Bob Sharp (March 11, 1939 – February 28, 2025) was an American racing driver and owner of Bob Sharp Racing. Bob was 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.
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. 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.
In 1960, after serving in the Army and while attending college, Sharp 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. 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.
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. Sharp died on February 28, 2025, at the age of 85.Bob Sharp, SCCA Racing Great Who Brought Paul Newman into Motorsport, Has Died
SCCA National Championship Runoffs
Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status 1964 Riverside Nissan Nissan G Production 10 Retired 1965 Daytona Nissan Nissan G Production 3 4 Running 1966 Riverside Nissan SRL311 Nissan F Production 14 1 Retired Nissan Nissan G Production 5 Running 1967 Daytona Nissan Nissan F Production 1 3 Running Nissan Nissan C Production 12 3 Running 1968 Riverside Nissan SPL311 Nissan F Production 2 3 Running Nissan SPL311 Nissan C Production 16 4 Retired 1969 Daytona Nissan SRL311U Nissan D Production 4 4 Running Nissan SRL311U Nissan F Production 5 9 Running 1970 Road Atlanta Nissan 240Z Nissan C Production 2 4 Running 1971 Road Atlanta Nissan 510 Nissan B Sedan 1 1 Running Nissan 240Z Nissan C Production 2 2 Running 1972 Road Atlanta Nissan 240Z Nissan C Production 1 1 Running Nissan 510 Nissan B Sedan 1 1 Running 1973 Road Atlanta Nissan 610 Nissan B Sedan 21 1 Retired Nissan 240Z Nissan C Production 1 1 Running 1974 Road Atlanta Nissan 260Z Nissan C Production 3 5 Running Nissan 610 Nissan B Sedan 2 2 Running 1975 Road Atlanta Nissan 280Z Nissan C Production 1 1 Running Nissan 610 Nissan B Sedan 2 3 Running
External links The Story of Bob Sharp & Bob Sharp Racing
References