Nearburg founded Nearburg Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company that grew into one of the largest independent operators of its kind in the United States. His business success provided the financial foundation for an extensive amateur and semi-professional racing career that stretched from club-level events through to international competition. He is also a noted philanthropist, supporting pediatric cancer research, environmental causes, and the arts, and has served on the board of trustees of St. Mark's School of Texas as well as the board of overseers of Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering. Nearburg holds degrees from Dartmouth College earned in 1972, 1973, and 1974, the latter two in engineering.
Nearburg spent several years as a long-time competitor in the Toyota Atlantic Championship, a respected open-wheel feeder series in North America. In 1997 he raised his profile substantially by entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Ferrari 333 SP for Pilot Motorsports in the GTS class. The same year he funded three appearances in the CART Champ Car series, partnering with Dale Coyne Racing. Team owner Dale Coyne singled Nearburg out as an example of a motivated gentleman driver who made genuine progress over the course of his Champ Car outings, describing how Nearburg arrived as an ambitious but raw talent and departed having earned real respect from the team. Nearburg retired from professional racing after completing those Champ Car races.
Beyond circuit racing, Nearburg owns a Ferrari 250 GTO, one of the most coveted and valuable competition cars in history.
In September 2010, Nearburg piloted the Spirit of Rett streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, targeting the wheel-driven land speed record that had stood for 45 years. The car was powered by a General Motors racing V-8 engine and ran unblown — meaning without supercharging or turbocharging — making its eventual achievement all the more remarkable.
On September 21, 2010, Nearburg made two timed runs. The first averaged 417 mph with an exit speed of 422.6 mph; the return run, conducted under more challenging track conditions, averaged 411.7 mph with a peak of 417.65 mph. The combined average of approximately 414.4 mph (414.316 mph officially) surpassed the previous wheel-driven record set by the Summers Brothers' Goldenrod in November 1965, ending one of the longest-standing benchmarks in land speed history.
The Spirit of Rett's achievement produced a string of records: it became the fastest single-engine car in history at the time, the fastest normally aspirated car ever, and the first and only unblown single-engine car to exceed 400 mph. The car also claimed all four of the fastest unblown records at Bonneville simultaneously — A/FS at 379.6 mph, A/GS at 353.825 mph, AA/GS at 368.136 mph, and AA/FS at 392.503 mph — as well as the two fastest unblown FIA records at the same time. At the 2011 FIA Land Speed Shootout the team continued competing, raising the FIA Category A, Group II, Class 10 record to 366.59 mph.
The name Spirit of Rett is a tribute reflecting Nearburg's personal philanthropic commitments, particularly in the field of pediatric health research.
Nearburg represents a distinctive breed of racer: a successful industrialist whose competitive ambitions led him from club racing through international endurance events and ultimately to one of motorsport's most demanding technical disciplines. His record at Bonneville stands as the centrepiece of a career that combined genuine speed credentials with generous investment in the communities and institutions around him. The combination of Le Mans, CART, and a land speed record makes his competitive resume unusually broad for a gentleman driver of his era.