Multi-time SCCA Runoffs® National Champion, SCCA Hall of Fame member, and racing icon Bob Sharp has passed away, leaving behind a motorsports legacy that began in the 1960s and is still felt to this day. The New England Region member was 85 at the time of his passing on Feb. 28, 2025.
In 1960, after serving in the Army and while attending college, Sharp began racing an Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite despite it being the same vehicle he used to go back and forth to school. He competed across the northeast in SCCA competition, switching to a Lotus Seven for a few seasons before driving a Datsun. The Datsun partnership lasted 35 years with a livery that became synonymous with Sharp’s endeavors.
Sharp was a salesman at P. Bruck & Son in Greenwich, CT, selling Ramblers and Datsuns, and he approached his boss, Paul Bruck, about racing a Datsun Fairlady 1500 Roadster to help promote the dealership. The car was a rarity in SCCA competition at that time, but Sharp’s success changed that, as he was an expert at tuning the 85hp, 1,500cc engine and suspension.
At only 24 years old, Sharp started his own car dealership and repair station in Wilton, CT, with a three-bay garage/Gulf gas station and a used car dealership, and operated a race shop in one of the garage bays. To help fund his racing, he convinced the head of Nissan USA-East Coast in 1965 to sponsor his team, which became the first factory-backed racing sponsorship.
Between 1967 and ’75, Sharp won the Runoffs six times racing for Datsun. His success led to greater factory support for his team and paved the way for Nissan to support other Datsun racers around the country.
Even after his driving career ended, Bob Sharp Racing would be the springboard from which several top drivers of the era would leap to the pinnacle of success, including Sam Posey, Brad Frisselle, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, and Paul Newman.
“Bob Sharp is among the greatest success stories in the SCCA, and an inspiration to all Club members,” said SCCA President and CEO Mike Cobb. “His determination, drive, and success of living out his motorsports dream is what the Club is all about, and the SCCA is proud to have had him as a member.”
