[7] In 1998 and 1999 Fukuyama competed in two events in the NASCAR Winston West Series, at Pikes Peak International Raceway in 1998, where he finished 19th, and in the first NASCAR points event held outside of North America,[8] at Twin Ring Motegi in 1999, where he finished 15th.
[9][10] Having been encouraged to pursue a NASCAR career by Dale Earnhardt,[11] and in September at Dover International Speedway became the first Japanese driver to qualify for a Winston Cup Series points event.
66 Ford for Haas-Carter Motorsports, he started 43rd in the event,[11] finishing 39th due to transmission failure.
[3] He only qualified for two races, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway, posting his best career finish, 33rd, at the former track.
[16] Released from his ride with TCM midway through the 2003 season, Fukuyama returned to his native Japan, where he resumed racing in the Super GT series,[2] as well as becoming an analyst for Japanese television broadcasts of NASCAR.