Shigeaki Hattori

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.

As an owner, Hattori owned Hattori Racing Enterprises, which competed full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. HRE also has competed part-time in the Xfinity Series, ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West 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, and Ryan Truex. His race team won the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with Brett Moffitt.

Hattori was not related to Naoki Hattori, whom he briefly raced against in CART.

Early life Hattori was born in Okayama, Japan on November 3, 1963.

Racing career Prior to moving to the United States, Hattori won the Formula Toyota championship in 1994.

Indy Lights Hattori moved to the United States in 1995, Later that season, he won the race at Gateway Motorsports Park and finished fourteenth in the standings.

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 After having several accidents and spins throughout the season, his CART competition license was revoked by chief steward Wally Dallenbach Sr. He started seven races, with a best finish of 15th at Gateway International Raceway. He led a total of 28 laps in his 26 series starts. He failed to qualify his No. 01 Toyota Tundra.

Team ownership

Beginning in 2008, Hattori fielded entries in NASCAR and ARCA competition under the Hattori Racing Enterprises banner. 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 No. 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, but Truex was released prior to the 2018 season.

Moffitt returned to HRE in 2018. Despite sponsorship concerns that threatened to cut their season short, Moffitt and HRE went on to win that year's championship. Nevertheless, troubles with funding resulted in Moffitt's release. Austin Hill would take over the No. 16 in 2019. The team expanded to two trucks in 2022 with Tyler Ankrum and Chase Purdy.

In 2022, Hattori formed Hattori Motorsports to compete in the GT4 America Series with Seth Lucas and Matt Plumb.

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.

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights

CART Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rank Points Ref 1999 Bettenhausen Racing 16 Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz IC108EMIAMOTLBHNZRRIOSTLMILPORCLEROATORMISDETMDOCHIVANLSHOUSRFFON36th0 Source: 2001 Vertex-Cunningham Racing Dallara OldsmobilePHXHMSATLINDYTXSPPIRIRKANNSHKTYSTLCHITX2 13th 215 2002 Bradley Motorsports 12 Dallara ChevroletHMSPHX 27th 78 InfinitiFONNZRINDYTXSPPIRIRKANNSHMISKTYSTLCHITX2 2003 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 5 G-Force ToyotaHMSMOT 26th 43 DallaraPHXINDYTXSPPIRIRKANNSHMISSTLKTYNZRCHIFONTX2Source: '''

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 Pts Ref 2004 Bill Davis 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 NA - 2005 Germain/Arnold Racing 9 DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 35th 703 Source: