is a Japanese former 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. Fukuyama won the JGTC/Super GT title on three occasions, in 1992, 1997 and 2000, as well as the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT3 class alongside Atsushi Yogo and Bruno Lambert.

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 seventeenth 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 nineteenth, and in the first NASCAR points event held outside of North America, at Twin Ring Motegi in 1999, where he finished fifteenth.

Having been encouraged to pursue a NASCAR career by Dale Earnhardt, and in September 2002 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 1988 ADA Engineering Ian Harrower Jiro Yoneyama ADA 03-Ford Cosworth C2 318 18th 2nd 1995 NISMO Masahiko Kondo Shunji Kasuya Nissan Skyline GT-R LM GT1 271 10th 5th 2000 Team Taisan Advan Atsushi Yogo Bruno Lambert Porsche 911 GT3-R GT 310 16th 1st 2001 Team Taisan Advan Atsushi Yogo Kazuyuki Nishizawa Porsche 911 GT3-RS GT 273 11th 5th

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts 1992 Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Skyline GT-R JTC-1AIDAUTSUGSUZMINTSUSENFUJ 1st 110 1993 Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Skyline GT-R JTC-1MINAUT SUGSUZAIDTSUTOKSENFUJ 7th 89

Complete JGTC/Super GT results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts 1994 Blitz Racing Team Toyota Supra GT1FUJSENFUJSUGMIN 20th 4 1995 Makiguchi Engineering BMW M3 GT2SUZNC0 Racing Team Nakaharu Nissan Skyline GT-R GT1 FUJSENFUJSUGMIN22nd6 1996 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500SUZFUJSENFUJSUGMIN 6th 42 1997 RS★R Racing with BANDOH Nissan Silvia GT300SUZFUJSENFUJMINSUG1st90 1998 Team Daishin Nissan Silvia GT300SUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUG 11th 24 1999 Team Daishin Nissan Silvia GT300SUZFUJSUGMINFUJTAIMOT 10th 33 2000 Team Taisan Porsche 911 GT300MOTFUJSUGFUJTAIMINSUZ1st85 2001 Team Taisan Porsche 911 GT300TAIFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN 6th 44 2002 Team Taisan Porsche 911 GT300TAIFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZ4th65 2004 Team Gaikokuya Porsche 911 GT300TAISUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZNC0 2005 A&S Racing Chevrolet Corvette GT300OKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZNC02007 DHG Racing Ford GT GT300SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ28th2

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 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 DOV39 KAN TAL CLT MAR43 ATL CARDNQ PHO HOM 72nd 80 2003 BelCar Racing DAY CAR LVS33 ATL DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CALDNQ RCHWth CLT DOV POC MCH SON43 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 Pts Ref 1998 Stroppe Motorsports 38 Ford TUS LVS PHO CAL HPT MMR AMP POR CAL PPR19 EVG SON MMR LVS 79th 106 1999 19 Ford TUS LVS PHO CAL PPR MMR IRW EVG POR IRW RMR LVS MMR MOT15 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 Pts Ref 2003 Travis Carter Enterprises 9 Ford DAY ATLDNQ NSH34 SLM TOL KEN CLT16 BLN KAN MCH LER POC38 POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL CLT SBO 108th 235

References

External links