Scott Sharp

For the politician, see Scott Sharp (politician).

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.

Scott Sharp
Sharp in May 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Nationality	American
Born	(1968-02-14) February 14, 1968 Norwalk, Connecticut
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career
Debut season	2008
Current team	Extreme Speed Motorsports
Championship titles
2009 1996 1993 1991 1988 1987 1986	ALMS LMP1 Champion Indy Racing League Co-Champion SCCA Trans-Am SCCA Trans-Am SCCA GT-1 SCCA GT-1 SCCA GT-2
IndyCar Series career
147 races run over 13 years
Best finish	1st (1996)
First race	1996 Indy 200 (Orlando)
Last race	2009 Indianapolis 500 (Indy)
First win	1997 True Value 200 (Loudon)
Last win	2005 AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300 (Kentucky)
Wins Podiums Poles 9 18 6
Champ Car career
18 races run over 3 years
Best finish	21st (1994)
First race	1993 Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey (Laguna Seca)
Last race	1995 Indianapolis 500 (Indy)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	69th (1992)
First race	1992 Budweiser at the Glen (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of June 4, 2012.

Early career

Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Sharp starting racing karts when he was eight years old, winning 50 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 12 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 (7) (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 3rd 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 13th in the championship with a best finish of 8th — his first winless season since 1998, also ending a run of top 8 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 5th 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 11th in the points standings.

Sharp racing at Texas in 2007

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 3rd, 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 6th place in the Indianapolis 500. Sharp ended the season 8th in the championship.

Sharp returned to the series and competed in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 with Panther Racing. He qualified 20th and finished the race 14th on the lead lap.

American Le Mans Series career

Sharp on track at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio in July 2008

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 #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, forty one 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

Main article: 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 3rd-place finish at the Laguna Seca race.

The team continued to run in the ALMS in 2013. The #02 car picked up another podium finish at the 2012 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, and the #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	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	Penske PC22	Chevrolet 265C V8t	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	NHM	ROA	VAN	MDO	NZR	LS 22		48th	0
1994	PacWest Racing	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8t	SRF 11	PHX 9	LBH 28	INDY 16	MIL 12	DET 13	POR 18	CLE 24	TOR 16	MIS 12	MDO 11	NHM 24	VAN 12	ROA 10	NZR 15	LS 21		21st	14
1995	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Lola T95/00	Ford XB V8t	MIA	SRF	PHX	LBH	NZR	INDY 26	MIL	DET	POR	ROA	TOR	CLE	MIS	MDO	NHM	VAN	LS	44th	0

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	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	Lola T95/00	41	Ford XB V8t	WDW 11		INDY 10															1st-Tie	246
		Lola T94/00	11			PHX 2
1996-1997		Lola T95/00	1	Ford XB V8t	NWH 1	LVS 16																22nd	119
		Dallara IR7		Oldsmobile Aurora V8			WDW 4				PPIR 22	CLT	NH2	LV2
		G-Force GF01						PHX 16	INDY Wth	TXS
1998	Kelley Racing	Dallara IR8	8	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	WDW 6	PHX 1	INDY 16	TXS 5	NWH 3	DOV 1	CLT 18	PPIR 11	ATL 18	TX2 23	LVS 12							4th	272
1999		Dallara IR9		Oldsmobile Aurora V8	WDW 4	PHX 8	CLT C	INDY 28	TXS 10	PPIR 8	ATL 1	DOV 22	PPI2 22	LVS 4	TX2 19							8th	220
2000		Dallara IR-00		Oldsmobile Aurora V8	WDW 15	PHX 5	LVS 27	INDY 10	TXS 1	PPIR 3	ATL 16	KTY 24	TX2 13									7th	196
2001		Dallara IR-01		Oldsmobile Aurora V8	PHX 4	HMS 8	ATL 2	INDY 33	TXS 1	PPIR 8	RIR 5	KAN 17	NSH 5	KTY 2	STL 8	CHI 25	TX2 2					3rd	355
2002		Dallara IR-02		Chevrolet Indy V8	HMS 20	PHX 16	FON 8	NZR 1	INDY 27	TXS 14	PPIR 5	RIR 21	KAN 6	NSH 8	MIS 9	KTY 4	STL 18	CHI 7	TX2 4			6th	332
2003		Dallara IR-03		Toyota Indy V8	HMS 5	PHX 7	MOT 1	INDY 20	TXS 16	PPIR 11	RIR 17	KAN 16	NSH 13	MIS 4	STL 10	KTY 13	NZR 12	CHI 11	FON 8	TX2 6		8th	351
2004		Dallara IR-04		Toyota Indy V8	HMS 9	PHX 13	MOT 9	INDY 13	TXS 18	RIR 9	KAN 20	NSH 14	MIL 15	MIS 9	KTY 17	PPIR 15	NZR 19	CHI 9	FON 11	TX2 8		13th	282
2005	Delphi Fernández Racing	Panoz GF09C		Honda HI5R V8	HMS 13	PHX 5	STP 18	MOT 2	INDY 7	TXS 4	RIR 17	KAN 6	NSH 4	MIL 10	MIS 7	KTY 1	PPIR 9	SNM 12	CHI 8	WGL 9	FON 4	5th	444
2006		Dallara IR-05		Honda HI6R V8	HMS 7		MOT 16	INDY 9		TXS 5	RIR 5	KAN 18	NSH 17	MIL 12	MIS 6	KTY 16		CHI 9				12th	287
		Panoz GF09C				STP 10			WGL 9								SNM 14
2007	Rahal Letterman Racing	Dallara IR-05		Honda HI7R V8	HMS 12	STP 11	MOT 6	KAN 13	INDY 6	MIL 6	TXS 7	IOW 3	RIR 8	WGL 14	NSH 7	MDO 11	MIS 3	KTY 6	SNM 14	DET 11	CHI 5	8th	412
2009	Panther Racing		16	Honda HI7R V8	STP	LBH	KAN	INDY 14	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	TOR	EDM	KTY	MDO	SNM	CHI	MOT	HMS	34th	16

