03-03-2025
SCCA Racer Who Brought Paul Newman to Motorsports, Bob Sharp, Has Died
Bob Sharp needed a way to boost sales of the then-new Datsuns on his Connecticut dealership's lot, which were moving into customer hands at a rate of about 200 a year. So he went racing, first in Datsun 510s, then in 240Zs, then in 300ZXs.
Almost immediately, it worked. Sales increased tenfold, to 2,000 a year. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday really worked for him. Success on the track attracted notice, including movie star/racer Paul Newman, who drove Bob Sharp Datsuns and Nissans throughout his motorsports career.
Bob Sharp passed away last week at 85, a week and a half shy of his 86th birthday.
Sharp was also the father of successful SCCA, IRL, and IMSA racer and team owner Scott Sharp, who grew up in motorsports attending races of his famous father.
Throughout it all, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in racing who had a bad thing to say about Bob Sharp.
'Bob was a great competitor,' said fellow Datsun racer John Morton. 'We never had a cross word, never had any kind of a conflict on the track.'
Sharp drove for his East Coast dealership, while Morton drove for BRE, Brock Racing Enterprises, representing the West Coast. Both were competing for notice and sponsorship dollars from big Nissan. But that didn't affect either racer's actions on the track.
'In fact, he drove for us in two races with the BRE team, and he was so good at Lime Rock, he won Lime Rock in one of our cars,' said Morton.
Peter Brock was likewise complimentary about his old rival.
'We lost a good friend and competitor yesterday (Feb. 28),' said Brock. 'Bob Sharp, team owner, manager, and driver of Bob Sharp Racing, was one of the first to race Japanese cars in America and helped make the Datsun name respected.'
Indeed, between 1967 and 1975, Sharp won the SCCA Nationals six times, in B-Sedan, F-Production, and C-Production, and the IMSA GTU title once, racing for Datsun.
Sharp's success, including six SCCA titles, 'attracted all kinds of talent to his team,' said Nissan Motorsports upon Bob's induction to the SCCA Motorsports Hall of Fame. '…including the legendary Paul Newman who got his start with Bob Sharp Racing in 1972 driving a Datsun 510 B-Sedan in SCCA competition.'
With Sharp's help and guidance, Newman would go on to win in many different Datsuns/Nissans, from that 510 to a 200SX, 280ZX V8, and 300ZX. The friendship between the two Connecticut residents would last throughout their lifetimes. Newman passed away in 2008.
'Bob's name will always be remembered as a great sportsman and friend to all who raced with, and against, him,' said Brock.
