Wins: 0Highest finish was second at Iowa in 2008
Podiums: 22008 – 2nd in Iowa; 2009 - 3rd in Iowa
Poles: 0Highest start was third at Nashville in 2008
Laps Led: 742009: Led 74 laps at Richmond
Starts: 351 in 2007 (Chicago finale), 17 in 2008, 17 in 2009
• Was the 2008 Bombardier IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year in
a larger-than-usual rookie class during the first season of the
reunification of open wheel racing
• Was runner-up to the champion in the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights Series
• Was 2006 Rookie of the Year in the Japanese Super GT Championship
• Was the 2003 Champion of the Japanese Formula Dream series
• Was the 2002 runner-up to the champion in the Japanese Formula
Dream series
• Was an exchange student and lived in England from 1998-2001 in
order to gain valuable racing experience
• Began racing karts in 1994 at the age of 12
CAREER SUMMARY
Year
Series
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Points (Rank)
Total Earnings
2007
Firestone Indy Lights
15
2
10
13
2
84
481 (2nd)
$245,050
2007
IZOD IndyCar Series
1
0
0
1
0
0
24 (25th)
$45,300
2008
IZOD IndyCar Series
17
0
1
7
0
0
346 (10th)
$1,382,865
2009
IZOD IndyCar Series
17
0
4
8
0
74
353 (11th)
Career
IZOD IndyCar Series
35
0
5
16
0
74
---
$1,428,165
PERSONAL
Hideki Mutoh, 27, was born in Tokyo, Japan on 10-6-1982 and resides in downtown Chicago. He chose the city because it offered direct flights to Tokyo and most of the IndyCar Series race markets and has a strong Japanese population…The 5’ 8,” 153 lbs. driver is one of three children of Eiji and Noriko Mutoh. He has two older sisters (Yumi and Hanae)…Unlike many of his racing peers, he did not follow in the footsteps of a relative. For three generations his family has operated the Hotetora shop in Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji fish market that has been in the family for approx. 110 years. He will carry-on the family business once he retires from racing. When asked what made his choose racing he replies “My father loves cars. He encouraged me to take up racing.”…He became fascinated with racing at the age of four or five by watching it on TV and, at 10 years of age, became a fan of Indy car racing when reigning F1 champion Nigel Mansell joined Newman/Haas Racing and won the title. He began kart racing at the age of 12 and became an exchange student at the age of 15 in order to pursue racing in England…In his free time he likes to shop for clothing and electronics for fun…His favorite type of clothing is anything casual and his favorite brand of jeans is Replay. He occasionally throws a Prada vest into the mix…He may be the only 27-year-old that doesn’t own an ipod or mp3 player but is looking forward to purchasing one of Panasonic’s soon-to-be-sold 3-D TV’s…To prepare for the physicality of racing he performs a weight training session for one hour, four times a week with a focus on his core and shoulders and runs for one hour five times a week (Mizuno are his favorite running shoes)…His favorite food to eat in the US is Mexican because he can’t get it in Japan and, of course, sushi…His weaknesses are chocolate and hamburger & fries…He frequently reads Japanese books and the most recent was about a female Japanese marathon runner that competed in the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta…His favorite show to watch on TV is “American Idol,” and his favorite type of movies are “action movies” preferably starring Matt Damon, George Clooney or Angelina Jolie…His favorite movie of all time is “The Green Mile” starring Tom Hanks.
