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Bob Sharp (born March 11, 1939) is an American former racing driver and owner of Bob Sharp Racing. Bob is the
father of 
Between 1967 and 1975, Sharp won the
The Story of Bob Sharp & Bob Sharp Racing
Bob Sharp (born March 11, 1939) is an American former racing driver and owner of Bob Sharp Racing. Bob is the
father of Scott Sharp
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.
E ...
, 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
The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...
national championships six times, (in B-Sedan, F-Production and C-Production) and the IMSA GTU title, racing for Datsun
Datsun (, ) was an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunche ...
, 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, Bob began
racing his 1960 Austin-Healey
Austin-Healey was a British sports car maker established in 1952 through a joint venture between the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the Donald Healey Motor Company (Healey), a renowned automotive engineering and des ...
"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
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
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.
SCCA National Championship Runoffs
External links
The Story of Bob Sharp & Bob Sharp Racing
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Bob American racing drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners Living people Nichols College alumni 1939 births