# 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.

## 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. 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

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 |
| 1986 | Road Atlanta | 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 |
| 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 |
| 1996 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T95/00 | 41 | Ford XB V8t | WDW 11 | | INDY 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1st-Tie | 246 |
| 1996 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T94/00 | 11 | Ford XB V8t | | PHX 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1st-Tie | 246 |
| 1996-1997 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Lola T95/00 | 1 | Ford XB V8t | NWH 1 | LVS 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 22nd | 119 |
| 1996-1997 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Dallara IR7 | 1 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | | | WDW 4 | | | | PPIR 22 | CLT | NH2 | LV2 | | | | | | | | 22nd | 119 |
| 1996-1997 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | G-Force GF01 | 1 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | | | | PHX 16 | INDY Wth | TXS | | | | | | | | | | | | 22nd | 119 |
| 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 | Kelley Racing | Dallara IR9 | 8 | 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 | Kelley Racing | Dallara IR-00 | 8 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | WDW 15 | PHX 5 | LVS 27 | INDY 10 | TXS 1 | PPIR 3 | ATL 16 | KTY 24 | TX2 13 | | | | | | | | | 7th | 196 |
| 2001 | Kelley Racing | Dallara IR-01 | 8 | 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 | Kelley Racing | Dallara IR-02 | 8 | 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 | Kelley Racing | Dallara IR-03 | 8 | 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 | Kelley Racing | Dallara IR-04 | 8 | 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 | 8 | 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 | Delphi Fernández Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 8 | 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 |
| 2006 | Delphi Fernández Racing | Panoz GF09C | 8 | Honda HI6R V8 | | STP 10 | | | WGL 9 | | | | | | | | SNM 14 | | | | | 12th | 287 |
| 2007 | Rahal Letterman Racing | Dallara IR-05 | 8 | 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 | Dallara IR-05 | 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 | 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 | |