Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans Page #2

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It scared me.

I didn't like the idea

of being frightened,

and I wanted to overcome it.

That was one element.

The other element, and

it is a very pure thing.

It's one of the few things

in life you can't fix.

When you're out

there by yourself,

you're very much by yourself.

MAN:
The risk taking, the

need for adrenaline, the what

do I have to lose attitude

that he seemed to project,

it just matched McQueen's

soul, his personality,

and his essence.

Racing drivers are

a different breed.

When you're in the

car behind the wheel,

you tune everything off.

There's one thing that

you are focused on,

and that is to perform, to win.

And he had that.

NARRATOR:
For 20

years, an almost

forgotten airport has echoed

to the fury of cars and speed.

MAN:
Sebring was as close as you

get to the brother of Le Mans.

If you're ever

going to get a taste

of what it's like to be in an

endurance race, this is it.

WOMAN:
Just a week before,

he had broken his foot

in the motorcycle race.

And I said, you

better not do this.

He said, no.

He said, I can do

it, I can do it.

INTERVIEWER:
What about

shifting and clutching?

Must be pretty difficult.

Well, it's a little difficult.

I can't use afoot rest.

And we've put some

sandpaper on the bottom,

taped it on, so I keep it on

the clutch pedal, adjust it.

We went for it.

It was like a Hollywood script.

COMMENTATOR:
A surprise to most

of the 57,000 who looked on

was the McQueen

Revson Porsche 908.

The two have done

a Masterful job.

WOMAN:
What was incredible

about that race is suddenly,

they were winning.

COMMENTATOR:
With

this combination,

Sebring could have

a storybook finish.

Approaching the 11th hour,

the Porsche closes the gap

on the faltering Ferrari.

The McQueen pits were

overjoyed, thinking

the Ferrari was in trouble.

And out of the darkness, one

car would emerge the victor.

MAN:
It took Mario

Andretti two cars

to beat us and only pass us

on the last laps of the race.

COMMENTATOR:
The 12 hours

of Sebring was over,

and Ferrari had won.

McQueen Revson was second.

[cheering]

We were mobbed at

the end of the race.

Steve gets up on the car

and gives the peace signal.

And it was like Moses

parted the waters

or God appeared in the sky.

Silence.

That was my biggest

thrill, for me,

because I guess being an

actor, people don't really

expect you to do

it as well, and I

was a big man of my house with

my kids for awhile, anyway.

That was a major, major

happy time in his life.

I remember when he came home.

Yeah.

He was in a good mood for

about a month after that.

MAN:
After the Sebing

Race, he wasn't

looked at just like,

oh, he's the actor,

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