Estimating Bobby East’s net worth as Nascar legend dies aged 37

Legendary Nascar driver Bobby East has passed away aged 37 after he was stabbed at a gas station in California. We take a closer look at his family life, and net worth following his sudden death.

Bobby East was a three-time US Auto Club national champion, and was a well-respected part of the Nascar community.

Tributes have been pouring in online from friends and former Nascar colleagues after East’s sudden death.

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Meet Nascar legend Bobby East

Bobby East became the youngest driver to win a feature USAC National Midget race when he was just 16 back in 2001. Driving was in his blood, as his father, Bob East, was a short-track car builder.

The 37-year-old won National Midgets titles in 2004 and Silver Crown championships in 2012 and 2013. He also had 56 USAC victories with 48 of these in national divisions.

East also won rookie of the year in 2001. He won multiple USAC titles, and took part in his final race in 2014 to finish third in the Silver Crown season finale in Syracuse.

He has been described by the US Auto Club as “one of the most prolific drivers of his era”.

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Nascar driver Bobby East stabbed to death at gas station

The 37-year old Nascar driver was stabbed at a gas station in Westminster, California and passed away on 13 July.

Westminster Police officers were called to the scene at 5.51pm. They saw Bobby East with a stab wound to his chest while the suspect, 27-year-old Trent William Millsap, had fled the scene.

Two days later the police found Mr Millsap, and a team went to Anaheim, California to arrest him. An enforcement officer told TMZ that the suspect was shot at the scene.

It is unclear if Bobby East knew Trent William Millsap. There have been hundreds of tributes shared on social media following the Nascar driver’s death.

What was Bobby East’s net worth?

There are wide discrepancies online regarding estimates of Bobby East’s net worth leading to some confusion by curious fans.

Idol Net Worth estimates that the Nascar driver was worth about $600 million at the time of his passing. However, other sites such as WePublishNews estimate that his net worth was more in the $3million – $5 million range.

If we look a little closer at a traditional Nascar driver’s salary we can see that only the very top driver’s make over $10 million during their contracts. Drivers such as Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick make about $13 million and $10 million over their respective three and four year contracts. It seems unlikely that the Nascar driver has a net worth in the hundreds of millions.

According to Comparably the average salary for a Nascar driver is $112,038 a year. While Bobby East was no average driver, he was a driver with Nascar for nearly 15 years. He was also the US Auto Club national champion three times, which would come with a large pay check. It would appear that his net worth would be more in the $5 million and under range.

Bobby East’s family and friends share heartfelt messages

Those who have worked with East over the years have shared messages of support for his family, and have been sharing their favourite memories of the Nascar driver.

Two-time Nascar champion Todd Bodine said that East was “one heck of a wheelman” and that he was “very sad” to hear of East’s death.

Charles Krall, communications manager for the Automobile Racing Club of America said that “in an open wheel car, there was no one better” and that his thoughts were with “his parents Bob Janice, and the entire East family”.

Ford Performance also shared a fitting tribute:

Fans have also been wondering if Bobby East was married at the time of his death. While there have been rumours online that Bobby East was married to a woman named Natasha Zhu, these have not been confirmed and it appears that Bobby East was single at the time of his passing.

We send out our condolences to the East family during this difficult time.

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