Jay Leno's garage is pretty impressive, but actor and comedian Adam Carolla's car collection provides some stiff competition.

The host of the daily podcast "The Adam Carolla Show" has become a huge fan of Paul Newman, but he's not that interested in Newman's movie career. He's taken a deep dive into the actor's racing career, going so far as buying some of his old race cars.

"I started tracking down Newman's cars, restoring his cars, and then going out and racing them," Carolla told Leno.

This could be a good investment, considering Newman's Rolex watch sold for $17.8 million last year, making it the most expensive watch ever auctioned.

Newman had enormous success as Hollywood's leading man, but left it all on the back burner after discovering that his true passion was racing. He started racing professionally at age 46, and became a legend, winning four national championships, owning some very successful racing teams and eventually became the oldest driver to win at Daytona — at 70 years old.

After sizing up some of the cars that led to those wins, Leno and Carolla took Newman's Nissan 300ZX to California's Sonoma Raceway to try to match the time Newman clocked there. But unfortunately, their excitement was short-lived. It was Carolla's first time in that car and on that track. As Leno put it, 'We blew it up." Jay's theory is that the ZX's cambelt got loose which caused a domino effect that ended with the engine giving out.

He'll know for sure when Carolla sends him the repair bill.

Despite the hiccup, the day was still one for the books, leading Leno to acknowledge how far his friend has come. "When I met [Adam], he was digging ditches, literally, in the San Fernando Valley, but now he's racing Paul Newman's actual race car. I think that's the definition of living the dream."

See Carolla take Paul Newman's race car out for a spin on "Jay Leno's Garage," Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT.