USA TODAY International Edition
Friends mourn family who died in Mexico
Stock car racing dad beloved in Iowa town
DES MOINES – Kevin Sharp, the father in the Creston, Iowa, family that was found dead in a condominium in Mexico where they were staying while on vacation, was known as “The Sharpshooter” on the stock car racing scene.
Sharp competed in events at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa. Cliff Baldwin, who has been with the racetrack for 30 years, has known Kevin and the Sharps his entire life. They shared a passion for University of Iowa and Kansas City Chiefs football.
“He was a great personal friend,” Baldwin told the Des Moines Register on Friday. “It’s hard to talk about. The more I think about him and the family, the harder it is.
“Creston is close-knit like all small towns in Iowa. He’s a big part of that community there.”
Bob Harris has been the public-address announcer at Adams County Speedway for the past 17 years. He called “The Sharpshooter” — or “Double Deuce,” as he chuckled — a “guy who gave back.”
“Not only to the community but to his family and the sport he loved,” he said.
Baldwin called his longtime pal and racing comrade “a great competitor” who was well-liked by his peers.
“He raced in our stock car class, and that class is highly competitive,” Baldwin said. “Twelve to 15 guys could win any given night. It’s fun to watch those guys.”
Last September, at the Northland Oil Stock Car championship at Adams County Speedway, the Creston News
Advertiser reported that Sharp earned his second win of the 2017 season.
Sharp’s eight career wins rank 22nd all-time in Adams County Speedway’s stock car division, Harris said, and he was track titlist in 2015.
The Sharps celebrated victories and defeats the same, Harris said: “A cold beverage waiting for ya at the end of the night.”
“He was truly a champion on both sides of the fence at the speedway,” he added, holding back tears. “Whenever we needed an interview or a promotional deal, he was always right there to promote the sport.
“We could always count on Kevin
Sharp.”
Sharp’s cars always had a theme. His No. 2 emulated professional driver Brad Keselowski, and he marketed his car to things that were important to him, like breast cancer awareness and Hawkeye football.
Sharp also volunteered on the speedway’s board for many years, Harris said, before stepping down recently to spend more time with his family.
“He was a true family man,” he said. The racetrack originally hoped to start the 2018 season Saturday, “but it’s going to be hard now,” Baldwin said. “It’s going to be a heavy heart all season.”
Sharp, 41, his wife, Amy Marie Sharp, 38, and their kids, Sterling Wayne Sharp, 12, and Adrianna Marie Sharp, 7, were found dead this week in a Mexico condominium, according to Creston police.
Autopsies are being performed in Mexico, and results are pending, according to police.
At 12:02 a.m. Friday, the Sharps’ family members went to Creston police to report their relatives missing.
One relative, Ashli Peterson, posted on her Facebook page late Thursday that the Sharps left the United States for Tulum, Mexico, on March 15. They were supposed to return from their trip Wednesday from Cancun, Mexico, and arrive in St. Louis, where the family would travel to Danville, Illinois, for a college basketball game Thursday.
The family filed a missing persons report through the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, Peterson wrote. They pinged cellphones that showed the Sharps were still in Mexico “with no movement on their phones,” she wrote.
Novedades Quintana Roo, a Cancun-based news outlet, reported that employees had entered the room after noticing an odor. Inside, they found the bodies of the Sharp family.
Their stay at the hotel was scheduled from March 14 to March 21, according to the news outlet.
Kevin Sharp “was truly a champion on both sides of the fence at the speedway. Whenever we needed an interview or a promotional deal, he was always right there to promote the sport.” Bob Harris Adams County Speedway announcer