Robert Stephen (Steve) Phillips

Robert Stephen (Steve) Phillips died on Saturday, October 4, at Ascension St. Vincent Heart Hospital at the age of 70.  Steve was born on August 13, 1955 in Bozeman, Montana, to Robert and Ermine Phillips.  On November 6, 1999, he married his wife and partner in life, Carla Phillips, who survives.

Steve had a long career in racing which began in 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona, helping out Gary Stanton and Gene Brown on his midget, which gave him the bug to build his own car.  So, while working for Rick Stewart he did just that and ran midgets until 1979, when he built his own sprint car, and won the SCOA Championship in 1990.

In 1992, Steve began his Indy car career with Hall VDS Racing and worked with drivers John Andretti, Teo Fabi and Gil Deferran.   He moved to Team Menard in 1996, and was part of Tony Stewart’s IRL Championship winning team.  He finished his Indy Car career in 2001 with Walker Racing and driver Sarah Fisher.

In 2002, Steve and Carla went winged sprint car racing with the GLSS series for a few years, then switched to non-wing racing.  In 2007, Steve stepped out of the race car and would become an owner and crew chief of the 71P, running local tracks until 2012 with several drivers, including a Lincoln Park Championship in 2009 with Billy Puterbaugh, Jr.  In 2010, the team started running more USAC races with Jerry Coons Jr. and other drivers.

From 2013 to 2015, and again in 2017, the team raced in USAC full-time, and had a lot of success with Dave Darland behind the wheel, and the team came in 2nd in National points in 2013 and 2015, and 3rd in 2014, while winning 17 USAC national races together, including the Kokomo Smackdown three times, and the Oval Nationals in 2013.  In 2018/2019, they again raced on the USAC national sprint car tour with Jason McDougal, winning two national events.  They also fielded a USAC Silver Crown car in 2016, 2017 and 2022.

Steve is a proud member of the Arizona Racing Hall of Fame after being inducted in 2023.  He also was Crew Chief of the year in 2013 for USAC.

Along with his wife Carla, he is survived by his daughter, Lindsey Nebrich (James) of Phoenix, Arizona; his beloved dogs – Ginger, Tank, Zoey and Sophie; brother-in-law, Ron Hinkle (Bobbie) of Logansport, Indiana; niece, Taylor Hinkle (Rayme) of Lafayette, Indiana; nephews Christopher Wheetley (Nicole) of Peru, Indiana, and Michael Robinson (Amanda) of Logansport, Indiana, as well as other nieces and nephews.  

Visitation will be from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on Thursday, October 9, with funeral immediately following at Strawmyer & Drury Funeral Home in Lebanon, Indiana.  Lunch will be served following the service at the funeral home.  Burial will be at Browns Wonder Cemetery.  Please feel free to wear jeans and your favorite race shirt.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you donate to one of the following animal charities:  Alliance for Responsible Pet Ownership (ARPO); Lucci’s House Bully Rescue; Boone County Humane Society.