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Hiro Matsushita | |
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ヒロ松下 | |
 Matsushita in 2018 | |
| Born | Hiroyuki Matsushita (1961-03-14)March 14, 1961 (age 64) Nishinomiya, Japan |
| Other names | King Hiro[1] |
| Alma mater | Konan University |
| Occupations | Businessperson, formerracing driver |
| Known for | First Japanese driver to race in theIndy 500 |
| Notable work | The first and only Japanese driver to win theToyota Atlantic Championship (Pacific) |
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) |
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| Spouse | Mitsuko Matsushita |
| Children | 1 |
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Hiroyuki Matsushita (松下弘幸,Matsushita Hiroyuki), also known byHiro Matsushita (ヒロ松下), is a Japanese businessman and formerracing driver. He is the grandson ofKōnosuke Matsushita, the founder ofPanasonic. In 1989, Matsushita won theToyota Atlantic Championship (Pacific), becoming the first and only Japanese driver to do so. He was also the first Japanese driver to race in theIndy 500.
Matsushita was born inNishinomiya,Hyōgo Prefecture as the youngest son ofMasaharu Matsushita, who was the second president of Panasonic for sixteen years from 1961. He graduated fromKonan University. His elder brother,Masayuki Matsushita served as a vice chairman ofPanasonic for over a decade.
Despite being the grandson of the founder ofPanasonic, he refused to be labelled as a rich kid who could buy his way into anything. He instead worked his way up from the bottom, starting his career racing motorcycles in his home country between 1977 and 1980, before switching to four wheels. He retired fromMotocross racing by becoming Champion inKansai region in 1980 at the age of 19.
In 1987, Matsushita started racing Formula Fords - the Class A of auto racing - In the following year, he teamed up withJim Downing in a Camel Lights car and secured a second-place finish in class at the24 Hours of Daytona and a third-place finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 1989, Matsushita fearlessly entered the Formula Atlantic series and, by the end of that year, he had claimed four victories and theToyota Atlantic championship (Pacific division) with the largest point margin of all time. He then tried Formula Pacific in New Zealand and became the first Japanese driver to win the prestigiousLady Wigram Trophy Race.[3]
Matsushita graduated to Champ Car in 1990, scoring one point in his debut season. He became the first Japanese driver to race in theIndianapolis 500.[4]In 1991, and followed that achievement with a top-ten finish atMilwaukee. Matsushita missed the1992 Indy 500 after suffering a broken leg during a practice crash. He was sidelined for several weeks and missed the next six events.
At thePhoenix race in 1994, Matsushita endured a serious crash when his car was cut in half byJacques Villeneuve's car travelling at nearly full speed., he escaped with only minor injuries. The same year, he earned his best career finish of 6th position at the Marlboro 500 atMichigan International Speedway. This result was made possible by an extraordinarily high rate of attrition that saw only 8 cars finish the race. Matsushita was 11 laps behind the leader at the drop of the checkered flag.
By the time he retired in 1998, Matsushita had started 117 Champ Car races forDick Simon Racing,Walker Racing, Arciero/Wells Racing andPayton/Coyne. He holds the record for most starts inAmerican Championship Car Racing history without scoring a Top 5.
In 2001, Matsushita competed in theBaja 1000 off-road race, in aMitsubishi Montero.
| Year | Team | Points | Car | races | wins | podiums | pole positions | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Panasonic Racing | 118 | Swift DB4 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Year | Team | Points | Car | races | wins | podiums | pole positions | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Downing/Atlanta Racing | 64 | Argo JM19Mazda | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| Year | Team | Points | Car | races | wins | podiums | pole positions | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Panasonic Racing | 141 | Swift DB4 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Year | Team | Car | race | Laps | Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | TeamPanasonic | SwiftCosworth | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Panasonic Racing | PHX | LBH | MIL | DET | POR 13 | MEA 12 | TOR 6 | POC | MDO | ROA | NAZ 8 | LAG | 18th | 14 |
| Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Dick Simon Racing | 10 | Lola T89/00 | CosworthDFSV8t | PHX | LBH 19 | INDY DNQ | MIL | DET 19 | POR 12 | CLE | MEA 16 | TOR | MIS | DEN 15 | VAN 23 | MDO 17 | ROA 18 | NZR 21 | LS 23 | 31st | 1 | [5] | |||
| 1991 | Dick Simon Racing | 7 | Lola T90/00 | CosworthDFSV8t | SRF 21 | PHX 14 | MIL 10 | DET 14 | POR 14 | 23rd | 6 | [6] | ||||||||||||||
