s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. In 2012, he broke Rowan Atkinson’s record by setting 1:42.1 lap time. Only 0.1 second faster.
LeBlanc is popularly known for his part as Joey Tribbiani in a legendary sitcom, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. He is now the latest presenter of Top Gear. Wouldn’t it be awkward to host a show where someone might succeed in beating your lap time?
LeBlanc grew up wanting to be a motorbike racer. He got his first bike when he was 8 years old. Like Fassbender, he is also a regular Formula 1 race attendant.
In last December, he posted on Twitter a picture of him driving Romain Grosjean to the airport. Grosjean is a Formula 1 driver for Haas. LeBlanc said his driving made the racer nervous.
1. Tom Cruise
Last but not least in our celebrity with racing hobby list is Tom Cruise. On and off screen, Cruise has been close to the world of fast vehicles. In 1990, he starred in Days of Thunder. It is a movie about a race car driver competing in NASCAR.
On the Top Gear‘s leader-board, he is currently on the 9th rank with 1:44.2 lap time. Just 2.1 seconds slower than the record holder, Matt LeBlanc. He might not set a leading record, but he pulled two wheels off the track during his lap time.
Yes, Cruise is also known for his crazy driving on track. Because of his style of driving, a nick name came up from the abbreviation SCCA. It actually stands for Sports Car Club of America. But for Cruise, it is “See Cruise Crash Again”.
On the picture, Cruise was test-driving a Formula 1 car with the Red Bull Racing team. He drove the car at the Willow Springs race track in Southern California, August 2011. According to the Red Bull official press release, Cruise didn’t do too badly at all.
