Hiro Matsushita

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hiro Matsushita
ヒロ松下
racing driver
Title
SpouseMitsuko Matsushita
Children1
Parents
(father)
  • Sachiko Matsushita (mother)
    • Relatives
    Family
    Signature

    Hiroyuki Matsushita (松下弘幸, Matsushita Hiroyuki), also known by Hiro Matsushita (ヒロ松下), is a Japanese businessman and former

    Toyota Atlantic Championship (Pacific), becoming the first and only Japanese driver to do so. He was also the first Japanese driver to race in the Indy 500
    .

    Early life

    Matsushita was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture as the youngest son of Masaharu Matsushita, who was the second president of Panasonic for sixteen years from 1961. He graduated from Konan University. His elder brother, Masayuki Matsushita served as a vice chairman of Panasonic for over a decade.

    Racing career

    Despite being the grandson of the founder of Panasonic, 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 from Motocross racing by becoming Champion in Kansai 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 with

    Toyota 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 prestigious Lady Wigram Trophy Race.[3]

    He graduated to Champ Car in 1990, scoring one point in his debut season. He became the first Japanese driver to race in the Indianapolis 500.[4] In 1991, and followed that achievement with a top-ten finish at Milwaukee. Matsushita missed the 1992 Indy 500 after suffering a broken leg during a practice crash. He was sidelined for several weeks and missed the next six events.

    At the

    Phoenix race in 1994, Matsushita endured a horrific crash in which his car was cut in half by Jacques Villeneuve's car travelling at nearly full speed. He emerged from his destroyed car with only minor injuries. The same year, he earned his best career finish of 6th position at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan 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 for

    American Championship Car Racing
    history without scoring a Top 5.

    In 2001, Matsushita competed in the

    Mitsubishi Montero
    .

    Racing record

    WCAR/SCCA Western Formula Atlantic Championship results

    Year Team Points Car races wins podiums pole positions Pos.
    1988 Panasonic Racing 118 Swift DB4 10 1 4 3

    IMSA Camel Lights results

    Year Team Points Car races wins podiums pole positions Pos.
    1988 Downing/Atlanta Racing 64 Argo JM19 Mazda 6 3 11

    Toyota Atlantic Championship (pacific) results

    Year Team Points Car races wins podiums pole positions Pos.
    1989 Panasonic Racing 141 Swift DB4 9 4 8 3 1

    Lady Wigram Trophy results

    Year Team Car race Laps Pos.
    1989 Team Panasonic Swift Cosworth 1 8 1

    American open–wheel racing results

    Indy Lights

    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

    CART

    Year Team 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
    Lola
    T89/00     		Cosworth DFS V8 t 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
    Lola
    T90/00     		Cosworth DFS V8 t 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
    Buick 3300 V6 t INDY
    16
    Chevrolet 265A V8 t LS
    20
    1992 Dick Simon Racing
    Lola
    T92/00     		Chevrolet 265A V8 t
    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
    Lola
    T93/00     		Ford XB V8 t 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
    Lola
    T94/00     		Ford XB V8 t 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
    		 Reynard 94i Ford XB V8 t 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
    Lola
    T96/00     		Ford XB V8 t 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
    		 Reynard 97i Toyota RV8A V8 t
    Toyota RV8B V8 t     		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 RV8C V8 t 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]

    24 Hours of Le Mans results

    Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
    Pos.
    1999 Team Goh
    David Price Racing     		Hiroki Katoh
    Akihiko Nakaya     		BMW V12 LM LMP 223 DNF DNF
    Hiro Matsushita in 1991
    Hiro Matsushita
    Champ Car Atlantic Series
  • Lady Wigram Trophy[14]
    • Awards
    1998Champions Club

    Nickname

    Matsushita earned the nickname "King Hiro" from Emerson 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 the voice-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]

    Business career

    Matsushita, who is also a successful businessman, owns Matsushita International Corp, a firm that specializes in real estate, finance, and insurance. Among the company's holdings is

    Formula Nippon. Matsushita purchased Swift Engineering in 1991 and added it to his business portfolio.[17]

    Private life

    Matsushita resides in San Clemente, California.[18]

    Awards

    In 1998, Nov 2, Hiro Matsushita was awarded Champion Culbs during the CART Year End Banquet at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles, California.[19]

    Matsushita family tree

    Matsushita Uemon
    Yasuda KoichiroTokue MatsushitaMasakusu MatsushitaHirata TosukeMaeda Toshiaki
    (前田利昭    		Mitsui Takamine10th head of the Mitsui family
    Tetsujiro NakaoYasueJun IueYurou Iue
    Hirata Shodo
    		ShizukoMaeda ToshisadaKeikoMitsui Takakimi11th head of the Mitsui family
    Satoshi IueMatsushita SachikoMasaharu MatsushitaHirata KatsumiNobuko
    Iue ToshimasaHiro MatsushitaMasayuki Matsushita
    (松下正幸)    		Atsuko

    See also

    References

    1. ^ "The story of King Hiro". May 13, 2020.
    2. ^ "HIRO AT LARGE". LA Times.
    3. ^ "Hiroyuki Matsushita". historicracing.com. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
    4. ^ "JAPANESE FIND HIRO AT INDY LIKE MOST 500 ROOKIES, HE KEEPS A LOW PROFILE". sun-sentinel. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
    5. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    6. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    7. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    8. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    9. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    10. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    11. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    12. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    13. ^ "Hiro Matsushita – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
    14. ^ "Canterbury Car Club (Organiser)". Archived from the original on May 1, 2010.
    15. ^ Oreovicz, John (August 22, 2001). "Tora Finding His Form". ChampCarWorldSeries.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
    16. ^ "Motor Sports Dictionary – K". Dictionary of Gambling. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
    17. ^ "Japanese Auto Racer Keeps Plans on Track: Hiroyuki Matsushita is building a facility in San Clemente to manufacture race cars". LA Times.
    18. ^ "OCs-Wealthiest".
    19. ^ "Hiro Matsushita/ JPN".

    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hiro Matsushita.
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hiro_Matsushita&oldid=1224551257"