Gene Hackman never raced sprint cars, but he did race in the SCCA and drove an open wheel Formula Ford and two seasons in the IMSA GTU. In 1983, he drove a Dan Gurney Team Toyota in the 24 Hours of Daytona Endurance Race. He also won the Long Beach Grand Prix Celebrity Race.
He was a great actor. I'll never forget the chase scene in The French Connection. IMHO the best car chase ever.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Hackman

Thanks for giving him a tip of the cap here on IOW, Ron.

One of the AM (frequency) radio guys, told a sometime-ago-story of Gene "up on the wheel" in an incident on some city streets of Montecito, CA. The (morning) radio guy talked of a time he was driving just over the speed limit, but somewhat obviously pointing out to his passenger friend various places and homes in the area; and up came a Mercedes Benz VERY close to the back of this guy's car. Before he knew it, the driver of the approaching car was then flooring it and making a somewhat aggressive (for the area) pass, and offered the "tourist" a one finger salute as he drove by. According to his radio show host (who also has a cable TV show); it was Gene! The teller of this story was not offended, but laughs of this event still.

Thanks for sharing this story.

Neat topic you raised. I hadn't heard/paid attn to much about the man til this week really (but his passing is certainly a major talking point in the news) and had no idea about his racing exploits. Thank-you for mentioning it.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned that he played the coach in "Hoosiers"!
RIP Gene

But he may have attended some sprint car races in his youth. Many years ago I remember reading an article stating that he and some of his young friends had attended races at Jungle Park when he lived in Danville, Illinois.

One of the best sports movies ever.