Newton-John aiming to join Radical Cup North America field

Emerson Newton-John, a name that was synonymous with both racing and Hollywood in mid-1990s to early 2000s, has announced his intent to race in the Radical Cup North America program for the 2024 season.

Nephew of the late singer/actress Olivia Newton-John, Emerson left his home country of England at an early age to live in Los Angeles, California and didn’t begin his racing career until he was 16, going straight into the Pro 125 Shifter Kart category.

After two years in karting, he was a top-three finalist in the prestigious Elf Winfield driver search in France in 1995, but had to withdraw from the competition due to a technicality. He then became a six-time winner in his one year of the 1997 Skip Barber Formula Dodge series. His final year of racing was in the Australian Formula Holden series in 2001, with a second place on debut and two thirds, despite driving for three different teams.

In 1998 Newton-John went to Europe and competed in the ultra-competitive French Renault Megane Cup, where he competed against front-wheel drive sedan specialists, while having to learn all-new tracks. This resulted in a win at Paul Ricard, two seconds and a third, clearly displaying both his versatility and adaptability as a racing driver.

After his success in his one abbreviated year of Formula Holden, Newton-John was poised to race in Champ Car in 2002, but all that, along with the world, was put to a halt when the first plane flew into the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001. With the nation trying to heal from a terrible tragedy, the disastrous financial ramifications of that day also left Newton-John without financial backing from his partners for 2002, leaving his racing career at a standstill. His aunt remained a committed and supportive bystander throughout his career, but Emerson was on his own financially and lacked the business savvy at that time to overcome the loss of his backers.

Newton-John didn’t return to the cockpit for over a decade, however, in 2012 an opportunity arose with Indy Lights team Fanforce United in the Freedom 100 race, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After two very successful test sessions at Iowa and Putnam, Emerson qualified seventh of 19 cars for the 100-mile race but was taken out on lap four by a crash in front of him.

Newton-John hadn’t touched a race car in over 11 years before being convinced last month by APEX Motor Club co-owner Matt Williams to test at his track with their multiple options of cars. Newton-John landed on a Radical SR10 as his ride of choice.