Scott Sharp (born February 14, 1968) is an American professional racing driver in the United SportsCar Championship. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League.

Early career Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Sharp starting racing karts when he was eight years old, winning fifty out of 75 races. Sharp came from a road-racing background, earning several championships including championships in the 1986 SCCA GT-2, 1987 and 1988 SCCA GT-1, and 1991 and 1993 SCCA Trans-Am classes. Sharp competed in one NASCAR Winston Cup Series event, coming in 1992 at Watkins Glen. In 1993, Sharp made his CART debut with Bettenhausen Motorsports and became a full-time competitor in the series in 1994 with PacWest Racing. His first Indianapolis 500 start also came in 1994. In 1996, Sharp was part of Doyle Racing's 24 Hours of Daytona winning team.

Indy Racing League career

Overview Sharp is one of only two drivers (the other being Buddy Lazier) to have driven in at least one race in each of the first twelve seasons of IndyCar competition (1996 to 2008). His impressive IRL career has resulted in numerous records for that time period including: most career IndyCar Series starts (147); most consecutive IndyCar Series race starts (138); most races running at finish (110) and previously held the records for most top-ten finishes (82) and most consecutive seasons with at least one race win (seven) (since broken by Hélio Castroneves).

History Sharp was a competitor in the first IRL race in 1996, driving for A. J. Foyt Enterprises. He was the co-champion of the IRL's inaugural season in 1996 along with Buzz Calkins. In 1997, two crashes resulting in severe concussions sidelined Sharp until 1998 when he began working with the newly formed Kelley Racing team and sponsor Delphi. At Kelley, Sharp collected eight wins and four pole positions (one being at the 2001 Indianapolis 500). He was third in the championship in 2001, but an influx of strong teams from CART meant that Kelley was not one of the strongest teams after that season. In 2004, he was down in thirteenth in the championship with a best finish of eighth — his first winless season since 1998, also ending a run of top-eight championship finishes dating back to 1998.

Kelley Racing folded following the conclusion of the 2004 season. In 2005, Sharp, along with Delphi, who had become his personal sponsor, moved to Fernández Racing. The switch brought about a small resurgence in Sharp's career and he was once again one of the top drivers in the IRL. 2005 saw him finish fifth in the championship, collecting a win at Kentucky Speedway along the way. However, Sharp struggled through the 2006 season as the team struggled to adapt to the Dallara chassis, and finished eleventh in the points standings.

For 2007, Sharp joined Rahal Letterman Racing, teaming with sophomore driver Jeff Simmons. Mid-season, Simmons was replaced with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Sharp brought with him a new primary sponsor, the Patrón Spirits Company, who began as an associate sponsor in 2006. His new association with Patrón ended nine seasons of backing from Delphi. His best finish of the season was third, which he earned at the season opener at Iowa Speedway and at Michigan International Speedway. A highlight of the season was his surprise pole position at Texas Motor Speedway in June, his first pole since 2001. He was also able to capture a career-best sixth place in the Indianapolis 500. Sharp ended the season eighth in the championship.

Sharp returned to the series and competed in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 with Panther Racing. He qualified twentieth and finished the race fourteenth on the lead lap.

American Le Mans Series career

Sharp was under contract with Rahal Letterman Racing for 2008, but the two entities parted ways after each filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the other. Sharp and Patrón joined the American Le Mans Series with Highcroft Racing. He drove the No. 9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b with David Brabham during the 2008 season in the LMP2 class.

Sharp started seventh in his debut in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and finished fourth in his class (fifth overall) with his teammates Brabham and Stefan Johansson. The team finished second at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, which was Highcroft's best finish to date. Sharp earned his first ALMS win in the P2 class at the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. The win was also the first for Highcroft Racing. Sharp earned his first overall win in the American Le Mans Series at the 2008 Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park after starting from the pole position. A third class victory followed at the Generac 500 at Road America. When leader Gil de Ferran ran out of fuel on the last lap in Mosport awarded the team a fourth victory and second consecutive win.

