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Hideo Fukuyama
Born (1955-08-13) August 13, 1955 (age 69)
Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Achievements 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans GT3 Class Winner
NASCAR Cup Series career
4 races run over 2 years
Best finish 63rd (2003)
First race 2002 MBNA All-American Heroes 400 (Dover)
Last race 2003 Dodge/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years 1995, 2000, 2001
Teams Team Taisan Advan, NISMO
Best finish 10th (1995)
Class wins 1 (2000)
Statistics current as of August 15, 2012.

Hideo Fukuyama (福山 英朗, Hideo Fukuyama, born August 13, 1955) is a retired 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, the 1992 Japanese Touring Car Championship and 1997 Super GT GT300 class championship, and winning the LMGT class at the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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. He crashed in the inaugural Suzuka Thunder Special in 1996, finishing 22nd; in 1997 he finished 21st, retiring with ignition failure after 103 laps. In Motegi's Coca-Cola 500 he finished 17th in the No. 98 Ford.

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, at Twin Ring Motegi in 1999, where he finished 15th.

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

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

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, as well as becoming an analyst for Japanese television broadcasts of NASCAR.

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

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship (-1993) results

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts
1992 Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Skyline GT-R JTC-1 AID
1
AUT
7
SUG
5
SUZ
2
MIN
1
TSU
4
SEN
3
FUJ
2
1st 110
1993 Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Skyline GT-R JTC-1 MIN
2
AUT
4
SUG
4
SUZ
1
AID
4
TSU
5
TOK
5
SEN
Ret
FUJ
5
7th 89

Complete JGTC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Pts
1994 Bltz Racing Team Toyota Supra GT1 FUJ
Ret
SEN
7
FUJ SUG MIN 20th 4
1995 Makiguchi Engineering BMW M3 GT2 SUZ
Ret
NC 0
Racing Team Nakaharu Nissan Skyline GT-R GT1 FUJ SEN FUJ
6
SUG
Ret
MIN 22nd 6
1996 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 SUZ
4
FUJ
Ret
SEN
7
FUJ
3
SUG
5
MIN
3
6th 42
1997 RS★R Racing with BANDOH Nissan Silvia GT300 SUZ
1
FUJ
2
SEN
2
FUJ
3
MIN
1
SUG
5
1st 90
1998 Team Daishin Nissan Silvia GT300 SUZ
Ret
FUJ
C
SEN
Ret
FUJ
6
MOT
8
MIN
3
SUG
8
11th 24
1999 Team Daishin Nissan Silvia GT300 SUZ
10
FUJ
Ret
SUG
3
MIN
Ret
FUJ
4
TAI
4
MOT
Ret
10th 33
2000 Team Taisan Porsche 911 GT300 MOT
1
FUJ
1
SUG
9
FUJ
7
TAI
7
MIN
1
SUZ
2
1st 85
2001 Team Taisan Porsche 911 GT300 TAI
4
FUJ
17
SUG
7
FUJ
13
MOT
2
SUZ
3
MIN
8
6th 44
2002 Team Taisan Porsche 911 GT300 TAI
2
FUJ
Ret
SUG
16
SEP
5
FUJ
1
MOT
7
MIN
Ret
SUZ
2
4th 65

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 Ref
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 Ref
1998 Stroppe Motorsports 38 Ford TUS LVS PHO CAL HPT MMR AMP POR CAL PPR
19
EVG SON MMR LVS 79th 106
1999 19 Ford TUS LVS PHO CAL PPR MMR IRW EVG POR IRW RMR 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 Ref
2003 Travis Carter Enterprises 9 Ford DAY ATL
DNQ
NSH
34
SLM TOL KEN CLT
16
BLN KAN MCH LER POC
38
POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL CLT SBO 108th 235
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