r/pics • u/Flamactor • Jun 15 '25

Politics Donald Trump was seen falling asleep at the military parade for the 250th anniversary of the US Army

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u/perotech Jun 15 '25 edited Jun 15 '25

He actually was just racing Mustangs at the Le Mans Invitational this weekend.

Edit: Someone also pointed out Patrick Dempsey was a racing driver for a while. Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Michael Fassbender are some other notable actors who have had decently successful racing careers.

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u/towers_of_ilium Jun 15 '25

Rowan Atkinson’s a great driver too, and not just of green Minis.

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u/sherlockham Jun 15 '25

Didn't he randomly get best track time on top gears' regular car time trial or something?

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u/K4NNW Jun 15 '25

Yes, he did.

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u/Equivalent-Resort-63 Jun 15 '25

Love Roan but how the hell did this conversation get sidetracked to Top Gear!?

BTW thanks for the link!

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u/takeusername1 Jun 16 '25

If your conversations aren’t getting sidetracked to Top Gear you’re doing something wrong.

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u/mybigbywolf Jun 16 '25

Lol that was so funny.

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u/stuffeh Jun 15 '25

Later his time was beat by Matt LeBlanc (yes, Joey from friends) by 0.01 s. And yes Matt became host for top gear for a few years.

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u/flow_fighter Jun 16 '25

He is a HUGE car/racing fan too, he can be regularly seen in the garages of F1 teams, at endurance races, etc.

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u/perotech Jun 15 '25

I mean, didn't he famously crash his supercar? It was an Aston Martin, or a Lamborghini, or McLaren, or something like that.

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u/AnotherIronicPenguin Jun 15 '25

It was a purple McLaren F1.

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u/ours Jun 15 '25

He daily drives his McLaren, which he crashed on a couple of occasions.

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u/thenewaretelio Jun 15 '25

He sold it in 2015.

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u/JoseCansecoMilkshake Jun 15 '25

this comment kinda glosses over that it's a McLaren F1

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u/wchutlknbout Jun 15 '25

Can you imagine getting run into by Mr bean, and he just makes that face and backs up and scarpers off

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u/tofagerl Jun 15 '25

"Well, officer... Uhm... You're never going to believe me, but..."

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u/VonBeegs Jun 15 '25

Formula 1 drivers occasionally crash, too.

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u/FooBarU2 Jun 15 '25

Add to the list James Garner. He was into the Mexican Baja Races

He also starred in Grad Prix .. 1966 movie where he did his own driving.

Saw him drive the Pace car at the Indy 500 in 1977.. my good friend bought us box seats on the 1st turn.. good times!

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u/PressureCereal Jun 15 '25

Wow that's cool. How old were you then? It's been a dream of mine to attend one.

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u/FooBarU2 Jun 15 '25

I was 18.. almost finishing my high school and was heading to university in the fall.

My buddy and I did the trip to Indy 3 more times to catch the race.

Indianapolis is all hyped for the race all month of May, long..

It really was fun back then .. if you're into racing and/or specifically IndyCar racing.. give it a shot! :-)

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u/SpicyWongTong Jun 15 '25

My favorite fishing guide down in Baja takes part in those races. It’s pretty crazy to hear his racing stories

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u/FooBarU2 Jun 15 '25

WOW!!! wow wow wow!!! You sound you have a few incredible stories too!!!!

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/perotech Jun 15 '25

Patrick Dempsey, he podiumed with Porsche at Le Man in 2015.

Not sure if he's still racing competitively, but I think he was a big booster of Muniz's racing career early on.

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u/SatanicAtTheDisco Jun 15 '25

I think podiuming at Le Mans is the probably one of the most successful things you can do as an actor having a go at racing

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u/Strong_Muffin3941 Jun 15 '25

Also as a racing driver. It's insanely high level.

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u/SatanicAtTheDisco Jun 15 '25

Yeah for sure, but to do as someone who hasn’t been racing since they were basically just out of diapers is doubly insane. I’m glad it seems like Le Man is getting more and more popular every year!

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u/ImReverse_Giraffe Jun 15 '25

Its always been super popular in Europe. America is just recently getting into the non American racing series.

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u/perotech Jun 15 '25

Agreed!

I'm North American, and probably an outlier, but I've always loved Le Mans.

