Hideo Fukuyama

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Hideo Fukuyama
Born (1955-08-13) August 13, 1955 (age 66)
Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Achievements2000 24 Hours of Le Mans GT3 Class Winner
NASCAR Cup Series career
4 races run over 2 years
Best finish63rd (2003)
First race2002 MBNA All-American Heroes 400 (Dover)
Last race2003 Dodge/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1995, 2000, 2001
TeamsTeam Taisan Advan, NISMO
Best finish10th (1995)
Class wins1 (2000)
Statistics current as of August 15, 2012.

Hideo Fukuyama (福山 英朗, Hideo Fukuyama, born August 13, 1955) is a Japanese racing driver. A former competitor at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he attempted to compete in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in the early 2000s, but only qualified for four races before leaving the series. He was the first Japanese driver to compete in NASCAR's top series.

Career[]

Open-wheel and sports cars[]

Competing in his native Japan, Fukuyama established a career as a road racer, winning the 1979 Formula Libre 500 Japanese championship,[1] the 1992 Japanese touring car championship and 1997 Super GT GT300 class championship,[2] and winning the GT3 class at the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans.[1]

Stock cars[]

Fukuyama made his debut in NASCAR competition driving in exhibition races at Suzuka Circuit in 1996 and 1997 for Travis Carter Enterprises, and at Twin Ring Motegi in 1998 for Jeff Davis Racing.[3] He crashed in the inaugural Suzuka Thunder Special in 1996,[4] finishing 22nd;[5] in 1997 he finished 21st, retiring with ignition failure after 103 laps.[6] In Motegi's Coca-Cola 500 he finished 17th in the No. 98 Ford.[7]

In 1998 and 1999 Fukuyama competed in two events in the NASCAR Winston West Series, at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 1998, where he finished 19th, and in the first NASCAR points event held outside of North America,[8] at Twin Ring Motegi in 1999, where he finished 15th.[9][10]

Having been encouraged to pursue a NASCAR career by Dale Earnhardt,[11] and in September at Dover International Speedway became the first Japanese driver to qualify for a Winston Cup Series points event.[12] Driving the No. 66 Ford for Haas-Carter Motorsports, he started 43rd in the event,[11] finishing 39th due to transmission failure.[13] Later that year at Martinsville Speedway he finished 43rd in the second and final race of the year he qualified for.[14]

In 2003, Fukuyama competed for Rookie of the Year in the Winston Cup Series,[15] running a limited schedule in Cup as well as in the ARCA Racing Series for Carter, the team being renamed BelCar Racing.[3] He only qualified for two races, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway, posting his best career finish, 33rd, at the former track.[16]

Released from his ride with TCM midway through the 2003 season, Fukuyama returned to his native Japan, where he resumed racing in the Super GT series,[2] as well as becoming an analyst for Japanese television broadcasts of NASCAR.[17]

Motorsports career results[]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[]

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1988 United Kingdom ADA Engineering United Kingdom Ian Harrower
Japan Jiro Yoneyama 		ADA 03-Ford Cosworth C2 318 18th 2nd
1995 Japan NISMO Japan Masahiko Kondo
Japan Shunji Kasuya 		Nissan Skyline GT-R LM GT1 271 10th 5th
2000 Japan Team Taisan Advan Japan Atsushi Yogo
Belgium Bruno Lambert 		Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 310 16th 1st
2001 Japan Team Taisan Advan Japan Atsushi Yogo
Japan Kazuyuki Nishizawa 		Porsche 911 GT3-RS GT 273 11th 5th

NASCAR[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series[]

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NWCC Pts
2002 Haas-Carter Motorsports 66 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV
39 		KAN TAL CLT MAR
42 		ATL CAR
DNQ 		PHO HOM 72nd 80
2003 BelCar Racing DAY CAR LVS
33 		ATL DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CAL
DNQ 		RCH
Wth 		CLT DOV POC MCH SON
43 		DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO CAR HOM 63rd 98

Winston West Series[]

NASCAR Winston West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NWWC Pts
38 Ford TUS LVS PHO CAL HPT MMR AMP POR CAL PPR
19 		EVG SON MMR LVS 79th 106
19 Ford TUS LVS PHO CAL PPR MMR IRW EVG POR IRW LVS MMR MOT
15 		69th 118

ARCA Re/Max Series[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ARMC Pts
Travis Carter Enterprises 9 Ford DAY
DNQ
34 		SLM TOL
16 		KAN MCH LER
38 		POC NSH ISF DSF CHI TAL 108th 235

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Stiglich, Joe (June 22, 2003). "Japanese racer living a dream in NASCAR". The Free Lance–Star. Fredericksburg, VA. p. C3. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Race Driver Database - Hideo Fukuyama". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Fukuyama focused on Kansas Speedway". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Topeka, KS. May 30, 2003. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  4. ^ Yamaguchi, Mari (November 25, 1996). "Wallace outduels Earnhardt in Japan". The Ledger. Lakeland, FL. p. C3. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  5. ^ "1996 NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  6. ^ "1997 NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  7. ^ "1998 NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  8. ^ "NASCAR Winston West Japan Event Slated For Live TV". RacingWest. October 8, 1999. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  9. ^ "Hideo Fukuyama - NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  10. ^ Rodman, Dave (September 1, 2002). "Carter gives Japanese driver Cup test run". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Brinster, Dick (September 21, 2002). "Earnhardt's advice guided Fukuyama". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, SC. p. C8. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  12. ^ Fryer, Jenna (March 2, 2003). "Fukuyama coming back". The Gadsden Times. Gadsden, AL. p. B4. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  13. ^ "Tough day for Fukuyama". Ludington Daily News. Ludington, MI. September 27, 2002. p. C5. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  14. ^ Minter, Rick (October 24, 2002). "Last-place finish for Fukuyama". Telegraph Herald. Dubuque, IA. p. 3B. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  15. ^ Zimmerman, Bill (November 1, 2003). "Rookie class not living up to recent successes". The Albany Herald. Albany, GA. p. 3C. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  16. ^ Houston, Rick (March 17, 2011). "Far reaching". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  17. ^ Rovegno, Lindsay; Greg Amante; Mike Massaro (November 11, 2006). "Toyota's entry into Cup making many nervous". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-08-15.

External links[]

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