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Shigeaki Hattori
Japanese racing driver (1963–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Shigeaki Hattori (服部 茂章, Hattori Shigeaki; November 3, 1963 – April 5, 2025) was 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.
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As an owner, Hattori owned Hattori Racing Enterprises, which competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West. HRE also has competed part-time in the Xfinity Series in the past. The team has fielded cars for Johnny Sauter, Alex Bowman, Austin Hill, Max McLaughlin, 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.
He was not related to Naoki Hattori, whom he briefly raced against in CART.
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Early life
Shigeaki Hattori was born in Okayama, Japan on November 3, 1963.[2]
Racing career
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Prior to moving to the United States, Hattori won the Formula Toyota championship in 1994.[3]
Indy Lights
Hattori moved to the United States in 1995,[3] 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 1997 at the season-opener at Homestead Miami Speedway.[4] Later that season, he won the race at Gateway Motorsports Park and finished 14th in the standings.[5]
CART
Hattori stepped up to CART in 1999, racing for Bettenhausen Motorsports. After having several accidents and spins throughout the season, his CART competition license was revoked by chief steward Wally Dallenbach Sr.[5][6] He started 7 races, with a best finish of 15th at Gateway International Raceway.[2]
Indy Racing League
Hattori raced in the Indy Racing League from 2000 until 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.[2][7] He led a total of 28 laps in his 26 series starts.[5]
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.[8] He failed to qualify his No. 01 Toyota Tundra.[6] Hattori was signed to drive the No. 9 Tundra for Germain Racing-Arnold Racing in 2005, with sponsorship from Aisin AW.[9][dead link]
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Team ownership
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Beginning in 2008, Hattori fielded entries in NASCAR and ARCA competition under the Hattori Racing Enterprises banner.[10][11][12] 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,[13] but Truex was released prior to the 2018 season.[14]
Moffitt returned to HRE in 2018.[15] Despite sponsorship concerns that threatened to cut their season short,[16] Moffitt and HRE went on to win that year's championship. Nevertheless, troubles with funding resulted in Moffitt's release.[17] Austin Hill would take over the No. 16 in 2019.[18] The team expanded to two trucks in 2022 with Tyler Ankrum and Chase Purdy.[19]
In 2022, Hattori formed Hattori Motorsports to compete in the GT4 America Series with Seth Lucas and Matt Plumb.[20]
Death
Hattori died on the morning of April 5, 2025 in a traffic collision on North Carolina Highway 73 near Huntersville, North Carolina. He was 61. Preliminary investigation indicates that a 2025 Toyota Crown, driven by Hattori, was traveling westbound when it crossed the centerline into the oncoming lane and collided head-on with another vehicle. Hattori was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the incident is under investigation.[21][22]
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Racing record
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American open-wheel racing results
(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Indy Lights
CART
IndyCar Series
Indianapolis 500
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
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References
External links
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