Sharp crashed twice while practicing for the Indianapolis 500 during May. The second crash resulted in a head injury that left him disoriented. His car owner, A.J. Foyt, said he knew something was wrong. "Scott would tell me ‘it's loose' and then turn right around and say ‘It's pushing' I don't think he was right after the first crash. The second one did him in".

Until earlier this week at Charlotte, Sharp had not been in a car since Indianapolis. In the Charlotte practice session, he was easily in the top 5 and will once again be a threat in the oval track series.

Scott Sharp Returns This Weekend

Sharp tried to stay upbeat after realizing he would miss the Indianapolis 500. I talked to Scott before and after the accidents at Indy. He remained hopeful and optimistic, but he was obviously crushed when he was not cleared to drive in the Indianapolis classic. As a driver, Scott ended up doing something even harder than driving in the Indy 500. He watched it. He did the same at the Texas race a couple of weeks ago. Sharp has traveled and stayed with the team, watching other drivers get into his car and do well.

The seat in the number one Conseco car is Sharp's once again. Sharp is ready to add more victories to his IRL stat sheet. Sharp won the season opener in his home area of New Hampshire. The 28 year old native of Connecticut has been winning races since the age of eight. Like many other racing stars of today, he began his racing in karting, winning 50 races in 75 starts. With the guidance of his father, Bob (a six time SCCA National Champion), Sharp dominated the east coast karting circuit.

Education has always been a top priority for Sharp and he knew it would help his professional driving career. He was on the dean's list and graduated from Babson College in Boston, Mass. With a double major in finance and investments. Sharp has matured into one of the brightest, most talented and articulate drivers on and off the track.

A full time racing career followed college and he won the first SCCA race he entered in 1986. His titles include the 1986 SCCA National GT-2 Drivers' Championship, the 1991 and 1993 SCCA Trans-Sm Drivers' Championship and the prized 1996 IRL Championship (co-champion with Buzz Calkins).

The series heads to the new one mile tri-oval at Pikes Peak International Speedway this weekend for the inaugural running of the Samsonite 200. The race will be Sunday, June 29, at 3:00 PM EDT. The race weekend will also include the U.S. Formula Ford 2000 series and the STAR Formula Mazda Series.

Terry Callahan