Bob Sharp (racing driver)

Bob Sharp was a racing driver and owner of Bob Sharp Racing. Bob is the father of Scott Sharp, an American professional racing driver, who is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League.

Sharp's Datsun
a Bob Sharp Racing car

Between 1967 and 1975, Sharp won the Sports Car Club of America national championships six times, (in B-Sedan, F-Production and C-Production) and the IMSA GTU title, racing for Datsun, whose cars he also sold.[1] One of his main motivations to campaign Datsuns was, he said, "You race cars to sell cars." His success with racing drove his Connecticut dealership to go from selling 200 Datsuns per year to selling 2000.[2]

In 1960, after serving in the Army and while attending college, Bob began racing his 1960 Austin-Healey "bug-eye" Sprite, in spite of it being his "daily driver" used to go back and forth to school.[2] While his time at Nichols College was wrapping up, his racing and Datsun owner's club started earning him customers from Boston to Philadelphia, with the dealership becoming known for its racing-inspired attention to detail.[3]

Bob, who was the premier Datsun racer on the East Coast, introduced Paul Newman to competitive driving in 1971. By the following year, Newman joined Bob Sharp Racing, driving one of Bob's 510 B-sedans, and they spent many weekdays at Lime Rock Park discussing racing, while Paul got comfortable with the new Datsun car.[4][5]

SCCA National Championship Runoffs
YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
1964RiversideNissanNissanG Production10Retired
1965DaytonaNissanNissanG Production34Running
1966RiversideNissan SRL311NissanF Production141Retired
NissanNissanG Production5Running
1967DaytonaNissanNissanF Production13Running
NissanNissanC Production123Running
1968RiversideNissan SPL311NissanF Production23Running
Nissan SPL311NissanC Production164Retired
1969DaytonaNissan SRL311UNissanD Production44Running
Nissan SRL311UNissanF Production59Running
1970Road AtlantaNissan 240ZNissanC Production24Running
1971Road AtlantaNissan 510NissanB Sedan11Running
Nissan 240ZNissanC Production22Running
1972Road AtlantaNissan 240ZNissanC Production11Running
Nissan 510NissanB Sedan11Running
1973Road AtlantaNissan 610NissanB Sedan211Retired
Nissan 240ZNissanC Production11Running
1974Road AtlantaNissan 260ZNissanC Production35Running
Nissan 610NissanB Sedan22Running
1975Road AtlantaNissan 280ZNissanC Production11Running
Nissan 610NissanB Sedan23Running

References
  1. Brian Long; Yutaka Katayama (April 2006). Datsun Fairlady Roadster to 280zx: The Z-car Story. Veloce Publishing Ltd. pp. 130–134. ISBN 978-1-904788-07-2.
  2. Parkhurst, Terry (Spring 2002). "Bob Sharp and His "Beautiful Car"". Sport Z Magazine. Robert Bell: 20.
  3. Parkhurst, Terry (October 2012). "Bob Sharp - Fast with Class". Nissan Sport: 23.
  4. Matt Stone. Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman. pp. 24–27. ISBN 978-0-7603-3706-6.
  5. Rich Taylor. Lime Rock Park - 35 Years of Racing. Sharon Mountain Press. p. 117. ISBN 0-9633994-0-3.
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