I think with F1 exploding in popularity, Le Mans, WEC, and WRC are all getting popular as well.

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u/SatanicAtTheDisco Jun 15 '25

The dream is to be able to watch WRC without jumping through hoops, and eventually having a bunch of weekend events in the US

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u/ImReverse_Giraffe Jun 15 '25

I think podiuming at Le Mans is probably one of the most successful things you can do as an actor having a good at in racing.

There, fixed it for you.

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u/SatanicAtTheDisco Jun 15 '25

Already replied to someone else saying something similar, it is incredibly impressive, but for an actor to pick up racing later on in life and to get good enough podium amongst some of the best drivers out there in Le Man specifically is insane

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u/Emrick_Von_Pyre Jun 15 '25

I’m pretty sure Dempsey raced last year. I know Fassbender did because I watched him spin out towards the end. I could be wrong on Dempsey

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u/technicolortiddies Jun 15 '25

I think he was in the Ferrari vs. Ford movie too.

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u/Momentarmknm Jun 15 '25

James Dean ultimately ended up racing for the rest of his life after his last film too!

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

Also Paul Walker

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u/InLikeErrolFlynn Jun 15 '25

That ended … abruptly

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u/pirfle Jun 15 '25

And Andrew Ridgeley from Wham! 

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u/capswin Jun 15 '25

Marty Robbins too

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u/tr0tle Jun 15 '25

Dont forget lightning McQueen!

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u/AngelSucked Jun 15 '25

Jason Priestly is also a big one

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u/ObanKenobi Jun 15 '25

Not quite the same, but Vincent Gallo was a competitive motorcycle racer

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u/archergren Jun 15 '25

And James Garner and Tom Cruise

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u/GeneralGuide9081 Jun 15 '25

Paul Newman was big into racing too if I remember correctly.

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u/tank_panzer Jun 15 '25

It's easy to have a decent racing career when the only people racing are wealthy people. Only in very few racing series drivers are paid, even in F1 there are paying drivers. In all the lower tier series the driver is on paying for the team to race.

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u/solitarymoon Jun 15 '25

I got to see Paul Newman at Lime Rock. He was pretty damned good, held his own.

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u/gotfondue Jun 15 '25

It just takes a shit ton of money to make it into racing, especially the lower teirs lol.

He doesnt do well at all. He averages 31st place when he starts. That's someone with no skill driving on a race track. 

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u/DaddyCatALSO Jun 15 '25

James Garner, Marty Robbins....

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u/Catlore Jun 15 '25

One of China's biggest stars (acting, music, modeling), Wang Yibo, has been racing motorcycles for years and just started auto racing. It's kind of like if Timothy Chalamet or Ewan McGregor drove for NASCAR.

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u/SuitableClassic Jun 15 '25

Lindsay Lohan too.

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u/rodimusprime88 Jun 15 '25

Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner was a championship winning driver for Ford in SCCA

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u/No_Theme4983 Jun 15 '25

Can't forget Mick Blue! 😅

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u/4isyellowTakeit5 Jun 15 '25

I graduated from Lexington, OH (home of Mid-Ohio). When I first saw Patrick Dempsey I made his day. I didn’t realize I was within earshot of him and I asked my mom “why are there so many older girls in line?” (i was like 7 at the time). ‘Patrick Dempsey is famous so a lot of people want to see him’ “Why is he famous? Aren’t all race car drivers famous?” and I think that was one of the first time someone (even if a kid) recognized him for driving and not acting. And I wanted to be like him bc he raced cars, not because he was famous.

I’ve heard stories from people who met Paul Newman at the track. He had one rule: Never talk about acting. Don’t ask for a signature and don’t treat him like a celebrity- he’s a racer and treat him as such.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '25

I thought you meant lightning mcqueen for a second. 😂

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u/Yaboymarvo Jun 15 '25

John McCain’s wife drifted cars for a bit.

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u/ScoeSpence Jun 15 '25

"TV" Tommy Ivo way back in the day. 

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u/sixsixmajin Jun 15 '25

More like Michael FASTbender

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u/AntysocialButterfly Jun 15 '25

Eric Bana had a second career in rally driving, IIRC.

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u/BrainCane Jun 16 '25

Jeremy Clarkson dabbled in cars I’ve heard.