Keith Scharf

Keith was born in St Louis in 1961. As a very small boy was infatuated with cars and racing. He started racing go karts in 1974 at age 13. After winning 4 local championships he wanted to move up to sports cars so at age 25 joined the SCCA in 1986. He built his first race car, a Sports Renault, from a kit in his grandmother’s garage. In 1990, in only his second trip to the Runoffs, Keith started 23rd in a huge field of SR spec cars. As a relative unknown Keith drove through the field finishing on the podium in 3rd place to secure his first Runoffs podium and the attention of the RRDC. For that outstanding performance, he was honored with the RRDC Mark Donahue Award. In 1991 Keith was chosen by Sports Car Magazine as one of the top 10 drivers to watch in their “Star Search” edition. In 1993 Keith won the National Championship in the new SRF class at the Runoffs. From 1994 to 2002 Keith was a regular on the SCCA Pro SRF tour scoring 29 podiums and 11 Pro race wins. He proved to be an all around threat, winning on purpose build road courses, ovals, and temporary street circuits throughout North America. In 2001 he secured the SCCA Pro SRF Championship. Over the years Keith competed in SR, SRF, SRF3, S2000, CSR, Shelby CanAm, and GT1. 

In 2014 Keith was asked to join the team at World Wide Technology Raceway. Keith instructs on the road course and is the GM of the Gateway Kartplex. Keith has introduced Racing to kids and adults of all ages. As of 2024 Keith has been a race promoter for over 230 events. Keith has instructed many racers that have moved up and gone on to great success in the SCCA, NASA, IGT, Road to Indy, GR Cup and Porsche Cup. Keith still actively races both cars and karts. 

Career stats:

38 year continues SCCA membership 

60 SCCA Regional wins

49 SCCA National/Major wins

11 Pro wins

29 Pro podiums 

6 SCCA Runoffs Podiums

7 SCCA Divisional Championships 

1990 RRDC Mark Donahue Award Winner

1993 SCCA National Championship SRF

2001 SCCA Pro Championship SRF

7 Karting Championships 

100+ Karting wins

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