Indy 500 racer, NASCAR team owner Shigeaki Hattori killed in traffic accident

Winning racer and championship-winning team owner ‘Shige’ Hattori has died. Hattori was involved in a three-car traffic accident on Saturday morning. The tragic incident took place around 9:15 a.m. EST on I-77 northbound in Mecklenburg County, about 30 minutes north of Charlotte, North Carolina. He was driving a 2025 Toyota Crown when he crossed the center line, colliding with another vehicle. Everyone else involved suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

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The Huntersville Police Department confirmed Hattori’s passing and the details of the crash on Monday morning. Speeding or impairment were not believed to have been factors in the tragic accident, which remains under investigation.

Hailing from Okayama, Japan, Hattori moved to the States in 1995 as he branched out into the American open-wheel racing scene. He competed full-time as an Indy Lights driver for three years, winning twice during the 1998 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Gateway.

He graduated to CART and IndyCar in the years to follow, driving for various teams and starting over two dozen races. His tenure in CART was tumultuous, but he improved mightily as an IndyCar driver. His career included three Indianapolis 500 attempts, making the iconic race twice in both 2002 and 2003, finishing as high as 20th. His best showing in IndyCar came while driving for Bradley Motorsports, finishing sixth at Texas Motor Speedway during the 2002 season.

Shigeaki Hattori

Earl Ma

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However, Hattori’s motorsports journey then took him from open-wheel racing to stock cars around 2004. Competing with Germain Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series, he struggled to acclimate and crashed out in six of the ten races he started. But this was not the end of his NASCAR experiment.

His true impact on the sport would come a few years later as he ventured into team ownership. Hattori Racing Enterprises was established in 2008 and started actively competing in both the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series in 2013. He brought new sponsors into the sport and gave opportunities to future Cup stars like Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain. While the organization never placed higher than fifth in an Xfinity Series race, Hattori’s NASCAR operation reached stunning heights in the Truck Series.

Brett Moffitt, Hattori Racing Enterprises, Toyota Tundra AISIN Group celebrates his win with a burnout

Russell LaBounty / NKP / Motorsport Images

The race team won a total of 14 Truck races with Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill, but their crowning achievement came in 2018. Moffitt led the team to the Championship 4, beating Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch Motorsports to win the NASCAR Truck Series title. Hattori’s team moved away from full-time competition in 2023, only running a partial schedule in recent years, but his impact on the sport’s lower divisions has been immense.