Charlie Nearburg

Charlie Nearburg (born September 6, 1950) is an American former race car driver. Born in Dallas, Nearburg founded Nearburg Exploration, an oil and gas exploration firm. He used his profits from his successful business to finance his auto racing career, becoming a long time Toyota Atlantic competitor. In 1997 he drove in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari 333 SP for Pilot Motorsports and funded three appearances in the CART Champ Car series for Dale Coyne Racing. Coyne is particularly proud of the progress Nearburg made while with the team, stating in a 2004 interview: “Charlie Nearburg is an example I love – he was a guy that was older, he was married, he had kids and always wanted to do these races. So he came with us, and did three races, and we pushed him a little bit, but the by the time he got to his third race, he was very respectable – and he’s got that to carry with him the rest of his life.” Nearburg retired from professional racing after his Champ Car experience. He is listed as a Ferrari 250 GTO owner.

In September 2010 driving the Spirit of Rett, Nearburg broke Goldenrod's wheel-driven land speed record at a speed of 414.4 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats using a General Motors racing V-8 engine.