Hideo Fukuyama | |||||||
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Born |
Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan |
August 13, 1955 ||||||
Achievements | 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans GT3 Class Winner | ||||||
Monster Energy 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) | ||||||
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24 Hours of Le Mans career | |||||||
Participating 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 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.
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 GT3 class at the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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 1998 at Twin Ring Motegi 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.