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
13	5	147	6	9	9	64	0	1 (1996)

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1994	Lola T94/00	Ford XB V8t	17	16	PacWest Racing
1995	Lola T95/00	Ford XB V8t	30	26	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
1996	Lola T95/00	Ford XB V8t	21	10	A. J. Foyt Enterprises
1997	G-Force GF01	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	Practice crash		A. J. Foyt Enterprises
1998	Dallara IR8	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	7	16	Kelley Racing
1999	Dallara IR9	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	6	28	Kelley Racing
2000	Dallara IR-00	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	5	10	Kelley Racing
2001	Dallara IR-01	Oldsmobile Aurora V8	1	33	Kelley Racing
2002	Dallara IR-02	Chevrolet Indy V8	8	27	Kelley Racing
2003	Dallara IR-03	Toyota Indy V8	9	20	Kelley Racing
2004	Dallara IR-04	Toyota Indy V8	20	13	Kelley Racing
2005	Panoz GF09C	Honda HI6R V8	3	7	Fernández Racing
2006	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI6R V8	8	9	Fernández Racing
2007	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	12	6	Rahal Letterman Racing
2009	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	20	14	Panther Racing

Touring/sports car racing

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1996	Riley & Scott Cars Inc.	Wayne Taylor Jim Pace	Riley & Scott Mk III-Oldsmobile	WSC	157	DNF	DNF
2015	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Ryan Dalziel David Heinemeier Hansson	Ligier JS P2-Honda	LMP2	329	28th	10th
2016	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Ed Brown Johannes van Overbeek	Ligier JS P2-Nissan	LMP2	341	16th	10th
Sources:

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	Patrón Highcroft	SEB 4	STP 2	LGB 1	MMP 9	LRP 1*	MDO 2	ROA 1	MOS 1	DET 2	ATL Ret	LAG 9	3rd	162
ALMS P1	2009	Patrón Highcroft	SEB 5	STP 1*	LGB 2	MMP 2	LRP 2	MDO 2	ROA 1*	MOS 1*	ATL 6	LAG 2		1st	179
ALMS GT2	2010	Extreme Speed Motorsports	SEB Ret	LGB 7	LAG 5	MMP 7	LRP 6	MDO 5	ROA 8	MOS 6	ATL 2			10th	70
ALMS GT	2011	Extreme Speed Motorsports	SEB 16	LGB 11	LRP 4	MOS 9	MDO 5	ROA 8	BAL 9	LAG 3	ATL 6			7th	66
ALMS GT	2012	Extreme Speed Motorsports	SEB 9	LGB 3	LAG 5	LRP 4	MOS 1	MDO 6	ROA 3	BAL 3	VIR 3	ATL 1		2nd	123
ALMS P2	2013	Extreme Speed Motorsports	SEB 5	LGB 1	LAG 3	LRP 2	MOS 2	ROA 2	BAL 2	COTA 4	VIR 2	ATL 2		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 15	SIR 2	LBH 6	LS 11	DET 5	S6H 10	MSP 8	IMS 5	ELK 3	COA	PET	9th	228
2015	Tequila Patrón ESM	P	HPD ARX-04b 1 HPD ARX-03b 2	Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo	DAY 10	SIR 9	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 1	SIR 1	LBH	LS	DET	S6H 9	MSP	ELK	COA	PET 2		12th	128
2017	Tequila Patrón ESM	P	Nissan Onroak DPi	Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6	DAY 4	SIR 11	LBH 2	AUS 6	DET 8	S6H 7	MSP 3	ELK 3	LGA 6	PET 1		5th	273
2018	Tequila Patrón ESM	P	Nissan Onroak DPi	Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6	DAY 19	SEB 16	LBH 2	MDO 10	DET 4	WGL 16	MOS	ELK 9	LGA 11	PET 11		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

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1992	Jimmy Means Racing	52	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN 19	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	69th	106

External links

• Extreme Speed Motorsports Official Website
• Highcroft Racing Official Website
• Patrón Racing Official Website
• Scott Sharp driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Scott Sharp career summary at DriverDB.com