Folks, “Boogity, boogity, boogity – let’s go racing, boys!” has to be one of Darrell Waltrip’s most iconic lines. But one that not many know but was equally great has to be “Shige got a little jiggy,” which was what he said sometime back when Hattori Racing Enterprises won a Truck Series race at Daytona. If you are wondering why we are suddenly talking about a part-time truck series team. Well, because we have sad news to share. The man, the myth, the legend of HRE has passed away.

Hattori Racing Enterprise shared this heartbreaking news in a press release. “We are heartbroken to confirm that Shigeaki “Shige” Hattori was pronounced deceased on the morning of Saturday, April 5, in Huntersville, N.C., following a motor vehicle accident. He was 61.” 

The Huntersville Police Department confirmed Hattori’s passing and shared the details of the accident on Monday morning. Shigeaki’s Toyota Crown was traveling westbound on NC Highway 73 when it crossed the centerline into the opposite lane and collided with a Lexus GX550.

Shigeaki Hattori, better known as Shige, was the epitome of resilience and a never-give-up attitude. His story of getting into the sport and making a name for himself has to be one of the greatest there is! This is the story of how a boy from Japan saw a dream to be in motorsports and flew thousands of miles to the United States to make it a reality. It makes us incredibly sad that we won’t see that infectious smile on the racetrack anymore.

Hattori’s story started when he was just 8-9 years old. His uncle had a motorcycle, and the young Japanese boy was intrigued. But it did not take him long to realize that he wanted to ride something with “four wheels.” He got into Karting, ran in Formula Japan. It felt like Open Wheel racing was where he’d make his name. But Japanese Motorsports wasn’t exciting him anymore. That was also when NASCAR ran its inaugural race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,  the 1994 Brickyard 400. That was a turning point; Hattori wanted to be there, so he packed his bag and came to the US.

He came to the US, but still, he was into open-wheel racing. Between 2000 and 2003, Hattori competed in 26 NTT IndyCar Series races, earning a best finish of sixth at Texas Motor Speedway. But he wanted to get into stock car racing. And thanks to his connections in Toyota, he got into the Truck Series in 2005. Even Toyota was a new OEM back then, and they were experimenting. Hattori ran 10 races. But that was the extent of his driving career. And then came the best decision of his life.

Recalling which he had previously said, “I decided, ‘OK, no more,’ and I stopped driving. Two or three years after, I didn’t do anything. I took some classes at UCLA, traveling and doing nothing with my life. I was thinking, I should do something. I really liked NASCAR racing, and so I decided I should start my race team and put young drivers (in it). So, I started in 2008.”

They started out in ARCA racing. In 2012 and 2013, K&N Pro Series East (now called ARCA East), HRE got their first wins. Brett Moffitt was the guy to fulfill Hattori’s dream. Rather, in 2012, he almost won the ARCA championship for HRE. But eventually ended the season as the runner-up. And then again, he got a P3 in 2013. Now Hattori knew it was time to get into the national series. And Trucks is what he chose. Fast forward to 2018, it was again Moffitt who got Hattori his first and last NASCAR championship. This run by HRE is among the best underdog stories in NASCAR’s history.

This is what made Hattori a legend in the sport. After the news of his passing circulated, fans were left rejoicing that moment!

Fans recall the greatest underdog story of NASCAR

In the 2018 season, they won six races, including the championship one. But something that many people don’t know is that mid-season, the team was struggling with sponsorships. In so many races, their Truck was wrapped at the very last moment. Shige would fly several times to Japan to talk to possible sponsors. And through all these challenges, they still went on to win the title. This is what fans respect the most about him. One fan, shocked by the news, wrote, “Damn that’s tragic. Sounds like it was unexpected too. Man was a trailblazer as a driver and owner.” 

And this caught many by surprise; there weren’t any updates on his health, and then suddenly this news came out. One fan wrote, “Damn. RIP.” And folks, HRE’s success wasn’t limited to 2018. In the three seasons that followed, they racked up multiple wins. Austin Hill even won the regular season championship for the team in 2020. And they made many fans in this time. It seemed like the team would go on to become a big name in the sport. And one fan misses that. “Damn, HRE was my favorite Truck team during their full-time years.”

But with Hill moving to Richard Childress‘s team in the Xfinity Series, HRE went on to close down its full-time program. They ran a part-time in 2024 and haven’t run any races till now in this season. But still, fans loved watching them, be it one race or 20. One such fan, shocked by the news, wrote, “As someone living in Japan, occasionally tuning into halfway into races at 6 or 7 in the morning, this is truly sad to hear.”

And folks, Shige was a true motivator. One of his employees was moved by the news, sharing his feelings, he wrote, “Shige gave me an opportunity to live out my dream to work in NASCAR at HRE, I owe everything to him. I’m so shocked and sad to see this. Prayers to his family.” And it’s really sad. Shige had a big vision for HRE. Back in 2022, he had even talked about his Cup Series plans. “My goal is I really want to move up to Cup. The keys to this sport are people and sponsorship. If everything is right, I really want to move up to Cup.” But now that dream ends with him.

Folks, what do you remember about Shige and HRE? Share your thoughts and prayers with us in the comments below.