Shigeaki Hattori

Shigeaki "Shige" Hattori (服部 茂章, November 3, 1963) is a Japanese professional race car driver and team owner based in the United States. As a driver, he competed in the CART and IndyCar Series, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series). He is not related to Naoki Hattori, whom he briefly raced against in CART.

Shigeaki Hattori
Nationality	Japanese
Born	November 3, 1963 Okayama, Okayama
Retired	2005
Indy Racing League IndyCar Series
Years active	2000–2003
Teams	Treadway-Vertex Cunningham Racing Bradley Motorsports A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Starts	26
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	13th in 2001
Previous series
1999 1996–1998 1993–1994	CART World Series Indy Lights All-Japan Formula Three Championship
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
10 races run over 1 year
Best finish	35th (2005)
First race	2005 Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (Daytona)
Last race	2005 Toyota Tundra 200 (Nashville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0

As an owner, Hattori owns Hattori Racing Enterprises, which currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series East. HRE also has competed part-time in the Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series in the past. The team has fielded cars for Johnny Sauter, Alex Bowman, Austin Hill, Max McLaughlin, David Garbo Jr., Lee Pulliam, Brett Moffitt, Sergio Pena, Ross Kenseth, Jesse Little,[1] and Ryan Truex. His race team won the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with Brett Moffitt.

Racing career

Prior to moving to the United States, Hattori won the Formula Toyota championship in 1994.[2]

Indy Lights

Hattori moved to the United States in 1995,[2] and began competing in the Indy Lights series in 1996 at the age of 32. After finishing 13th and 25th in points in his first two seasons, he scored his first career win in the series in 1996 at the season-opener at Homestead Miami Speedway.[3] He would win two races that season and finish 14th in points.

CART

Hattori raced for Bettenhausen in CART in 1999, but after he spun the car 18 times in 7 races, he had his CART competition license revoked[4] at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca by chief steward Wally Dallenbach Sr. He started 7 races, with a best finish of 15th at Gateway International Raceway.

IRL

Hattori raced in the Indy Racing League from 2000 to 2003. His best IRL finish was a 6th at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002 and he finished 13th in IRL points in 2001 for Treadway-Vertex Cunningham Racing. He led a total of 28 laps in his 26 series starts.

NASCAR

Hattori attempted his first race in the Craftsman Truck Series at the season-finale at Homestead Miami Speedway in 2004, with sponsorship from Aisin AW. He failed to qualify his No. 01 Toyota Tundra.[5]

Hattori was signed to drive the No. 9 Tundra for Germain Racing (then Germain-Arnold Racing) for 2005, his rookie season in the Truck Series, with sponsorship from Aisin AW.[6] He failed to qualify in several races, and was released at the end of the season after competing in 10 events and finishing 35th in series points.

Team ownership

Hattori Racing Enterprises' 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship-winning truck driven by Brett Moffitt in Japan

Beginning in 2008, Hattori has fielded entries in NASCAR and ARCA competition under the Hattori Racing Enterprises banner.[7][8][9] On August 18, 2013, he made his debut as a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner, fielding the No. 16 Goodyear of Japan Toyota at Michigan International Speedway in the National Guard 200. The team finished 17th with driver Brett Moffitt. Hattori's team returned in 2014, fielding the 80 in several Nationwide series events. In 2015, the team fielded the No. 18 for Ross Chastain at Michigan, but he failed to qualify after the rain interrupted. Later on, the team hosted Ross Kenseth's first Truck start in the No. 18 at the fall Martinsville event.

In 2016, Ryan Truex took over Hattori's Truck ride (renumbered from the No. 18 to the No. 81 due to Kyle Busch Motorsports re-taking that number). After the team gave Truex that chance, he nearly won the season-opening race at Daytona, where he finished second. After that strong run, the team and Truex said they would try to run the full season, which ended up not happening due to sponsorship issues. However, Truex drove part-time for the team in select races for the remainder of the season. The two parties ran the full 2017 season in the renumbered No. 16,[10] but Truex was released prior to the 2018 season.[11]

Moffitt returned to HRE in 2018.[12] Despite sponsorship concerns that threatened to cut their season short,[13] Moffitt and HRE went on to win that year's championship. Nevertheless, troubles with funding resulted in Moffitt's release.[14] Austin Hill would take over the No. 16 in 2019.[15]

