EXCLUSIVE: “Nobody Helped Me” – Only Japanese Winner in Late Model Racing Recalls His Legendary Win at Hickory Motor Speedway

Hickory Motor Speedway is one of the most iconic venues in the history of stock car racing. Since the short track opened in 1951, it has witnessed several racers make a name for themselves. However, none would be remembered as fondly as the Japanese sensation Akinori Ogata.

In an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Ogata shared intrinsic details of his racing career. While he broke barriers during his memorable motorsports journey, it wasn’t an easy ride by any means.

Akinori Ogata gets candid about his historic win at the Hickory Motor Speedway

It is no secret that NASCAR has been a challenging sport ever since its inception. It only gets more tricky for a foreign racer considering the dynamics in American motorsports. While the sport has become more diverse in the 20th century, drivers like Akinori Ogata have witnessed their own set of difficulties settling in.

At the age of 14, Ogata started racing in motocross in his native Kanagawa. As he shifted to Dirt Midget racing in 1999, he always continued dreaming of pursuing his “American Dream” of racing in the Daytona 500. With this in mind, the Japanese driver arrived in the United States in 2003.

After almost two decades of struggles and relentless efforts, Ogata finally secured a historic milestone. He registered an emphatic victory at Hickory Motor Speedway in April 2022, becoming the first and only Japanese driver to win the limited late model class in NASCAR.

Indeed, it was an achievement to be proud of. Speaking about it in his exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, Ogata expressed his emotions behind his journey in the United States. While he said that the Hickory victory was a really good time in his career, he highlighted the struggles before that.

Akinori Ogata said, “I mentioned that I started racing in 2003 with nothing, can’t speak English. Nobody knows. Nobody helped me.” Having said that, his zeal to succeed kept him going. He said, “I wanted to compete real, I wanted to be a real racer in the United States as a Japanese driver. So, I was working hard every day.”

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Eventually, it did pay off for him, and how. In fact, he even took the time to detail how he made it work in the States.

Akinori Ogata reveals the secret to making it work for international drivers in NASCAR

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Having now spent over two decades in the United States, Akinori Ogata is more than accustomed to the dynamics. He knows what made it work for him, as he explained it during his exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. Ogata said it was understandable how people hesitated to believe in a Japanese driver to race in the States, but the key was always to keep believing in himself.

With him struggling earlier in the Truck Series, Ogata went back to the local tracks to get more focused. While it was challenging there too, he grew stronger and then started hiring different crew chiefs and team members to improve his game. Eventually, it helped him learn more about stock car racing in America.

At the same time, he was able to overcome the financial demands that come with racing in the States. While good equipment helped his cause, it also required a balance of the right efforts, important team members, and the resilience to succeed.

The win at the Hickory Motor Speedway was just a moment of happiness for Ogata but a great relief. It was a testament to his unreal struggles and an inspiration for all the incoming foreign drivers in NASCAR.

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