Stock Cars and Sushi: When NASCAR’s thunder roared in Japan

NASCAR joined other U.S. sports in staging exhibition events in Japan in the 1990s, as they took their show overseas for three years during the decade.

Sushi, sumo, and…the Intimidator? As unlikely as those words might sound together, once upon a time, NASCAR raced for the first (and only) time overseas in Japan.

Japan has historically been a haven for motorsports enthusiasts. Drift racing, Formula 1, and a general of love cars in general are all hugely popular pastimes there. And in the 1990s, 1994 to be exact, a chance meeting between Bill France Jr. and Hiromishi Suzuki, the general manager of Suzuka Circuit, brought big-time stock car racing into the fold.

This meeting ultimately led to what became a three-year NASCAR run of exhibition races in Japan: two at Suzuka Circuit in 1996 and 1997, dubbed the NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka, and one at Twin Ring Motegi in 1998, named the Coca-Cola 500.

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In the NASCAR documentary Made in Japan, there are surreal scenes, such as Dale Earnhardt and other vintage 1990s stars, mingling among the Japanese while taking in the sights and sounds of this exotic land. It’s interesting to see them outside of their natural habitat.

To understand the “why”, you would have to have witnessed the export of U.S. sports overseas throughout the 1990s, especially in Japan. Japan’s economy was booming, and they had an appetite for bringing the U.S. sports they love to their home turf and tracks.

The NFL was holding annual games, dubbed the “American Bowl”, in Japan and the United Kingdom while MLB began having season opening games at the Tokyo Dome, or the “Big Egg”. Buster Douglas’s historic upset of Mike Tyson also took place at the “Big Egg”.

NASCAR wanted to cash in on some of this international exposure as well. It would be no small feat, as the cars, teams, and all of their equipment needed to be transported about 7,000 miles.

It’s a little more than a hauler can cover, even on the west coast swing.

Taking into account the fact that races were held after the regular NASCAR season ended in November, they were a huge success. The 1996 and 1997 NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka were 100-lap races held on the seven-turn, 1.394-mile (2.243-kilometer) road course. The first was won by Rusty Wallace, and Mike Skinner took the checkered flag in the second.

1998’s Coca-Cola 500 was held in a more recognizable setting: a good ole oval. Twin Ring Motegi is an egg-shaped 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) that looks very similar to Darlington Raceway. The 201-lap Coca Cola 500 resulted with the typical cast of characters finishing in the top 10, including Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin among others.

Skinner proved to be the king of racing in Japan, taking the checkered flag and winning two of the three races in the “Land of the Rising Sun”.

The races featured some pretty historic firsts. For one, 1997’s NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka marked the first time NASCAR used rain tires in a race. And this article could also have been titled “Land of the Rising Son”, as the 1998 Coca-Cola 500 was the first race in which Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. raced against one another.

The Japan series also propelled veteran Japanese driver Hideo Fukuyama to race in Cup Series races in the U.S., capitalizing on high praise from Dale Earnhardt himself.

Fukuyama kept his promise to the Intimidator to race in America, making a total of four appearances in 2002 and 2003, albeit with limited success. Fukuyama remains the only native Japanese driver to have taken the wheel in the Cup Series.

Following 1998’s Coca -Cola 500, NASCAR president Bill Helton announced that NASCAR would not renew the series contract. He cited the understandable high costs of transporting the vehicles as well as the other logistical issues that come with racing so far away. It was fun while it lasted, but the human toll of effectively extending the racing season simply could not be sustained forever.

It was definitely not for lack of support or enthusiasm from the Japanese fans. For them, it was a colorful and entertaining version of auto racing they weren’t overly familiar with, and had NASCAR renewed the contract, there may have even been some kind of NASCAR alliance with one of the tracks there, much like they have with certain tracks in Canada and Mexico.

Excluding races in Canada and Mexico, NASCAR’s Japan series remains the only time in the sport’s history where the whole show was taken internationally. It is well remembered by all, especially “Japan NASCAR champion” Mike Skinner, and there are undoubtedly many Japanese fans who remember it fondly as well.