I'm not very familiar with the man or his work however, I do know that he is one of the few high-profile actors of our time who was able to make a serious enough foray into professional racing where he was able to gain the respect of the fellow drivers. I would imagine that's not an easy thing to do.
The only movie of his that I've seen is Grand Prix which, IMHO is the best movie made about racing. Even though I'm a huge McQueen fan, I do like it better than Le Mans.