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
1996	Dorricott Racing	MIA 9	LBH DNS	NAZ 10	MIS 19	MIL 6	DET 13	POR 7	CLE 9	TOR 4	TRO 8	VAN 16	LS 14			13th	42
1997	Lucas Place Motorsports	MIA	LBH 9	NAZ 20	SAV 15	STL 23	MIL 16	DET 24	POR 23	TOR 26	TRO 14	VAN 12	LS 14	FON 18		25th	5
1998	Indy Regency Racing	MIA 1	LBH 11	NAZ 14	STL 1	MIL 21	DET 20	POR 18	CLE 21	TOR 16	MIS 20	TRO 16	VAN 13	LS 9	FON 9	14th	52

CART

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
1999	Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 98i	Mercedes-Benz IC108E	MIA DNS	MOT 20	LBH 26	NZR WD	RIO	STL 15	MIL 23	POR 28	CLE	ROA	TOR 23	MIS	DET	MDO	CHI 17	VAN	LS WD	HOU	SRF	FON	36th	0

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
2000	Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	WDW	PHX	LVS	INDY DNP	TXS 8	PPI 17	ATL 9	KTY 8	TX2 7								22nd	109
2001	Vertex-Cunningham Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	PHX 13	HMS 15	ATL 8	INDY DNQ	TXS 10	PPI DNS	RIR 14	KAN 8	NSH 7	KTY 7	STL 15	CHI 21	TX2 16				13th	215
2002	Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	HMS	PHX 25															27th	78
			Infiniti			FON 26	NZR 10	INDY 20	TXS 6	PPI 19	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2
2003	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	G-Force	Toyota	HMS 18		MOT 20														26th	43
		Dallara			PHX 10		INDY 30	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	STL	KTY	NZR	CHI	FON	TX2

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
2001	Dallara	Oldsmobile	DNQ
2002	Dallara	Infiniti	27	20
2003	Dallara	Toyota	30	30

NASCAR

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

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck 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	NCTC	Pts
2004	Germain/Arnold Racing	01	Toyota	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR	HOM DNQ	NA	-
2005		9		DAY 34	CAL 30	ATL 27	MAR DNQ	GTY 27	MFD 36	CLT 34	DOV	TEX 35	MCH 27	MLW DNQ	KAN	KEN 24	MEM	IRP	NSH 35	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	35th	703

References

1. Spencer, Lee (July 29, 2015). "East meets West: Jesse Little to run for Hattori Racing". motorsport.com. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
2. Press Release (October 20, 2015). "Ross Kenseth to Make NASCAR Truck Series Debut at Martinsville Speedway with Hattori Racing Enterprises". Mooresville, North Carolina: Catchfence.com. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
3. Henderson, Martin (April 4, 1998). "GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH NOTEBOOK: Costa Mesa's Hattori Bridges the Language Barrier With Speed". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
4. Henderson, Martin (2000-09-01). "Preparation Pays Off in Kentucky for Gregoire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
5. Toyota (November 17, 2004). "Homestead: Toyota preview". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
6. "Shigeaki Hattori". NASCAR. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
7. Hattori Racing Enterprises, Germain Racing (February 2, 2009). "Daytona: Hattori Racing Enterprises preview". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
8. "Daytona: Michael Annett preview". Mooresville, North Carolina: motorsport.com, michaelannett.com. February 3, 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
9. Automobile Racing Club of America (May 13, 2008). "ARCA: Series Notebook 2008-05-12". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
10. Utter, Jim (January 16, 2017). "Ryan Truex set to run full NASCAR Trucks schedule in 2017". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
11. Utter, Jim (January 4, 2018). "After best season yet, Ryan Truex now looking for a job". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
12. "Brett Moffitt joins Hattori Racing for 2018 NASCAR Truck season". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
13. Crandall, Kelly (August 22, 2018). "Moffitt's Trucks title shot endangered by sponsor hole". Racer. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
14. Long, Dustin (December 5, 2018). "Hattori Racing to replace Truck champ Brett Moffitt". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
15. "Austin Hill, Hattori Racing Enterprises Team for 2019 Truck Season". Frontstretch. Retrieved 2019-01-08.

External links

• Shigeaki Hattori driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Shigeaki Hattori owner statistics at Racing-Reference