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Bob Earl (born January 13, 1950) is an American former racing driver fromClaremont, California. He began racing inFormula Ford in 1972 and was the 1973 national champion. In 1979 he made his professional debut inFormula Atlantic. In 1981 he became the first American to win theMacau Grand Prix, driving amodified Hayashi 320. At the time, the race was contested with Formula Atlantic cars.[1]
Earl moved to sports cars in 1985 and drove aPontiac Fiero forHuffaker Racing in theIMSA GTU series for two years. He moved up to the GTP cars in 1986 driving for a prototype forSpice Engineering. Earl and the Spice team earned a class victory at the24 Hours of Daytona in 1987. He continued with Spice in GTP class in 1988, but in 1989 moved toRoush Racing's Lincoln-Mercury effort in the GTO class, capturing class honors at Daytona. He moved to theNissan GTP factory team in 1990 and captured victories at the12 Hours of Sebring, Miami and Watkins Glen. He stayed with Nissan until they left the series in 1993. For the 1993 season he competed in the Camel Lights prototype class in anAcura powered Spice with 2 wins.
Earl retired as a competitor after the 1993 season to become a driver coach. In 1996 he was hired to start theDerek Daly Academy atLas Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2000 he returned home to the Marin County to resume freelance driver coaching. From 2002 to 2009 Bob was the Technical Director and overlooked the Mechanics Training Program at the Jim Russell Racing School atInfineon Raceway in Sonoma California.
Earl has also developed and sells the "Virtual Racing Chassis", an advanced racing sim for use with Racing video games.
Earl continues as a freelance driver coach, lecturer on racing organization and mental training, and promotes the advantages of Alkaline Water Ionizers for improving ones health. Earl has recently moved to Humboldt County and is involved in many Environmental activities doing Restorations of Beach Dunes, Redwood Forest trails and many others. He has become an environmentalist of sorts working toaddress climate change.
| Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Road Atlanta | ADF | Ford | Formula Ford | 1 | 1 | Running |
| 1974 | Road Atlanta | Royale | Ford | Formula Ford | 23 | 4 | Retired |
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 |  Nissan Performance Technology Inc. |  Steve Millen Michael Roe | Nissan R90CK | C1 | 311 | 17th | 17th |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Macau Grand Prix Winner 1981 | Succeeded by |
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