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Rahal Letterman, Sharp go to court

Dec 1 2007

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.

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 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.¹ 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.² 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.³

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

American open-wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART

IndyCar Series

Indy 500 results

Touring/sports car racing

24 Hours of Le Mans results

American Le Mans Series results

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

* 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)

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

Notes

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

References

1. Jim Peltz (1 December 2007). "Rahal Letterman, Sharp go to Court". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-01. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-01-sp-racing1-story.html ↩

2. "ALMS: Scott Sharp Wins SPEEDtv.com's 'Drive of the Race' for Detroit". SPEEDtv.com. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-03. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-scott-sharp-wins-speedtvcoms-drive-of-the-race-for-detroit ↩

3. "Sharp Creates New GT2 Team For 2010". International Motor Sports Association. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20091016021121/http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=14004 ↩

4. "Scott Sharp – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023. https://racing-reference.info/drivdet/sharpsc01/1993/R ↩

5. "Scott Sharp – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023. https://racing-reference.info/drivdet/sharpsc01/1994/R ↩

6. "Scott Sharp – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023. https://racing-reference.info/drivdet/sharpsc01/1995/R ↩

7. "Scott Sharp – 1996 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/1996/O/ ↩

8. "Scott Sharp – 1997 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/1997/O/ ↩

9. "Scott Sharp – 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/1998/O/ ↩

10. "Scott Sharp – 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/1999/O/ ↩

11. "Scott Sharp – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2000/O/ ↩

12. "Scott Sharp – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2001/O/ ↩

13. "Scott Sharp – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2002/O/ ↩

14. "Scott Sharp – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2003/O/ ↩

15. "Scott Sharp – 2004 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2004/O/ ↩

16. "Scott Sharp – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2005/O/ ↩

17. "Scott Sharp – 2006 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2006/O/ ↩

18. "Scott Sharp – 2007 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2007/O/ ↩

19. "Scott Sharp – 2009 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/2009/O/ ↩

20. "Scott Sharp". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved August 25, 2023. https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/track-record/driver/scott-sharp-330 ↩

21. "Scott Sharp Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved August 25, 2023. https://motorsportstats.com/driver/scott-sharp/results ↩

22. "Scott Sharp – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023. https://www.racing-reference.info/driver-season-stats/sharpsc01/1992/W/ ↩