| Lola T91/00 | LBH 13 | CLE 14 | MEA 12 | TOR 15 | MIS 19 | DEN 14 | VAN 16 | MDO 14 | ROA 12 | NZR 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| Buick3300V6t | INDY 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chevrolet265AV8t | LS 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992 | Dick Simon Racing | 11 | Lola T92/00 | Chevrolet265AV8t | SRF DNS | PHX 16 | LBH 10 | INDY DNS | DET | POR | MIL | NHM | TOR | MIS | CLE 24 | ROA 14 | VAN 13 | MDO 18 | NZR 14 | LS 15 | 27th | 3 | [7] | |||
| 1993 | Walker Racing | 15 | Lola T93/00 | FordXBV8t | SRF 11 | PHX 10 | LBH 14 | INDY 18 | MIL 13 | DET 13 | POR 21 | CLE 12 | TOR 16 | MIS 14 | NHM 13 | ROA 13 | VAN 12 | MDO 13 | NZR 21 | LS 19 | 26th | 7 | [8] | |||
| 1994 | Dick Simon Racing | 22 | Lola T94/00 | FordXBV8t | SRF 15 | PHX 27 | LBH DNQ | INDY 14 | MIL 23 | DET DNQ | POR 21 | CLE 15 | TOR 18 | MIS 6 | MDO 18 | NHM 17 | VAN DNQ | ROA 14 | NZR 16 | LS 23 | 26th | 8 | [9] | |||
| 1995 | Arciero-Wells Racing | 25 | Reynard 94i | FordXBV8t | MIA 26 | SRF 11 | PHX 22 | LBH 19 | NZR DNS | 28th | 5 | [10] | ||||||||||||||
| Reynard 95i | INDY 10 | MIL 19 | DET 14 | POR 17 | ROA 13 | TOR 19 | CLE 13 | MIS 20 | MDO 15 | NHM 22 | VAN 17 | LS 22 | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Payton/Coyne Racing | 19 | Lola T96/00 | FordXBV8t | MIA 18 | RIO 24 | SRF 10 | LBH 28 | NZR 26 | 500 14 | MIL 28 | DET 19 | POR 21 | CLE 17 | TOR 27 | MIS 15 | MDO 19 | ROA 15 | VAN 15 | LS 23 | 28th | 3 | [11] | |||
| 1997 | Arciero-Wells Racing | 24 | Reynard 97i | Toyota RV8AV8t Toyota RV8BV8t | MIA 21 | SRF 25 | LBH 20 | NZR 25 | RIO 23 | STL 15 | MIL 17 | DET 19 | POR 15 | CLE 20 | TOR 22 | MIS 9 | MDO 19 | ROA 24 | VAN 14 | LS 28 | FON 23 | 27th | 4 | [12] | ||
| 1998 | Arciero-Wells Racing | Reynard 98i | Toyota RV8CV8t | MIA 23 | MOT 16 | LBH 19 | NZR | RIO 15 | STL | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | MDO | ROA | VAN | LS | HOU | SRF | FON | 30th | 0 | [13] | |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Team Goh David Price Racing |  Hiroki KatohAkihiko Nakaya | BMW V12 LM | LMP | 223 | DNF | DNF |
| Hiro Matsushita | |
|---|---|
 Matsushita in 1990s | |
| Retired | 2001 |
| CART,Championship Car,Indy Car,American Racing Series,Champ Car Atlantic Series,Lady Wigram Trophy | |
| Years active | 1987–2001 |
| Teams | Dick Simon Racing Paragon Racing Walker Racing Arciero-Wells Racing Payton/Coyne Racing |
| Starts | 158 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Podiums | 16 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1989 | |
| Awards | |
| 1998 | Champions Club |
Matsushita earned the nickname "King Hiro" fromEmerson Fittipaldi, who was complaining about Matsushita's reluctance to cede track position when getting lapped by the leaders.[15] The nickname came about as a result of thevoice-activated microphone ("vox") Roger Penske's team was using. Fittipaldi's epithet was said so quickly that the circuit cut off the first syllable of the first word he used. Fittipaldi, allegedly, had intended to say "Fucking Hiro!"[16]
Matsushita, a successful businessman, owns Matsushita International Corp, a firm specializing in real estate, finance, and insurance. This company has ownership ofSwift Engineering, an American engineering firm that buildsautonomous systems,helicopters,submarines,spacecraft, ground vehicles,robotics, and composite parts. Swift was well-known for producing racing cars for various open-wheel racing series such asFormula Ford,Formula Atlantic, theChamp Car World Series, andFormula Nippon.[17]
In 1998, Nov 2, Hiro Matsushita was awardedChampion Culbs during the CART Year End Banquet at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California.[18]
| Matsushita Uemon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yasuda Koichiro | Tokue Matsushita | Masakusu Matsushita | Hirata Tosuke | Maeda Toshiaki (前田利昭 | Mitsui Takamine10th head of the Mitsui family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tetsujiro Nakao | Yasue | Jun Iue | Yurou Iue | Toshio Iue | Mumeno | Konosuke Matsushita | Hirata Shodo | Shizuko | Maeda Toshisada | Keiko | Mitsui Takakimi11th head of the Mitsui family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Satoshi Iue | Matsushita Sachiko | Masaharu Matsushita | Hirata Katsumi | Nobuko | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iue Toshimasa | Hiro Matsushita | Masayuki Matsushita (松下正幸) | Atsuko | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matsushita resides inSan Clemente, California.[19] He has a son called Takayuki Matsushita who is a lawyer resides in the USA.
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Headquarters:Plainfield,Illinois | |
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| Preceded by | North American Formula Atlantic Pacific Division Champion 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lady Wigram Trophy Winner 1989 | Succeeded by |