Arguably, Sharp's breakout ALMS performance came at the Detroit Sportscar Challenge presented by Bosch. He led for most of his stint, giving up the lead only when blocked in heavy traffic. His stellar driving won him SPEEDtv.com's 'Drive of the Race,' though the team had to settle for second place in the event. Sharp and Brabham were joined by Dario Franchitti, one of Sharp's former IndyCar competitors, for the 10-hour Petit Le Mans endurance race. Unfortunately, broken suspension took the car out of the race early on.

The combination of Sharp and Brabham proved formidable, yet bad luck kept Sharp and Brabham from winning the championship. The duo finished second in the P2 point standings, 41 points behind the Penske Racing duo of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, after being as close as four points away with two rounds to go.

Extreme Speed Motorsports

It was announced on the American Le Mans Series website that Sharp would race in the 2010 series under his own team called Extreme Speed Motorsports. He ran with two Ferrari F430's in the GT class and was sponsored by the Patrón Spirits Company. Sharp raced in 2010 alongside the first announced driver, Patrón CEO Ed Brown.

In 2011, the team switched to Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 cars. The team made steady progress which culminated in a third-place finish at the Laguna Seca race.

The team continued to run in the ALMS in 2013. The No. 02 car picked up another podium finish at the 2012 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, and the No. 01 won the 2012 Grand Prix of Mosport, the first win for the team since its move to the GT class.

In 2016, Sharp won the Rolex 24 for the second time, this time with ESM.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status 1986 Road Atlanta Nissan 280Z Nissan GT2 1 4 Running 1986 Road Atlanta Nissan 300ZX Nissan GT1 1 2 Running Nissan 280Z Nissan GT2 4 4 Running 1986 Road Atlanta Nissan 300ZX Nissan GT1 1 2 Running

American open-wheel (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref 1993 Bettenhausen Racing 33 Penske PC22 Chevrolet 265C V8tSRFPHXLBHINDYMILDETPORCLETORMISNHMROAVANMOHNZRLS48th0 1994 PacWest Racing 71 Lola T94/00 Ford XB V8tSRFPHXLBHINDYMILDETPORCLETORMISMOHNHMVANROANZRLS21st14 1995 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 41 Lola T95/00 Ford XB V8tMIA SRFPHXLBHNZRINDYMILDETPORROATORCLEMISMOHNHMVANLS44th0

IndyCar Series Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref 1996 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 41 Lola T95/00 Ford XB V8tWDWINDY 1st-Tie 246 11 Lola T94/00PHX 1996-1997 1 Lola T95/00 Ford XB V8tNWHLVS 22nd 119 Dallara IR7 Oldsmobile Aurora V8WDWPPIRCLTNH2LV2 G-Force GF01PHXINDYTXS 1998 Kelley Racing 8 Dallara IR8 Oldsmobile Aurora V8WDWPHXINDYTXSNWHDOVCLTPPIRATLTX2LVS 4th 272 1999 Dallara IR9 Oldsmobile Aurora V8WDWPHXCLTINDYTXSPPIRATLDOVPPI2LVSTX2 8th 220 2000 Dallara IR-00 Oldsmobile Aurora V8WDWPHXLVSINDY10TXSPPIRATLKTYTX2 7th 196 2001 Dallara IR-01 Oldsmobile Aurora V8PHXHMSATLINDYTXSPPIRRIRKANNSHKTYSTLCHITX2 3rd 355 2002 Dallara IR-02 Chevrolet Indy V8HMSPHXFONNZRINDYTXSPPIRRIRKANNSHMISKTYSTLCHITX2 6th 332 2003 Dallara IR-03 Toyota Indy V8HMSPHXMOTINDYTXSPPIRRIRKANNSHMISSTLKTYNZRCHIFONTX2 8th 351 2004 Dallara IR-04 Toyota Indy V8HMSPHXMOTINDYTXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYPPIRNZRCHIFONTX2 13th 282 2005 Delphi Fernández Racing Panoz GF09C Honda HI5R V8HMSPHXSTPMOTINDYTXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYPPIRSNMCHIWGLFON 5th 444 2006 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI6R V8HMSMOTINDYTXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYCHI 12th 287 Panoz GF09CSTPWGLSNM 2007 Rahal Letterman Racing Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8HMSSTPMOTKANINDYMILTXSIOWRIRWGLNSHMOHMISKTYSNMDETCHI8th412 2009 Panther Racing 16 Honda HI7R V8STPLBHKANINDYMILTXSIOWRIRWGLTOREDMKTYMOHSNMCHIMOTHMS34th16

Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums(Non-win) Top 10s(Non-podium) Indianapolis 500Wins Championships1351476996401 (1996)

Indy 500 results Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 1994 Lola T94/00 Ford XB V8t1716 PacWest Racing 1995 Lola T95/00 Ford XB V8t3026 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1996 Lola T95/00 Ford XB V8t2110 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1997 G-Force GF01 Oldsmobile Aurora V8Practice crash A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1998 Dallara IR8 Oldsmobile Aurora V8716 Kelley Racing 1999 Dallara IR9 Oldsmobile Aurora V8628 Kelley Racing 2000 Dallara IR-00 Oldsmobile Aurora V8510 Kelley Racing 2001 Dallara IR-01 Oldsmobile Aurora V8133 Kelley Racing 2002 Dallara IR-02 Chevrolet Indy V8827 Kelley Racing 2003 Dallara IR-03 Toyota Indy V8920 Kelley Racing 2004 Dallara IR-04 Toyota Indy V82013 Kelley Racing 2005 Panoz GF09C Honda HI6R V837 Fernández Racing 2006 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI6R V889 Fernández Racing 2007 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8126 Rahal Letterman Racing 2009 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V82014 Panther Racing

Touring/sports car racing

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Riley & Scott Cars Inc. Wayne Taylor Jim Pace Riley & Scott Mk III-Oldsmobile WSC 157 DNF DNF Extreme Speed Motorsports Ryan Dalziel David Heinemeier Hansson Ligier JS P2-Honda LMP2 329 28th 10th Extreme Speed Motorsports Ed Brown Johannes van Overbeek Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 341 16th 10th

American Le Mans Series results (Races in bold indicate pole position) Series Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Final Pos. Points ALMS P2 2008 PatrónHighcroft SEB STP LGB MMP LRP1* MOH ROA MOS DET ATL LAG 3rd 162 ALMS P1 2009 PatrónHighcroft SEB STP LGB2 MMP LRP MOH ROA MOS1* ATL LAG 1st 179 ALMS GT2 2010 Extreme Speed Motorsports SEB LGB LAG MMP LRP MOH ROA MOS ATL 10th 70 ALMS GT 2011 Extreme Speed Motorsports SEB LGB LRP MOS MOH ROA BAL LAG ATL 7th 66 ALMS GT 2012 Extreme Speed Motorsports SEB LGB LAG LRP MOS MOH ROA BAL VIR ATL 2nd 123 ALMS P2 2013 Extreme Speed Motorsports SEB LGB LAG LRP MOS ROA BAL COTA VIR ATL 3rd 163 * Overall victory as well as class victory. Italics indicates season is currently running.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class) Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points 2014 Extreme Speed Motorsports P HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo DAY SIRLBH LS DET S6H MSP IMS ELK COA PET 9th 228 2015 Tequila Patrón ESM P HPD ARX-04b HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo DAY SIR LBH LS DET S6H MSP ELK COA PET 21nd 45 2016 Tequila Patrón ESM P Ligier JS P2 Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo DAY SIR LBH LS DET S6H MSP ELK COA PET 12th 128 2017 Tequila Patrón ESM P Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 DAY SIR LBH AUS DET S6H MSP ELK LGA PET 5th 273 2018 Tequila Patrón ESM P Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 DAY SEB LBH MOH DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET 16th 186

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series