While touring the garage area during the NASCAR K&N Pro East road race at Watkins Glen International recently, a Toyota Camry race car with sponsor “Gunma Toyopet” lettered on the side caught my attention. Specifically, Toyota used its Toyopet global marketing name when they brought their first ever car to the U.S. in 1957.
Called the Toyopet Crown, the four-door sedan arrived as a sample model exported to the U.S. in ‘57. Following the Toyopet models being displayed at car shows, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. was established on Oct. 31 of 1958 and welcomed as many dealers as they could attract. This initial marketing venture grew stronger when in June of 1958 a special order for 4,621 vehicles from the U.S. Army Procurement Agency made Toyopet’s entry to the U.S. a big success. The deal resulted in an order exceeding five-billion yen. Then in July of ’58, north and south California dealers signed up to sell the Toyopet Crown and the operation of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. began in earnest.
Back to the Watkins Glen garage.
Knowing that most of the Toyopet racing crew members probably didn’t know of the ‘57 Tyopet Crown, we tracked down car owner Shigeaki Hattori, originally from Okayama, Japan, and a very popular NASCAR team owner. Hattori is best known by those involved in motorsports, and one thing everyone agrees on is that the 63-year-old Japanese racer and businessman has paid his dues in American motorsports. Pleasantly surprised as we discussed the 1957 Toyopet Crown and its Toyota connection, Hattori was quick to respond.
“There sure aren’t many in the garage area who knows this tie-in of Toyopet and Toyota, including my crew,” he said with a smile. “The Toyopet name is still used by Toyota Global, with numerous auto and non automotive endeavors. Here in the U.S., Toyopet is recognized by very few as being Toyota’s first automobile effort in 1957 and 1958.”
As for his being an aspiring race driver himself, Hattori moved to the United States in 1995 after winning the Japanese Formula Toyota championship in 1994. And, at the “old” age of 32, Hattori began his U.S. career competing in the Indy Lights series, where in 1996 he posted two victories and finished 14th in points. From there, he went to Indy Car racing, with some good sponsors like Epson behind him.
However, Hattori’s driver development in Indy Cars hit some difficult times. Wally Dallenbach Sr., then CART’s Chief Steward, revoked Hattori’s Indy Car license in mid-1999 after a learning curve that included too many spin outs and incidents. Still, Hattori fought back with the Indy Racing League (IRL) and did achieve living his dream of racing in the Indy 500.
Although he failed to qualify in 2000 and 2001, Hattori did take the Indy 500 green flag in 2002 after qualifying 27th of 33 drivers with a four-lap average of 228.192 in his Epson sponsored Infiniti powered car for Bradley Motorsports. He finished 20th after running 197 of the 200 laps when mechanical woes sidelined him.
He also qualified for Indy in 2003 driving for A.J. Foyt, again with Epson backing. He finished 30th after starting 30th, while his best IRL finish was sixth at Texas in 2002 and he finished 13th in IRL points in 2001 for Treadway-Vertex Cunningham Racing. He also led 28 laps in his 26 series starts.
Following an uneventful attempt as a driver in the NASCAR Camping World truck series, Hattori began his career fielding cars in several sanctioning bodies, like ARCA and NASCAR. But it wasn’t until August of 2013 that he debuted as an official NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team owner. Fast forward to today, and Hattori has one of the best crew chiefs in Scott Zippadelli calling the shots and an outstanding driver in 26-year old Brett Moffitt, now a 2018 season three time winner.
“I’m pleased we’ve won three times with Brett (Moffitt) and it is very gratifying to be in a NASCAR victory lane. We currently have eight Camping World Tundras at our shop that we use depending on track layout. I’m very happy to be in NASCAR and I’m honored to be in this position,” he said.
And it’s Hattori’s engaging personality, past history both as a driver and team owner that results in many positive comments in the garage about his business expertise and NASCAR dedication. He’s known as a capable team owner that gives young drivers a chance.
As for the business acumen necessary to compete full-time in one of NASCAR’s premier series, Hattori knows how to attract sponsors, promote both Japanese and American tourism and how to co-op with his numerous Asian and American sponsors.
“Racing in NASCAR is both a sport and a business, and you must always run your team as a business. I drove for many team owners when I raced, and some were great people but not that great when it came to the business side of racing,” he concluded.
So keep your eye on the Brett Moffitt No. 18 Toyota Tundra as the Camping World truck season winds down. You just might be watching a championship in the making.
And how did Hattori, Zippadelli and Moffitt do at the NASCAR K&N Pro Easy race at Watkins Glen you ask?
Moffitt drove the No. 1 Gunma Toyopet Hattori Toyota Camry from last to first and won his career first road race with a last lap pass.
Well done team Hattori. Well done Toyopet Global. Well done Zipadelli and Moffitt.
(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader interaction and questions at
[email protected] or at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840).